Stannington Village Pre-School

Community provision for the years before school: Stannington Village Pre-School operates from Lomas Memorial Hall in Stannington, Sheffield, taking children from two years old to school age.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Good and judged safeguarding effective. The clearest strengths were relationships, communication and children's growing independence; the improvement priority concerned how consistently staff extended mathematical learning. Those findings belong to the team and practice assessed then, rather than providing a fresh judgement on today's provision.

Morning, afternoon and all-day attendance are offered during term time, with funded and privately paid sessions.

Rooms and Ages

The Green room at Lomas Hall is the session base. Children keep indoor shoes at pre-school and bring spare clothes for messy activities, with wellies and puddle suits for outdoor play.

Two-year-olds may initially attend reduced hours while they settle, allowing a shorter introduction to the pre-school day.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the required framework for children's learning, development and care, with play supporting language, relationships, physical skills and early learning. It is the common foundation for early years provision. Here, the key person uses observations and knowledge of a child to help shape their learning experiences.

In January 2024, activities connected children's interests with their next learning steps. Making play dough became an experiment: children considered the effect of excess water and adjusted the mixture with flour. The value was in the thinking and conversation accompanying the activity, rather than simply producing dough to play with.

Stories, singing and conversations also featured in January 2024, with picture cards helping children who needed another way to communicate. Mathematics had a dedicated table, but staff were less consistent at extending it across other activities. Counting during group activities was happening; making mathematical ideas part of the wider day was the next task.

Read Write Inc is offered as additional phonics beyond the EYFS requirements within the voluntary-services arrangements. It sits alongside community trips needing extra staffing, baking and gardening, rather than replacing the pre-school's core learning. Families can distinguish these additions from their child's funded education when considering the extras package.

Outdoor and Community Life

In January 2024, children went outside daily, using wheeled toys, pouring water through pipes and combining mud and water in the mud kitchen. These activities brought physical coordination and experimentation together: balancing, controlling a pour and working with another child all had a place in outdoor play.

The Co-operative Local Community Fund supported garden investment: artificial grass in 2020 and a Community Playthings Water trough and Play House in 2017.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a designated key person for settling, developmental records and parent feedback. Other staff also build relationships with the child, giving families a clear contact within the wider team.

Parents may stay while their child settles. Places initially have a half-term assessment period, becoming permanent once the child settles; staff discuss a later start if attendance is not benefiting the child.

Famly handles everyday communication. Parents can also speak with staff during sessions or arrange a longer conversation, and volunteering can be regular or occasional. In January 2024, communication included parent evenings, newsletters and online daily updates, giving families several ways to follow their child's experiences.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND received effective support through individual care and learning plans developed with parents and other professionals, and made good progress. Current support arrangements include a SENCO working with families, with speech therapists, health visitors or paediatricians involved when needed. The useful detail is the mechanism: observing needs, adapting activities and bringing in relevant expertise.

Staff undertake safeguarding training, with further training for the lead and deputy, alongside paediatric first aid training. These are arrangements for staff preparation, separate from the dated safeguarding judgement. Families are also asked to keep staff informed about changes at home that may affect their child.

In January 2024, children practised managing everyday tasks, including dressing for outdoor play and washing their hands. Healthy-living activities included vegetables, model teeth and toothbrushes. School preparation follows the same practical direction today: expressing needs, sharing books, taking turns and managing clothing are among the skills families are encouraged to support at home.

The pre-school describes a continuing partnership with Stannington Infant School to support transition, including feedback that informs its teaching. Attendance does not guarantee a school place; families still apply through the local authority admissions process. The relationship supports preparation for moving on, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Lomas Memorial Hall, Church Street, Stannington, Sheffield S6 6DB. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, afternoon sessions from noon to 3pm and all-day attendance from 9am to 3pm. The afternoon includes lunch. Optional earlier attendance begins at 8.45am, with a later finish at 3.15pm.

Attendance is term-time. Admissions operate through a waiting list reviewed by term, while requests for additional sessions or changes must be made in writing. A funded entitlement does not itself guarantee a place or a particular attendance pattern, so the entitlement and the actual booking are separate decisions.

Booked sessions remain payable when a child misses them, and invoices are issued at the beginning of each half term. The attendance policy requires families to report absence and maintain attendance above 80% across the academic year. Families expecting frequent absences should take that contractual expectation into account.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded and paid hours can be combined. Funding includes universal provision for children aged three and over, targeted support for eligible two-year-olds and the Working Parent Entitlement, including the extended offer for eligible children aged two and over. Entitlements include 15-hour and 30-hour provision, subject to the relevant conditions, with funded delivery over 38 weeks in the academic year.

Where funding requires a code, families must supply it and complete the paperwork. Applications must precede the start of the month in which term begins.

Funded hours carry a voluntary consumables contribution. Families who do not pay for snack extras supply suitable snacks; water and milk are provided. Non-food consumables involve a contribution or supplies from home, including nappies, wipes, creams and spare clothing.

Parents supply a packed lunch, with an ice pack and any required cutlery; food cannot be heated, and the lunch policy asks families to exclude peanuts and nut products. Lunch therefore needs preparing at home in a form the child can eat at pre-school.

Voluntary services include Famly photo sharing, additional phonics, community trips, baking, gardening and seasonal celebrations. Settling sessions are included when the voluntary-services contribution is paid and otherwise charged separately. Current prices come in the pre-school's written quotation, alongside the fees page.

• Settling and daytime naps. The welcome arrangements recommend delaying admission for children who still need a regular daytime nap and allow shorter initial attendance for two-year-olds. At a visit, discuss how a morning, afternoon or all-day booking would fit your child's routine and how the initial assessment period works.
• Mathematical learning. In January 2024, the improvement priority was staff's ability to extend mathematics throughout activities. Ask how number, shape and comparison now feature in play beyond the mathematics table.
• Lunch and extras. Packed lunches come from home, while the contribution arrangements affect snacks, consumables and additional services. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice around the nut policy and their child's particular needs when agreeing the written charge structure.
• Leaving notice. The admissions policy requires four weeks, while the leaving form requires at least one month. Agree the notice period in writing before accepting the contract, especially if changing provider will involve transferring funded hours.

Stannington Village Pre-School suits families seeking community-based, term-time provision with a choice of morning, afternoon or all-day attendance. Its practical preparation for school, key-person arrangements and parent communication give it a clear identity. The January 2024 judgement supports a positive assessment, balanced by the specific mathematics improvement priority. For younger children, readiness for the session routine and daytime naps deserve as much attention as the choice of hours.