Hauxton Preschool

An outdoor kitchen and a pretend restaurant gave Hauxton Preschool children practical reasons to experiment and talk in February 2025. Containers overflowed, children tried larger ones, and a menu introduced unfamiliar vocabulary. Everyday play supplied the learning material.

At its 10 February 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the preschool Good and found safeguarding effective. Hauxton Preschool caters for children aged two to four and has 30 places in total. Its address is Hauxton Primary School, Jopling Way, Hauxton, Cambridge, CB22 5HY.

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: play, communication and everyday routines all contribute to learning.

In February 2025, the outdoor kitchen encouraged children to solve practical problems, changing containers when their pretend cooking spilled. In the role-play restaurant, staff introduced vocabulary linked to the menu, giving children words to try in their conversations. These were concrete opportunities to connect language with what children were doing.

Books also featured in February 2025. Children selected them independently, shared them with friends and joined an acted-out story, remembering its sequence and anticipating its ending. A movement game asked children to listen to instructions and change their actions, practising skills useful for the move to school.

In February 2025, staff used parents' knowledge of their children when planning activities and shared accounts of preschool experiences that families could build on at home. Discussions helped children name feelings and consider their effect on others; food conversations used children's own displays to explore healthy choices.

Independence was less consistent in February 2025. Children chose activities and washed their hands, but adults sometimes put coats on them or cleaned their faces when they could manage those tasks themselves. The distinction matters: supportive care should also leave children room to practise.

Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time, with closure in school holidays. This timetable needs to fit both the working day and holiday childcare arrangements.

In February 2025, sessions ran from 9am to 3pm and government-funded early education was offered to eligible children. This is a dated account of the attendance and funding arrangements.

In February 2025, the preschool occupied the Hauxton Primary School site. Attendance does not guarantee a Reception place; families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Teaching and independence. In February 2025, teaching did not consistently extend children's learning, and staff did not consistently encourage independence. Ask how staff now develop children's play and help them manage personal tasks themselves.
• Term-time timetable. The 9am to 3pm opening window and school-holiday closure require a practical match with family schedules.
• Settling arrangements. For a child beginning preschool, how would the settling process work around their individual needs?

Hauxton Preschool suits families seeking term-time provision for a two- to four-year-old, with a school-day opening window. Its February 2025 examples give the preschool character: conversational pretend play, shared stories and practical experimentation. The central consideration is consistency, both in stretching children's learning and in letting them do more for themselves.