Melbourn Playgroup And Out Of School Club

A sandpit, school preparation in the Garden Room and a charity run by parent-elected trustees give Melbourn Playgroup And Out Of School Club its character. This is a playgroup with an out-of-school offer alongside it, rather than a single childcare timetable spanning every age.

Ofsted rated the setting Good on 17 July 2025 and judged its safeguarding arrangements effective. The playgroup accepts children from two years until school age, while the setting has capacity for 45 children in total. That capacity is a whole-setting figure, not the size of a room or daily group.

Term-time playgroup attendance can be booked for mornings, afternoons or the core day. Its practical appeal lies in that choice, backed by additional short sessions and a clear minimum booking rule.

Rooms and Ages

The Garden Room connects learning with preparation for school: in July 2025, children practised following instructions in PE and changing their own clothes. Those everyday tasks give school preparation a practical shape, extending beyond early reading and writing.

Rainbow Room also features in the playgroup's planning information. For families choosing between stages, the useful distinction is how the daily experience changes as their child develops; room names alone should not drive the decision.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, bringing play and everyday routines into their education. Here, planned play builds on children's existing abilities, with creativity, curiosity and cooperation among the stated aims. The spacious outdoor area gives that play another setting.

In July 2025, children explored letters through play dough and shapes, while picture-supported name cards helped them recognise their own names. Staff joined the play and extended it. This gives early literacy a familiar starting point: the child's own name, rather than an isolated exercise.

Stories, songs and rhymes also featured in small-group activities that July. Children talked about the fruit in their snack pots and spoke confidently with visitors. These examples show how conversation can run through ordinary parts of the day, rather than being confined to a separate language activity.

Physical activity had several forms in July 2025. Children dug and poured in the sandpit, experimented with outdoor musical instruments and practised yoga indoors; mark-making offered another way to develop hand control. The contrast between bigger movements and smaller hand movements matters as children begin to manage early writing tasks.

The important qualification concerns uninterrupted play. In July 2025, routine changes sometimes broke children's concentration, including preparation for lunch. Families should weigh the variety of activities alongside how much time children have to stay absorbed in them.

Relationships and Communication

Settling can begin with a pre-entry visit and short stays that build gradually, with the key person and family agreeing the approach. A familiar comfort toy can accompany a child who needs it. This gives parents a concrete way to shape the start around their child, rather than treating settling as a fixed timetable.

In July 2025, home visits also helped staff understand children's interests before settling visits. Weekly emails, an online system and informal conversations kept parents connected with the day. At that time, the setting employed 17 childcare staff; this was a staffing count across the provision, not a measure of the adults in any one room.

Tapestry, the online journal, carries updates about children's activities and supports conversations about development at home and at playgroup. Parents also have a formal role in the charity: they elect its trustees at the Annual General Meeting, giving family involvement a place in its governance as well as daily communication.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A key person and the SENCO work with parents on support and targets. Adaptations can include visual timetables, signing, specialist resources or smaller groups, depending on the child. The setting can draw on speech and language therapists, specialist teachers and the Children's Centre; these are practical mechanisms for seeking help, rather than a general promise that one approach suits everyone.

At the July 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children needing additional help received strong support, with multi-agency working and British Sign Language training contributing to communication. The current support arrangements also include reviewing how allocated funding can best be used, whether for staffing, resources or training.

The premises have no steps and are on one level, with an accessible toilet. For a child needing additional support when moving to school, a meeting with the school's SEND coordinator informs an individual transition plan. That makes the handover a planned process rather than simply the end of playgroup attendance.

Sessions and Attendance

Playgroup runs in term time, following Melbourn Primary School's term dates. Its core day is 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, with bookable morning sessions from 9am to noon and afternoons from noon to 3pm. Children must book at least two sessions, which can be taken within one day.

Early Bird covers the period from 8.30am to 9am on weekdays. Late Owl permits weekday collection between 3.10pm and 3.30pm, while Friday Lunch Club allows children to stay for lunch and leave at 1.15pm. These additions offer some flexibility around the core timetable, but they are separate from funded hours.

MOOS, the out-of-school club, accepts children in Year 3 through Year 6 and opens during term time from 3.30pm to 6pm, Monday to Thursday. Holiday Club serves primary-school-aged children during the first two summer-holiday weeks, opening from 8.30am to 5.30pm; whole-day bookings and half days of any five consecutive hours are offered, with payment in advance.

Getting There

The setting is at Melbourn Primary School, Mortlock Street, Melbourn, SG8 6DB, sharing an entrance with the Children's Centre. Playgroup enquiries can be made by telephone or through its office email, with a separate email for MOOS.

Attendance here does not guarantee a Reception place at the school; families still use the local authority admissions process. The school-site address and shared term dates should therefore be understood as practical links, not an admissions advantage.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded hours are offered within the term-time weekday window of 9am to 3pm. The entitlements described include 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds from the term after their third birthday, 30 hours for eligible working families, and support-based funding for eligible two-year-olds; working-parent funding for eligible two-year-olds increased to 30 hours from September 2025.

Early Bird, Late Owl and Friday Lunch Club require separate payment and fall outside that funded window. Private childcare is also offered, and families should obtain current prices in the playgroup's written quotation; the playgroup information page sets out the attendance and funding structure.

• Time to finish playing. In July 2025, transitions sometimes interrupted concentration. On a visit, ask how lunch preparation and other changes now allow children to stay engaged in an activity.
• Care shared with another setting. Communication with every other early years provider attended by children needed strengthening in July 2025. Families combining provision should discuss how updates and support plans will be exchanged.
• The funded timetable. Funding applies between 9am and 3pm in term time, while Early Bird, Late Owl and Friday Lunch Club are paid additions. Match the complete booking pattern to your family's week.
• Lunch arrangements. Friday Lunch Club adds a later collection option. Ask what children should bring for lunch and snacks, and how food needs are handled.

Melbourn suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon playgroup sessions, as well as those wanting the full core day. Its appeal is concrete: outdoor play, practical preparation in the Garden Room, individual support arrangements and a parent role in governance.

The July 2025 findings also give families two useful tests: whether children now have longer stretches of uninterrupted play, and whether communication works consistently when care is shared. Those questions sit alongside a Good inspection judgement and a clearly defined attendance model.