Mother Goose Pre-School

A village hall, a fenced garden and a committee of parents and carers give Mother Goose Pre-School its character. Based in Wimpole near Royston, it combines play organised around weekly topics with practical experiences such as cooking, woodwork and junk modelling.

Mother Goose cares for children aged two to five and has 24 places in total. At its March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and judged safeguarding effective, with children making good progress. That judgement predates the appointment of co-managers in April 2025, so it provides a dated assessment rather than an assessment of the present management team.

The charitable structure matters to family life here. Parents and carers help govern the setting, while fundraising supports equipment and resources. Morning and afternoon sessions run during term time, with an optional Lunch Club after the morning session.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and development: here, children learn through play, conversation, movement and creative activities, with both adult guidance and opportunities to choose. It is the shared early-years foundation, while Mother Goose's weekly topics give its sessions their particular shape. A topic can connect storytelling with role play, music, craft and discussion rather than confining learning to one activity.

Children encounter letters, colours and numbers through rhymes, songs and games. They can also choose painting, building or drawing, and take part in cooking, computer activities, woodwork and modelling with discarded materials.

In March 2022, an interest in garden insects led to a minibeasts investigation area. Children also examined silkworm eggs and learned about their development into moths, while stick insects prompted discussion about caring for living creatures.

Reading extended beyond group stories in March 2022. Children chose books in indoor and outdoor reading spaces and borrowed library books to share at home. In another observed activity, children making sandcastles requested help to create flags. The adult contribution followed the children's idea, illustrating how practical play could develop into making and decorating.

Outdoor and Community Life

Wimpole Village Hall provides a light, spacious indoor base, with a fenced garden containing trikes, climbing equipment and space for imaginative play. Outdoor play takes place every day. This is a practical part of the routine, so waterproofs, wellington boots and spare clothes belong in a child's everyday kit rather than being reserved for occasional outings.

In March 2022, children used obstacle courses and rode cars along a paved area. They also practised putting on outdoor clothing: older children managed waterproofs themselves, while younger children received help with their boots.

Community involvement reaches beyond the children's sessions. The voluntary committee participates in a regular calendar that includes the Orwell Pannier Market and Orwell Nearly New Sale, alongside fetes and social occasions. These are fundraising and community connections, rather than a promise of trips for every child. For parents who want to contribute, committee membership and event organisation offer ways to influence the setting and help replenish its resources.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key worker who helps with settling, oversees educational records and acts as the family's first contact for achievements or concerns. Parents take part in settling through an agreed plan.

Famly, the online learning app, brings photographs, videos and written observations together in a child's journal. Families receive email notifications when entries are added and can contribute their own pictures and comments. It also carries newsletters, dates and invoices, and parents can use it to report absences.

Parent consultations take place three times each school year, with an annual survey feeding into development planning. Ongoing assessments identify next steps and possible support needs, and an end-of-year assessment summarises learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The special educational needs policy assigns coordination to a SENCO and uses a cycle of assessing needs, planning support, putting it into practice and reviewing it. Parents are involved throughout, including decisions about provision. Referral arrangements include further assessment and work with external agencies.

For children learning English as an additional language, the policy includes finding out about home language and background, communicating with families and planning speaking and listening opportunities with key workers. Behaviour support similarly starts with understanding the child: staff consider possible triggers, involve parents when concerns persist and develop an action plan where needed. The emphasis is on identifying what support is appropriate.

Children do not have to be toilet trained to participate. Intimate care is agreed with parents and recorded, with the child's key person normally handling changing and a backup covering absence. Children with continuing medical needs can have an individual health plan developed with their parents, including emergency arrangements. Staff development is supported through regular training and encouragement to undertake further study.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Wimpole Village Hall, Cambridge Road, Wimpole, Royston, SG8 5QE. Mother Goose opens Monday to Friday, from 9am to 3pm, during term time only. The morning session runs from 9am to noon; the afternoon session runs from noon to 3pm. The optional one-hour Lunch Club follows the morning session and requires a packed lunch.

Applications can be emailed to admin@mothergoosepreschool.co.uk. An initial application does not commit a family to accepting a place, and parents can specify preferred sessions. Where the requested sessions cannot be offered, the child joins the waiting list and parents are contacted when a session becomes available.

Rising Fives provides extra afternoon sessions during the summer term for children preparing to move to school, with some sessions taking place at the local primary school. Developmental information is also shared with the receiving setting or school, including the parent's perspective and the key person's summary.

Funding and Paid Extras

Mother Goose offers Universal 15 Hours Free Childcare and funded provision for eligible two-year-olds, and participates in Free 30 Hours Childcare for Working Parents who qualify. Its funding policy limits delivery here to 20 hours per week. Attendance is term time, and the universal entitlement is described over 38 weeks. Funded hours can be arranged flexibly and can include Lunch Club; childcare beyond a child's funded allocation is paid privately. Eligibility and the hours assigned to a particular child remain conditions of funding.

Parents supply packed lunches, including on funded attendance. A separate voluntary sustainability contribution supports snacks and non-food consumables. Snacks include vegetables, fruit, crackers and houmous, and the nursery operates a nut-free policy covering packed lunches too.

Invoices are issued in advance at the start of each term, with monthly, half-termly or full payment options. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding information explains the charge structure. The funding policy requires a full half-term's notice to cancel a place or reduce sessions, with charges in lieu if that notice is not given.

• Challenge for advanced learners. In March 2022, some activities did not take children's learning far enough, especially for those already more advanced. On a visit, ask how staff adapt a weekly topic when a child is ready for greater challenge.
• Term-time sessions and funded hours. Care ends at 3pm and follows a term-time pattern. Families considering extended funding should agree how their child's allocation fits the morning, afternoon and Lunch Club arrangements before accepting a place.
• Packed lunches and allergies. Lunch Club requires food from home, and the nut-free policy applies to its contents. Allergy-affected families should confirm current snack, packed-lunch and individual risk-assessment arrangements together.
• A parent-led charity. Volunteers help govern Mother Goose and organise fundraising. A visit with your child offers a chance to discuss settling with the key worker and understand how families can contribute through the committee or events.

Mother Goose suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon preschool sessions, with the option of extending a morning through Lunch Club. Its village-hall base, everyday garden play and making activities give children several ways to participate, while Famly and scheduled consultations connect parents with their learning.

The March 2022 Good judgement is useful context, alongside the need for stronger challenge for advanced learners and the subsequent management change. For families comfortable with a sessional timetable and packed lunches, the combination of practical play, key-worker relationships and parent involvement makes this a clear, coherent option.