Little Butterflies Woodville Preschool

A rope swing, a child-built plank walkway and experiments with coloured glue give Little Butterflies Woodville Preschool a practical, hands-on character in its January 2025 account. Children tackled physical challenges and tested their own ideas. These are useful examples of what learning looked like beyond an activity list.

At its 27 January 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the preschool Good overall. Based at Woodville Methodist Church in Woodville, Swadlincote, it has 21 places in total; the children attending that inspection were aged two to four.

In January 2025, children explored what happened when sand met water and changed glue colours by mixing in paint. These small experiments gave them opportunities to make choices and investigate the results. Building together also brought opportunities to negotiate: when children disagreed about where a brick belonged, they adjusted their construction and continued.

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, the January 2025 examples included learning through play, conversation, practical investigation and movement.

Outside, children worked out how to free themselves from the rope swing and assembled a walkway from planks. Staff helped hesitant children attempt the crossing, then encouraged greater independence; confident children tackled an additional change of plank. The challenge could change with the child.

At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, settling responsive to individual needs, and targeted support helping children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make rapid developmental progress.

In January 2025, staff worked with families over settling and responded when children became upset. Managers contacted other professionals to obtain help and used additional funding for SEND support. Communication extended to children's learning, giving parents information they could use at home.

Management responsibilities and staff supervision were clearly allocated at that time. Training continued through a rolling programme, with development support adapted to how individual staff learned.

The address is Woodville Methodist Church, High Street, Woodville, Swadlincote, DE11 7EA.

In January 2025, the preschool operated on weekdays during term time, with sessions running from 9am to 3pm. At that time, it provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. These are dated attendance and funding arrangements, rather than a current booking promise.

• Teaching new skills. In January 2025, a child struggling with scissors received spoken instructions rather than a demonstration. Extending learning through more effective staff support was the improvement priority. Practical modelling matters when words alone do not help a child master a task.
• Planning attendance. The January 2025 pattern was term-time weekday sessions. At a visit, what current session choices and funded-hours arrangements would fit your family's routine?

For families drawn to practical exploration and outdoor challenges, the January 2025 account provides concrete reasons to consider this preschool. Its term-time session pattern would suit families organising care around that calendar. The balance is clear: individual settling and purposeful play featured strongly, while teaching strategies needed further refinement.