Courtney Ladybirds Preschool

A mud kitchen stocked with natural materials, cardboard boxes transformed into vehicles and a cuddly ladybird travelling home with children give Courtney Ladybirds Preschool a recognisable character. Play connects the outdoor space, imaginative activities and family life. Parent involvement also extends beyond helping with activities: this charitable community preschool is run by a committee of parents.

Courtney Ladybirds serves children aged 2 to 4 in Kingswood, Bristol, and has 28 places in total. At its June 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall and found safeguarding effective. The strongest practical distinction is its parent-run structure, which gives families a role in how the setting is managed.

Attendance is term-time only, with opening hours of 9am to 3pm and a separately charged early drop-off at 8:30am.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) shapes learning through play, including early maths, literacy and communication. Here, Loose Parts Play adds materials that children can rearrange and combine rather than toys with a single prescribed use. Boxes, twigs, tubes and tape give children something to construct with and change as their ideas develop.

Cardboard boxes are a regular resource. Examples include children turning them into rockets, boats, cars and dens, moving their creations between indoors and outdoors. The practical value is choice: the same material can support a different idea rather than require children to follow one set of instructions.

Role play follows children's interests. The home corner has become a veterinary setting, emergency services stations, a hospital and a shop. These changing scenarios give children reasons to talk, take different roles and use imagination in familiar situations.

In June 2023, children used a pretend salon, waited for their turns and passed tools to one another during outdoor building play. These were concrete opportunities to practise cooperation. Story activities also included acting out narratives with props, giving children another way to explore language beyond listening to a book being read.

Outdoor and Community Life

The mud kitchen contains conkers, sticks, pine cones and flowers, with children also growing herbs to use there. It brings natural materials into pretend cooking and gives the outdoor space a purpose beyond running around.

Courtney the Ladybird is a cuddly toy that children take home in turn, with a book in which families write or draw about their experiences. Children then share those experiences with the preschool. This creates a simple link between home play and conversation with other children, with the toy returned the following week.

In June 2023, children could move between outdoor and indoor activities. Mark-making included chalk, paint and water used on outside walls; cutting plant materials for bracelets provided practice with scissors. Early writing was connected to an everyday task, too: children made records of books borrowed by their friends from the preschool library.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a keyworker who acts as the family's contact and shares observations through Tapestry. More detailed observations can follow concerns about development. This gives communication a clear starting point, with the same role connecting everyday updates and discussions about extra support.

Courtney the Ladybird also makes communication reciprocal. Families contribute drawings and writing about home experiences, while children have something personal to talk about back at preschool. It is a small, concrete way for family life to become part of the learning day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SEN Support Plan sets out help for a child whose development needs closer attention, with reviews every 6 weeks. Parents, the keyworker and the SEND coordinator work on the plan together. Depending on the review, targets may change, support may move towards maintaining progress, or outside professionals may become involved with parental agreement.

Possible referrals include an Early Intervention Officer, a community paediatrician or a speech and language therapist. The preschool also works with the local authority and children's centres, and can discuss inclusion funding or an Education Health Care Plan. These are mechanisms for identifying and responding to needs, rather than a blanket promise about support.

At the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that individual learning plans and support for children receiving additional funding helped children make good progress from their starting points. In June 2023, visual prompts and signs helped children express choices at snack time, including children with delayed speech.

Safeguarding lead roles sit within the team. In June 2023, children also practised everyday independence by managing tissues and helping put toys away, connecting care routines with responsibility for themselves and shared resources.

Sessions and Attendance

The preschool opens from 9am to 3pm during term time, with paid early drop-off at 8:30am. The shorter opening day and term-time calendar are central to whether it fits a family's working arrangements.

Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form. Invoices arrive through Tapestry, and fees are payable in advance. Charges continue during absence unless a child is in hospital; ending a place requires 4 weeks' written notice and settlement of outstanding fees.

Getting There

The address is Courtney Primary School, Courtney Road, Bristol, BS15 9RD, with access via Gages Road, BS15 9UQ. Use the access address when planning the journey.

Being based at Courtney Primary School does not guarantee a Reception place.

Funding and Paid Extras

In June 2023, funded early education was provided for children aged two, three and four. Private sessions are charged when government grant funding does not cover them; current prices come in the preschool's written quotation.

Consumables carry a separate, non-mandatory session charge: families who decline it must supply certain items instead. Children receiving pupil premium are exempt unless their families choose to contribute. The fees page also sets out payment and notice terms.

• Extending children's thinking. In June 2023, adults sometimes explained how something worked before children could develop their own answers. During a visit, ask how staff now give children time to investigate and solve problems independently.
• Term-time opening day. The 9am to 3pm window, even with early drop-off, needs to fit alongside work and school-holiday arrangements. Consider that calendar before committing to attendance.
• Parent participation. Committee meetings take place 4 times a year, and parents are encouraged to join. This suits families interested in contributing to management as well as their child's everyday experience.
• Food and funded attendance. How would meals, the consumables supply alternative and funded attendance work for your child's proposed pattern?

Courtney Ladybirds suits families seeking a term-time preschool for a 2-to-4-year-old, with hands-on imaginative play and a meaningful role for parents. Its mud kitchen, Loose Parts Play and home-going ladybird give that offer substance. The keyworker and SEN Support Plan arrangements provide clear routes for discussing development. The June 2023 improvement point about letting children think through problems deserves attention alongside those strengths.