Hanham Toddlers Preschool

A photograph-filled Transition Book, sign-supported communication and outdoor exploration give Hanham Toddlers Preschool a recognisable character: children get help understanding both the people around them and what happens next. Based at Hanham Methodist Church on Chapel Road in Bristol, it combines play-led learning with practical ways for parents to stay involved.

Ofsted rated the preschool Outstanding on 25 March 2024, finding that carefully sequenced activities helped children build on what they already knew. The examples make that judgement tangible: mixing coloured potions, using tools and returning to familiar stories through play. Learning had a clear purpose.

Children are accepted from 18 months until they start school. Home visits, a key person and an online learning journal connect the preschool day with family life, while funded education and paid attendance sit alongside each other. The attendance offer includes different weekly hour totals for older children and shorter day arrangements for younger children.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework is the common early-years framework, covering communication, relationships, physical development, literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. Here, adults observe children's interests and support play with resources and questions.

Visual Timetables help children follow and contribute to the session's organisation. Makaton, a simple form of sign language supporting communication, gives them another way to express and understand ideas.

In March 2024, children used simple instruction leaflets to make coloured potions. That brought early literacy into an activity with an immediate result: the mixture changed colour. Tool work followed a progression too, from hammering pegs into fruit to using small nails with wood, with adults explaining safe handling. The activities connected reading, coordination and experimentation rather than treating them as separate exercises.

In March 2024, a fundamental movement programme for older children had been adapted for younger children, building physical skills in stages. Games introduced time and number, while adults added movement vocabulary.

Outdoor and Community Life

An outdoor area gives groups space to explore weather, seasons and nature. Each group has a nominated day for a longer outdoor period, with at least 15-20 minutes outdoors on other days. Forest school experiences, involving exploration and activities outdoors, take place both on site and away from the preschool throughout the year. Outdoor learning is therefore part of the planned rhythm of attendance.

In March 2024, small-group forest school activities included miniature gardens and bug houses. Trips have included Magpie Bottom and Gover Road for Forest Schools activities. Parents receive outing information and must consent before children participate.

A cake stall at Hanham Common Fayre, family disco and sponsored obstacle course give families ways to join fundraising across the year.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins before the first preschool session. A home visit gives staff and parents time to discuss a child's interests, strengths and concerns in familiar surroundings, followed by a morning together at preschool. The Transition Book contains photographs of staff and aspects of the setting, so families can revisit those images together before attendance begins. Familiarity is built in stages.

The home visit introduces the child's key person, who observes development with the group leader; changes are communicated by email. Written summaries and the Learning Journal App keep parents informed. Assessment happens through play.

Sharing Sessions take place each long term, inviting parents and carers into the classroom to play with children and meet other families. A key-person meeting during the first term after starting, or moving into the second year, concentrates on settling. Home Learning Sacks and other resources are accessible in the foyer, giving parents something practical to use beyond preschool.

A transition document goes to the child's new school, supporting the handover of developmental information. Families download the learning journal when their child leaves.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised the support for children with SEND, including collaboration with parents and other professionals and the use of signing and visual aids. That is a dated assessment of practice, alongside the preschool's current support arrangements.

SENCO cover spans the week, with a SENCO Advisor and two additional SENCo support workers. My Plans are reviewed with those involved, and agencies are contacted with parental agreement. Reasonable adjustments can include phased entry or reduced hours, planned with families and external agencies around individual needs.

Staff working directly with children hold paediatric first-aid certificates. Medical conditions are discussed with the manager and group leader, with an individual Health Care Plan where required. Incidents are recorded in the online journal, and parents are contacted immediately about more serious accidents. Alternative collection arrangements require notification, with a password procedure if the usual advance arrangements have not been made.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Hanham Methodist Church, Chapel Road, Hanham, Bristol BS15 8SD. General enquiries use 0117 908 2406 or hanhamtoddlers@outlook.com. The preschool also operates from the Children's Centre, so the site allocated to a child's attendance matters alongside the hours.

For older classes, weekly attendance choices are 15, 18, 24 or 30 hours. Younger classes have a flexible attendance arrangement, subject to enough children attending for a class to run. Day patterns include five or six hours for children receiving the Universal Nursery Education Grant for 3 & 4 year olds in the academic year before school, and five hours for children aged 2-3. The timetable differences need resolving before a family builds work or collection arrangements around a particular finish time.

The church car park is shared with other users and can run out of space; the preschool may also request that it remains clear for church use. Access is through the bottom door, and prams and pushchairs must stay out of the corridors.

Funding and Paid Extras

The preschool accepts Nursery Education Grant for eligible families from 18 months. The Government Nursery Education Grant covers 38 weeks of the school year, and private fees apply where the grant is not redeemed with the preschool. Current prices should be obtained in a written quotation, separating funded attendance from paid hours and extras.

Families supply a packed lunch for sessions ending after 12.15pm; snacks and milk alternatives sit within a separate food charge. Non-food items, including classroom wipes, tissues and nappy-related supplies, are charged separately, with an opt-out allowing families to provide specified items from home instead.

For grant-funded children, the daily consumables contribution is voluntary, and children receiving Early Years Pupil Premium are exempt. The fees page sets out the charge categories and payment arrangements. Invoices are issued at the start of each term, monthly standing orders are preferred, and fees remain payable during absence. Withdrawal requires four weeks of term-time notice, excluding half terms and Christmas or summer holidays, which matters when planning a change of childcare.

• Timetable and site. Older-class sessions run from 8.45am to 2.55pm and younger-class sessions from 9.05am to 2.15pm, Monday to Friday, but church opening hours are also given as 8.45am to 2.45pm, alongside a statement that staggered times have stopped. Ask which site and exact timetable would apply to your child before agreeing attendance.
• The younger-child allocation rule. For the Methodist Church groups aged two to three, children who have attended Stay and Play receive priority, followed by the waiting list in formal-application date order. Discuss how that rule applies to your application; it is an allocation policy, not an indication of free places.
• Support at the start. Home visits, the Transition Book and possible phased entry provide specific ways to prepare. At a visit, discuss how the key person and SENCO team would organise those arrangements around your child's needs, including any Health Care Plan for allergies or other medical conditions.

Hanham Toddlers Preschool suits families seeking play-led preschool education with outdoor activity and substantial parent involvement. The Transition Book, Sharing Sessions and learning journal make the relationship with home concrete, while Makaton and Visual Timetables give children practical help with communication and routines.

Older Classes suit families choosing different weekly hour totals; Younger Classes offer five-hour days. The March 2024 Outstanding judgement adds weight, but the allocated site and agreed timetable must fit family life, alongside packed lunches, consumables choices and term-time notice.