St Helen's Pre-School

Choosing a snack, washing a cup and deciding whether to keep playing before lunch: independence runs through the day at St Helen's Pre-School in New Costessey. These are small responsibilities with practical value. Children have opportunities to make decisions and look after their belongings and shared resources, rather than having every task done for them.

At its February 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the setting Good overall. Its capacity is 58 children, with a current age range of 6 to 60 months; the session offer starts from age 2. Morning and afternoon bookings, alongside breakfast provision, give families different ways to organise attendance.

The strongest reasons to consider it are the everyday opportunities for independence, a settling process planned with parents and specific arrangements for coordinating additional support. The main educational reservation is also clear: in February 2022, staff needed to use learning opportunities more consistently to stretch children's thinking.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS guides learning, relationships and development here: children learn through play, practise managing feelings and friendships, and have their progress considered when activities are planned. It is the early years framework, while the particular experiences children have give the day its character. Adult-supported activities sit alongside play children choose themselves, with both indoor and outdoor areas used through the morning and afternoon.

Independence is built into the routine. Children select their snack, manage it with support and wash their own things afterwards. The lunch room opens while play continues, allowing children to respond to hunger rather than all stopping at once. Eating in smaller groups also creates opportunities for conversation. Songs and stories bring the core preschool day to a close, while children staying later return to chosen activities after a snack.

In February 2022, children turned shoe boxes into tunnels for their train tracks, showing how a familiar interest could become a construction project. The woodwork area gave them experience with hammers and screws, including learning to handle equipment safely. Regular yoga and movement activities also formed part of that inspection-era day. These examples show learning through making and moving, rather than a day organised solely around tabletop tasks.

Named activities add further texture to the preschool's past provision. In autumn 2021, brick club involved following instructions to build tricky towers, a cube and sammy snake. A July 2021 Zumbini session combined dancing with musical instruments, followed by quieter mindfulness. Both are concrete examples of how construction and movement have been used; neither should be read as a promise of today's timetable.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden has supported learning about living things as well as physical play. In February 2022, children composted food scraps and used the compost to grow vegetables. That connected something familiar, leftover food, with a visible growing process they could take part in.

During spring 2023, large boxes in the garden became houses, towers and animal dens. Wind knocked constructions over, prompting children to try different ways of stacking them. The same period included planting vegetables and sunflowers. These dated examples give parents a useful sense of the practical, exploratory activities used here, without turning a past project into a recurring programme.

Relationships and Communication

A key person anchors the settling process. Before starting, families are offered a home visit or a welcome visit at the setting, depending on the child's needs or a request for a home visit. A leadership team member and the key person take part, giving parents an opportunity to discuss their child with the adults involved in settling them.

Once attendance begins, parents and staff agree how to approach settling together. This makes the process responsive to the individual child rather than presenting families with a single fixed formula. The daily routine also builds in opportunities to speak with the key person, so ordinary conversations about a child's day have a place alongside more detailed discussions.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Additional support has a defined route. Parents, the key person and a SENCO decide the next steps when developmental concerns arise. For children with identified complex developmental or sensory needs, staff work with professionals including speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and sensory support services, and adapt activities and resources. The practical value is coordination: the family's concerns, professional advice and preschool activities can be considered together.

At the February 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support effective, including coordination with parents and other professionals and the use of funding to help children work towards their goals. That is a dated judgement. Current support arrangements include two SENCOs and a Physical Activity and Nutrition Coordinator (PANCO), giving families identifiable roles for conversations about development and wellbeing.

In February 2022, the preschool employed 15 childcare staff. That historical headcount is separate from how adults are deployed with children now. Preparation for moving on also has concrete past examples: in July 2022, some older children met their new teachers at preschool and visited their future classrooms, alongside support for independence and emotional readiness.

Sessions and Attendance

St Helen's Pre-School is based at Costessey County Infant School, Beaumont Road, Norwich, NR5 0HG. Morning Sessions run from 8.45am to 11.45am; Afternoon Sessions run from 11.45am to 4.15pm. Breakfast Sessions run from 8am to 8.45am. The preschool operates Monday to Friday for 47 weeks of the year, so its attendance calendar extends beyond a term-time-only model.

The morning and afternoon bookings are different lengths, which matters when comparing childcare with work or family commitments. Breakfast provides an earlier start as a separate pattern. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email or by calling the office on 01603 749901.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 3-4 Year Funding, with universal entitlement from the term following a child's third birthday until compulsory school age; 2 Year Funding starts from the term following the second birthday for families receiving certain benefits. The preschool also offers 30 Hours Funding for eligible working parents after their child's third birthday. Confirmation of eligibility is required before a funded two-year-old place begins. Funding hours can be used for morning and afternoon sessions; entitlement and paid additional hours are kept separate.

Breakfast is included in the breakfast session fee, while a separate Consumable Fee applies to each funded session. Additional hours beyond the funding entitlement are invoiced monthly, with advance payment required within 7 working days of invoicing; individual payment arrangements are also offered. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation.

Uniform can be purchased if families want it.

• Session fit. The afternoon booking ends at 4.15pm, while breakfast starts at 8am. These times suit some working patterns better than others; compare both ends of the day with your regular commitments.
• Teaching challenge. In February 2022, staff needed to extend children's thinking more consistently during activities. On a visit, ask how practitioners now build on a child's ideas and introduce the next level of challenge.
• Age fit. The session offer begins at age 2, alongside a wider current age range of 6 to 60 months. Families seeking care for a younger child should discuss how that child's age and needs fit the provision before planning a start.
• Funded-session costs. A Consumable Fee applies per funded session, and additional private hours are billed separately. Consider the written quotation alongside the attendance pattern you intend to use.

St Helen's suits families looking for morning sessions or longer afternoon sessions, with breakfast as an earlier-start option. Its practical appeal lies in children doing things for themselves and parents having a defined role in settling and support planning. The garden and hands-on projects give its past provision recognisable character. The February 2022 Good judgement is useful context, but the teaching improvement point deserves attention when assessing how learning is extended today.