Warborough & Shillingford Pre-School

A willow den, a Potion station and outdoor play through changing weather give Warborough & Shillingford Pre-School a clear character: children have room to investigate, build and choose their own activities. The setting combines that freedom with a familiar daily rhythm and a key person for each child. Its appeal is practical as well as playful.

There is capacity for 24 children aged two to five. Ofsted rated the pre-school Good on 6 June 2023. A later welfare requirements notice in May 2025 makes the subsequent safeguarding position essential to a family's decision.

Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside a full preschool day, with separate after-school and holiday provision. This gives families several attendance patterns to consider, rather than a single length of day.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the learning framework: children develop communication, social and physical skills through play, alongside the other areas of learning. Here, particular emphasis falls on talking and understanding, emotional development and movement. Planning responds to children's interests, so their choices help shape what practitioners do next.

Indoors, children can work with play dough, explore small-world toys or construct with logs and train tracks. Paint, books and musical instruments give quieter or more expressive activities equal space. A large interactive tablet adds another way to play and investigate; it sits among hands-on resources rather than defining the day.

The routine gives that choice some structure. Morning play leads into a rolling snack period, followed by small-group stories, movement and music. Afternoons include another snack and a shared story-and-song period. For a child learning to manage separation or anticipate what happens next, repeated parts of the day provide useful reference points.

In June 2023, children used an interactive screen for shared games, drawing and puzzles, while whiteboards and a mud kitchen gave them other ways to practise controlled hand movements. That dated picture helps explain the balance between digital play and physical activity, without treating an older observation as a description of every current session.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor access is part of ordinary play here. Covered decking includes a sandpit, play houses and water play, while the grassed area has a willow den and loose materials such as crates, planks and tarpaulin. Children can rearrange those materials themselves, making the space useful for construction and imaginative games rather than only fixed equipment.

The Potion station and Investigation station extend that exploratory emphasis. Elsewhere, a music wall uses natural resources, and raised beds hold fruit, flowers and vegetables. Balance bikes, scooters and trikes offer a more active option. Families need to dress children for outdoor access in different weather conditions.

Parent involvement also has a visible place. The annual summer sports social combines the preschool sports day with a barbecue and a gathering for families and friends. Smaller fundraising activities include cake sales and summer ice cream stands. As a charity supported by fee income and fundraising, the pre-school asks parents to contribute to this side of its life.

Relationships and Communication

Every child is assigned a key person before settling begins. A settling plan is agreed with parents, and a backup key person is identified where possible. This gives families a main contact for development and care, with a planned route for continuity when that practitioner is away.

Parents can stay and play during the beginning of morning or afternoon sessions. The key person maintains developmental information, shares progress with parents and carries out the age-two progress check. These are concrete opportunities to connect what a child does at preschool with what families notice at home.

Soft lighting, natural materials and comfortable places to rest reflect the setting's slower approach to the day. Emotional learning also runs through stories, play and group discussions. Its behaviour policy centres on helping children understand feelings and manage disagreements, with parents involved when difficulties need a more structured response.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A Special Educational Needs Coordinator role sits within the team. The SEND procedure brings together practitioner observations, family knowledge and specialist advice where needed. Support plans set out interventions and resources, with reviews agreed with parents at least termly. This gives families a defined process for discussing a concern and reviewing what happens next.

The team includes practitioners who hold childcare qualifications and others working towards them. In June 2023, the improvement priority was more precise identification of staff development needs, so support and training could be better matched to individual practitioners.

Following a regulatory visit on 13 May 2025, Ofsted issued a welfare requirements notice covering safeguarding referral knowledge, prompt reporting to the relevant agencies and the details needed for committee or trustee suitability checks. The compliance action dated 14 May 2025 required these actions by 30 May 2025. That is the latest published regulatory position, and it should carry more weight in a present decision than the older safeguarding judgement.

Sessions and Attendance

The pre-school is based at 16 Thame Road, Warborough, OX10 7DX, on the site of St. Laurence CE School. Preschool term dates and inset closures follow the school calendar. Attendance at the pre-school does not guarantee a Reception place; families still use the local authority admissions process.

Morning sessions run from 9am to 11.30am, and afternoon sessions from 12.30pm to 3pm. Lunch occupies the interval between them. An early drop-off option runs from 8.45am to 9am, while funded attendance examples include a 9am-to-3pm day and a 9am-to-noon pattern.

After school club runs Monday to Thursday, 3pm to 5.30pm, for children aged two to eleven. Staff collect children from St Laurence School, and hourly arrangements can accommodate children taking part in activities at the school. Craft, junk modelling and outdoor games give this provision its own character.

Easter and summer Holiday club provision is separate from the term-time preschool offer. Holiday bookings include a Short day, 9am to 3pm, and a Long day, 9am to 5.30pm. Daily themes can include Science fun day and Modelling day, alongside games and crafts. General opening hours are 9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday; the individual booking patterns determine a child's attendance.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both 15 hours and 30 hours of funding can be used across the preschool day at no extra cost, excluding the Easter and summer holidays. Working parent entitlement is accepted during term time. Private attendance is charged separately, with current prices provided in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page sets out the attendance categories.

Families provide lunch, either cold food or hot food kept in a food flask, and children eat together in family-style groups. Parents also supply nappies for children who need them.

• The May 2025 safeguarding action. The notice required changes to referral knowledge, reporting and committee suitability information by 30 May 2025. During a visit, ask for the subsequent regulatory outcome and an explanation of how these requirements were addressed.
• Combining sessions and funding. Morning and afternoon sessions have different boundaries from the funded attendance examples, including the example ending at noon. Agree the exact booked pattern, lunch arrangements and any private hours before accepting a place.
• Outdoor play in practice. Tree climbing, loose construction materials and access outside in changing weather are part of the offer. A tour can help families understand how practitioners support these activities for their child's stage of development.
• A term-time calendar with separate clubs. Preschool follows the school's term dates and inset closures, while Easter and summer clubs have their own bookings. Families needing care across school holidays should plan around those separate arrangements.

Warborough & Shillingford Pre-School suits families seeking morning or afternoon attendance as well as a full preschool day, especially those who value outdoor choice, practical materials and a familiar routine. Separate after-school and holiday patterns broaden its usefulness for families with different ages of children.

The garden resources and individual key-person arrangements make the offer recognisable. The latest published regulatory position is the May 2025 welfare requirements notice. Families should establish the subsequent regulatory outcome before deciding.