Little Berries Pre-School, Hollybrook

Learning to make room for a friend is as revealing as learning to count. At Little Berries Pre-School, Hollybrook, children were doing both in November 2023: negotiating space on a drawing board and matching written numbers to collections of coloured ponies. These small, concrete examples give this preschool its character: conversation, consideration and practical learning belong together.

Ofsted rated the preschool Outstanding at its 3 November 2023 inspection. The setting has capacity for 32 children aged two to five, at Seagarth Lane, Southampton, SO16 6RL. Its school-ground setting gives it a clear physical identity: in November 2023, it occupied purpose-built premises within the grounds of Hollybrook Junior School.

Attendance choices include morning and afternoon sessions, preschool days and an extended day, with a holiday club running during six additional weeks. Those choices come with a minimum weekly booking requirement, so the practical fit matters too.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care, encompassing the skills they build through their everyday experiences. In November 2023, the curriculum followed children's interests while introducing learning in a planned sequence. The examples were tangible: coloured ponies supported counting, stories prompted estimates about missing cakes, and pens helped younger children practise shapes.

There was more to number work than reciting a sequence. During November 2023, older children connected written numerals with quantities, while a story about cakes led to checking predictions and considering what would happen when another cake disappeared. That gives parents a useful picture of early mathematics: objects and stories made abstract ideas accessible.

Nature provided another starting point that November. Preschool children examined conkers and pine cones, learned how seeds are stored and passed their new knowledge to friends. Younger children practised tracing shapes, including squares and hexagons. These were different tasks for different stages, rather than one activity expected to suit everyone.

Independence and Social Life

In November 2023, children practised independence through ordinary tasks. Toddlers worked at putting on socks and fastening shoes before going outdoors, with staff allowing time for them to persevere. Dressing was itself a learning opportunity, rather than merely preparation for the next activity.

Sharing the drawing board offered a similarly practical lesson in relationships that November. Children asked before removing another child's artwork and responded considerately when a friend needed space. For families, these observations are useful because they show what social learning looked like in action, beyond a general promise about confidence or kindness.

At the November 2023 inspection, Ofsted found exceptional teaching and communication support, substantial progress including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and effective safeguarding arrangements. The current Hollybrook team includes a designated safeguarding lead and a Special Educational Needs Coordinator, alongside an Every Child A Talker lead role concerned with children's communication.

In November 2023, practitioners had undertaken speech and language training and worked with education and health professionals to coordinate support. Their teaching addressed children at different communication stages, including children not yet speaking, those learning English as an additional language and those less confident about expressing ideas. This gives the inclusion judgement concrete substance: support involved staff development and collaboration, as well as interaction with children.

Parent partnership also had a practical form that November. Staff shared activities families could use at home to extend learning, including reading, cooking and counting. This connected preschool experiences with familiar family routines, rather than treating progress as something that happened only during a session.

Tapestry carries Hollybrook's news and event notices as digital memos. It is therefore part of the family's day-to-day communication with the setting, not simply another named system on a prospectus.

Sessions and Attendance

Hollybrook operates Monday to Friday during term time. Morning sessions run from 8.45am to 11.45am, and afternoons from 12.15pm to 3.15pm. The Pre-School Day runs from 8.45am to 2.45pm; Pre-School Day + continues until 3.15pm. An Extended Day begins at 8.30am and finishes at 4pm. The different finishing times make the booking choice more precise than a simple distinction between half days and full days.

Applications require at least 12 hours each week to progress. The online application enters the child onto the waiting list for the relevant academic year, with children aged three and over prioritised before younger applicants. Session requirements, age and individual needs also inform offers. An offered place must be accepted by returning the forms within 14 days.

The Hollybrook holiday club serves current and former Little Berries children during six weeks of school holidays, from 8.30am to 4pm. Weeks have themes, activities and trips, and bookings follow a first-come-first-served rule. This is a separate holiday arrangement alongside the term-time preschool timetable.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15 and 30 weekly hours for three- and four-year-olds, depending on eligibility, from the term after their third birthday. Eligible two-year-olds can access up to 570 hours per year across at least 38 weeks, from the term after their second birthday, with a maximum of 15 hours in a week; funding can also be stretched into additional holiday-club weeks. Hours beyond a child's entitlement, or before eligibility begins, are paid privately.

Snacks and cooking ingredients fall within a separate consumables charge, alongside items such as cleaning, resources, play equipment, Tapestry and music enrichment; this charge also needs to be considered when budgeting for funded hours. Holiday-club snacks are provided, while lunch is excluded from its fee.

A refundable deposit applies to new children and is returned after one year's attendance, unless the family chooses to turn it into a charity donation. Fees are payable in advance, absences remain chargeable, and reducing sessions requires at least four weeks' notice; session changes attract an administration charge. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation, with the charge structure on its funding and fees page.

Moving on to School

The November 2023 description places the preschool within Hollybrook Junior School's grounds. Attending the preschool does not guarantee a Reception place; families still use the local authority admissions process.

• Weekly commitment. Applications need a minimum of 12 hours per week, and older applicants take priority. At a tour, discuss how the morning, afternoon or longer-day patterns would accommodate your child within that booking rule.
• Extras and changes. Funded hours sit alongside the separate consumables charge. Request a written quotation for your chosen pattern, including any holiday-club attendance and session-change charges.
• Communication support. Hollybrook has a SENCo and an Every Child A Talker lead role. During a visit, ask how these roles would work with your child's key person and any professionals already supporting your family.

Little Berries suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions as well as those needing a preschool day or an extended day. The holiday club adds a separate option for current and former children. Its strongest case comes from the November 2023 examples of learning through objects, stories and everyday independence, backed by an Outstanding judgement. The decisive practical checks are the minimum weekly commitment and the full charge structure for the attendance pattern you choose.