St Christopher's Pre-school

Outdoor play and a parent-run charity give St Christopher's Pre-school its character. Based at St Christophers Church Centre in Thornhill, Southampton, it provides care and education for children aged two to four, with 26 places in total. Parents can help shape how it runs through an elected volunteer committee, rather than simply receiving a service.

At its May 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), made good progress. The practical emphasis is on learning through activity: choosing tasks, playing outdoors and developing the everyday skills that help children become more independent.

Attendance is term-time, with morning and afternoon sessions and an all-day option through Lunch Club, which bridges the sessions for children staying for lunch.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning, covering children's language, movement, relationships and early understanding of subjects such as mathematics and literacy. Activities are planned around each child's stage of development, so learning means practising skills through play rather than following a single task regardless of readiness.

Every Child a Talker (ECAT) adds a specific emphasis on language. It uses enjoyable activities linked to children's interests to develop vocabulary and sentence-building, with an approach that can also be used at home. That gives parents a way to connect conversations outside pre-school with learning during sessions.

Children choose activities and are encouraged to carry a task through to completion. Adult-led activities in smaller and larger groups introduce new experiences and give children practice working together. Choice and shared participation both have a place in the day.

In May 2024, imaginative construction involved bricks, a wheelbarrow and a cement mixer, with children making walls and leaving openings for windows. Hard hats and high-visibility jackets connected the play with safety rules. Counting farm animals and singing number songs brought mathematics into activities children were already enjoying.

In May 2024, support for language was uneven: some questions allowed too little response time, and help with pronunciation was inconsistent, prompting an improvement recommendation about monitoring teaching. This is a useful qualification to the ECAT offer: having a language programme and delivering consistently effective interactions are separate matters.

Outdoor and Community Life

Free-flow access lets children move between the indoor playroom and outdoor activities. Clothing needs to suit that arrangement, with weather-appropriate items and a change of clothes in a named bag. Paint, water and sand are part of the experience; easy-to-manage clothes also support children learning to dress themselves.

In May 2024, children spent substantial time outdoors, using tricycles, water play and a sand tray. Their pretend ice-cream making gave them something to discuss, while bubbles added another playful outdoor activity. These examples show how physical activity, imagination and conversation could overlap within the same part of the day.

A key person works with each family to understand the child's needs and interests, helps with settling and supports participation in activities. This gives parents a particular practitioner to work with as their child gets used to the group.

The staff structure includes SEND coordination and child-protection coordination roles. Staff hold current first-aid certificates and have criminal-record checks with membership of the DBS update service. These are arrangements for care and safeguarding; the dated effectiveness judgement belongs to the inspection.

In May 2024, staff collected information from families at the start, shared progress feedback and used termly newsletters to offer ideas for learning at home. Children also practised everyday independence by washing their hands, peeling fruit and pouring drinks from small jugs. Support included sensitive intervention when sharing became difficult.

Toilet training is not an entry requirement. Staff support potty training when a child is ready and change nappies or soiled clothing when needed; parents supply the changing items and spare clothes. Families therefore do not need to wait for complete toilet independence before considering attendance.

Morning and afternoon snacks include foods such as fruit, vegetables, bread and yoghurt, with milk at snack time and water throughout the day. Children staying for lunch bring their own nutritious lunch and drink, and chocolate and sweets are excluded from both lunch and snacks.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is St Christophers Church Centre, Pepys Avenue, Thornhill, Southampton, SO19 6PJ. The pre-school operates for 38 weeks each year, during term time.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, Monday to Friday; afternoon sessions run from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, Monday to Thursday. There are nine sessions each week. Opening hours are 9am to 3.30pm on Monday to Thursday and 9am to noon on Friday.

Lunch Club connects sessions for children attending all day. Placement priority is based on date of birth, with children aged three and over considered first and younger children offered places afterwards. Families can telephone to join the waiting list or arrange a visit.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible two-, three- and four-year-olds can use the 15- and 30-hour funded entitlements, with the latter delivered as 29 hours at this setting. Funding follows the term-time calendar. For children aged three and over, Lunch Club can fall within funded hours or carry a separate charge.

Private attendance is also offered from the term after a child's second birthday, subject to a place being available, including for children who do not qualify for two-year-old funding. Payment continues until funding eligibility begins. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; fees are paid weekly in advance and remain payable during sickness or holidays.

Parents provide lunch for all-day attendance, including funded attendance. They also supply nappies or pull-ups, wipes, cream, nappy bags and weather-related sun cream; these items come from home rather than forming part of the childcare charge.

• The funded week. The 30-hour entitlement is delivered here as 29 hours, and Friday finishes at noon. Consider how that timetable fits your working week.
• Lunch Club and younger children. For children aged three and over, Lunch Club can be included in funded hours or charged separately, while placement priority favours that age group. At a visit, discuss how an all-day pattern would work for your child's age.
• Language support. The May 2024 improvement point concerned response time and pronunciation support. Ask how practitioners now monitor those interactions alongside ECAT.
• A parent role in running the setting. Parents elect the management committee, and the Annual General Meeting is open to attending families. This suits parents interested in contributing to decisions about the service.

St Christopher's suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those wanting an all-day arrangement through Lunch Club. Free-flow outdoor play, practical independence and a key-person relationship give the offer substance. Parent participation in its charity structure adds another reason to choose it, while the funded-week limit and language-support improvement point deserve attention.