Sticky Fingers Pre-school Tanners Brook

Growing areas, water-filled glass jars and an outdoor assault course give Sticky Fingers Pre-school Tanners Brook a practical, hands-on character. In June 2025, children explored insects, compared sounds and learnt to manage everyday tasks for themselves. These are useful foundations for school: talking about discoveries, testing ideas and becoming more independent.

At its 11 June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Good and judged safeguarding effective. The main improvement concerned how consistently staff understood and put the curriculum into practice. That distinction matters: engaging activities need a clear purpose as well as enthusiastic participation.

Based at Regents Park Community Centre in Southampton, the setting has 24 places in total. Children attending in June 2025 were aged two to four. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions give families different ways to organise attendance.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, that means helping children develop language, physical skills and relationships alongside their play and exploration.

In June 2025, conversation was woven into activities rather than reserved for a separate language lesson. An interest in insects became a discussion about where they live, with staff introducing new vocabulary. Familiar stories and songs gave children another way to practise language, while signing and visual symbols supported communication. The practical value is that children can join in through more than spoken words alone.

Water play also carried a learning purpose. Children filled glass jars with different quantities of water, tapped them and compared the sounds; staff extended the discussion to container size and quantity. That brought mathematical thinking into an experiment children could hear and manipulate.

The curriculum was intended to prepare children for their next stage, and staff worked on individual learning steps. However, in June 2025, their understanding of its intended learning was uneven. Some teaching therefore did not reliably build on what children already knew. This is the central educational reservation, rather than a shortage of activities.

Outdoor and Community Life

In June 2025, the large outdoor area supported running and games, while an assault course offered practice in balance. Growing areas and outings to local allotments connected learning about life cycles with living things. These experiences gave children physical challenges and concrete things to discuss.

The branch's key groups include Lions. Families also receive reminders, updates and termly newsletters through Tapestry, the communication channel used for these messages. The named group provides a useful starting point for discussing a child's day, while the updates help parents keep track of setting information.

Relationships and Communication

In June 2025, staff recognised children's different personalities and offered comfort when it was needed to help them settle. Key staff knew the children they supported and planned their next learning steps around them. Settling was treated as a relationship to build, rather than simply a child separating from a parent.

Social expectations were explained through ordinary situations. Children were reminded why indoor movement needed care, negotiated turns with friends and responded together to a signal for tidying. These examples show how daily routines could give children practice in cooperation and managing their behaviour.

Parents received information about development and forthcoming learning, alongside ideas to try at home. In June 2025, these included cooking recipes, lunchbox suggestions, toilet-training advice and guidance on online safety. The benefit was practical continuity between home and pre-school, with activities families could use rather than progress information alone.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with staff arranging interventions, making timely referrals and working with families and other professionals to support progress. Cooperation also included schools and other settings children attended, making shared information part of the support.

In June 2025, families whose children spoke another language supplied words from home for staff to use. Children's cultures and beliefs were also recognised. This gave staff a way to connect familiar language and experiences with the pre-school day.

Independence extended to mealtimes: children poured drinks and washed their own cups and plates afterwards. Oral-health learning included practising toothbrushing and visits from a dental nurse. Together, these examples show self-care being learnt through actions children could attempt themselves.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Regents Park Community Centre, Elmes Drive, Southampton, SO15 4PF. Morning sessions run from 8.45am to 11.45am, afternoons from noon to 3pm, and full days from 8.45am to 3pm. The afternoon option has a different starting point from the morning session, so families can choose more than a single daily attendance pattern.

In June 2025, the pre-school opened Monday to Friday during term time. That dated operating pattern is relevant to families planning care around school holidays.

The branch has a Tanners Brook waiting-list form. Direct enquiries can be made by telephone on 02380 703571 or by email to sf.tannersbrook@stickyfingersps.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

In June 2025, the pre-school provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. The branch offers support with claiming childcare funding. Families should obtain any current prices through a written quotation, keeping the proposed attendance pattern and funding arrangements together.

• Curriculum consistency. In June 2025, staff did not always connect teaching securely to the intended learning. On a visit, ask how an activity builds on a child's previous learning and how practitioners agree the next step.
• The afternoon finish. Both afternoon and full-day sessions end at 3pm. Families whose working day extends beyond that time need to account for the finish when choosing their attendance pattern.
• Everyday supplies. When discussing a place, ask what to bring for lunch and personal care, and how these items are handled within funded attendance.

Sticky Fingers Pre-school Tanners Brook suits families considering morning sessions, afternoons or a full day ending at 3pm. Its June 2025 daily life combined language-rich play, outdoor activity and achievable steps towards independence. The improvement needed is equally clear: teaching should connect more consistently with the intended curriculum. Families can use that specific point to make a visit more revealing than a general conversation about activities.