Towntree Pre-school

Building towers, acting out stories and choosing outdoor play give Towntree’s January 2022 nursery day its clearest character. This Saxon Road setting occupies the Methodist Church in Ashford and provides term-time care for children aged two, three and four. It has 26 places in total, a whole-setting capacity rather than a limit on any individual activity group.

Ofsted rated Towntree Good at its 21 January 2022 inspection, with two practical improvements required: fuller information from families when children start, and group activities better matched to children’s ages and individual needs. Those points matter alongside the positive account of children’s relationships and everyday experiences. The judgement is dated; it should be read as an assessment of that period.

Morning, afternoon and day-care sessions provide different ways to arrange attendance. The term-time calendar is central to the choice, especially for families organising care around older children’s school days.

In January 2022, learning included storytelling that children could join physically: a bear hunt turned a shared story into an acted-out experience. Construction supplied another route into learning. Children counted bricks, compared the height of towers and helped one another when a building task was beyond someone’s reach. These examples connect language, number and cooperation with something children were actually doing.

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children’s learning, development and care. In parent language, it brings early communication, physical development and social learning into the nursery day alongside foundations for reading and mathematics. Towntree’s January 2022 activities illustrated that through play, conversation and practical tasks.

Letters and sounds also featured in January 2022. Staff used sound clues and rhymes to encourage children to anticipate what came next. For a parent, the useful distinction is between simply hearing a story and being invited to contribute: children had opportunities to respond, predict and make connections.

Outdoor space was a concrete part of the January 2022 offer. An area of the grounds had been brought into use for physical play, and children could move between indoor activities and the outdoor space. They put on their own coats and wellington boots before going out. That combines movement with practice in managing everyday tasks.

There was a limit to the group-learning picture. In January 2022, some larger shared activities failed to hold every child’s attention. Children sometimes disengaged, making the organisation of group time an important consideration for younger children and those who need a different pace.

At the January 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including collaboration with other professionals and adjustments to individual care and learning. These are dated findings about practice, rather than a promise about every child’s experience today.

In January 2022, children had close relationships with their key person and other staff. Familiar routines helped them manage the day, while reminders about handwashing and discussions about teeth introduced practical health habits. Care was visible in ordinary interactions too: during outdoor construction, children assisted one another rather than leaving a struggling child behind.

Communication in January 2022 combined spoken feedback at collection with online information about progress and updates through a private page. That gave families more than one way to follow their child’s experience. However, the starting point needed attention: staff did not always gather sufficiently accurate information about development and home life when children joined, delaying their ability to build on existing skills.

The distinction matters. Regular updates after a child has started serve a different purpose from understanding that child well at the outset. Families considering Towntree should give the initial exchange of information as much attention as later feedback.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Methodist Church, Saxon Road, Ashford, TW15 1QL. Care is term-time only, aligned with local schools, and is for two-, three- and four-year-olds.

The AM Session runs from 9am until noon; the PM Session starts at 12.30pm and ends at 3.30pm. Day care runs from 9am until 3.30pm. These are separate attendance patterns, allowing a family to consider a morning, an afternoon or the longer daytime option against its weekly routine.

Funding and Paid Extras

Towntree offers FEET funding (Funded Early Education for Two-year-olds), 15 hours of funding from the term after a child turns three, and 30 hours of funding. Its care operates during term time, so that calendar belongs in any assessment of how the arrangement fits family life. Eligibility for a particular entitlement should not be assumed from the fact that the setting offers it.

• Starting information. In January 2022, information gathered at entry needed greater detail. During a visit, ask how the initial conversation captures your child’s existing skills, home routines and individual needs.
• Group attention. Some large-group activities lost children’s engagement in January 2022. Ask how shared activities now accommodate different ages and children who need a shorter or more individual approach.
• Term-time planning. Saxon Road operates during school terms, with morning, afternoon and day-care patterns. Families needing care through school holidays should weigh that calendar against their requirements.
• Food and daily supplies. When discussing the day-care session, ask how meals and consumables are arranged, and how any associated charges work.

Towntree suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those wanting the 9am to 3.30pm day-care pattern. Its January 2022 account gives concrete reasons to consider it: participatory stories, construction linked to early number work, outdoor physical play and familiar key-person relationships.

The decision also deserves attention to how children start and how group activities are organised. Those were specific improvement points, not reasons to overlook the rest of the nursery day. For families whose care needs fit the term-time timetable, Towntree merits consideration with those questions clearly in mind.