Stepping Stones Nursery & Pre-School, Claverdon CIO

French songs, yoga stories and afternoons in Victorian gardens give Stepping Stones a character that reaches beyond its village classroom. This not-for-profit nursery at Claverdon Church Centre combines an outdoor area used throughout the year with a separate pre-school classroom and activities involving local partners. The attraction is concrete: children can encounter a language, explore movement and investigate growing things within the same nursery offer.

Ofsted rated the setting Outstanding at its inspection on 12 July 2022. That judgement belongs to that visit, while the current offer includes Wednesday French, Thursday sports and Tuesday yoga. Stepping Stones has capacity for 32 children and accepts children aged 24 to 60 months. Its age range makes this a choice for toddlers and children approaching school age.

Term-time attendance follows either a morning or day pattern, with funded and privately paid arrangements.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, with play supporting individual and group learning. Social and emotional development receives an explicit emphasis here. Weekly themes, letters and colours give families something specific to continue at home, connecting nursery experiences with conversations and play beyond the session.

A separate pre-school classroom supports preparation for primary school. In July 2022, children rehearsed dressing with school uniform in role play, tackling small cardigan buttons.

La Jolie Ronde runs Wednesday French through stories, games and songs. Coolsportz leads Thursday multi-sports sessions centred on coordination and active play. Tuesday yoga with Wholesome Hedgehog combines imaginative stories, simple poses, breathing and relaxation, drawing on books, music and nursery themes.

Drama Tots visits each half-term for pre-school children, free for that group. Puppets, props and instruments support imaginative play, movement and music.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden is available throughout the year. Fundraising has purchased a mud kitchen and planting beds, giving gardening and imaginative play resources within the setting.

Woodland Tales at Claverdon Primary School gives pre-school children a forest school afternoon each term. The nursery describes a collaboration involving nature art, den-building, foraging and sensory walks.

Pre-school children also have the opportunity to visit Hill Close Gardens once a term. The restored Victorian gardens provide a setting for digging, planting and exploring, with activities such as hunting for bugs and making leaf rubbings. The appeal is the combination of a named local destination and things children can do there themselves.

In July 2022, children cut herbs in the sensory garden, used a pestle and mortar and compared the smells of their mixtures. Elsewhere, they worked together to move water and clean a tyre with brushes. These examples show the kinds of practical experiences present at that time: handling materials, comparing results and cooperating over a shared task.

Relationships and Communication

Family participation has a formal route as well as an everyday one. Parents can become members of the parent body, gaining a vote in decisions on behalf of the pre-school; parents who do not become members can still attend committee meetings, contribute opinions and hear discussions. Membership is a choice, not a condition of attending.

The committee involves parents and volunteers in non-operational decisions, especially fundraising. Trustees and management run the setting together, separating family participation from operational responsibility.

In July 2022, SEND families described frank communication and support from key persons and other staff. Children also practised managing their own belongings, washing their hands and putting on outdoor clothing. For parents weighing school preparation, those everyday routines provide a useful picture of the independence encouraged at that time.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and reported that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities thrived, with staff responding respectfully to individual needs. The current team structure includes a SENCO role, and the manager holds Early Years Professional Status and the Designated Safeguarding Lead role.

School transition also has an organisational element. The Ready to Learn, Ready for Life Certification recognises work within Warwickshire County Council's partnership principles for consistent expectations and effective transition. Alongside the separate pre-school classroom, this gives school preparation a place in both the learning offer and the setting's planning.

In July 2022, an oversized set of teeth was used for children to practise brushing, making oral health something they could explore through an activity. Both morning and day attendance include shared packed-lunch time. Eating together therefore forms part of the session rather than belonging only to children staying until the afternoon.

Sessions and Attendance

Stepping Stones operates during term time at Claverdon Church Centre, Church Road, Claverdon, CV35 8PD. Opening hours are 8.30am to 3pm, Monday to Friday. The school-holiday closure pattern is an important practical limit for working families, even where the daily hours fit their routine.

The detailed funded arrangements offer a morning session from 8.30am to 11.30am using three funded hours, or a day session from 8.30am to 2.30pm using six. An additional finish at 1pm for the funded morning or 3pm for the funded day is optional, requested and agreed within the contract. Funded attendance and paid extensions are therefore separate parts of the booking.

Private morning sessions run from 9am to 1pm and private day sessions from 9am to 3pm, with an Early Bird Session from 8.30am to 9am. A separate fee schedule gives different times, making the contracted start and finish a decision point below. Enquiries can be made by email or telephone.

The autumn 2026 term ends on 11 December, a week earlier than school. This is a useful calendar detail for families coordinating siblings' attendance: the nursery's term dates need their own place in the family diary.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including up to 30 hours a week for eligible parents from a child's second birthday, and the nursery welcomes families eligible for 2help funding. Attendance is term-time. Private sessions outside government funding are charged, while the funded session arrangements distinguish the funded period from optional paid extensions.

The registration payment is refunded after the first full term, with exemptions applying; it is retained if a family fails to give three months' written notice that they will not accept the place. Tax-free childcare payments are accepted. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the booking and any extensions specified together.

Getting There

On-site parking is provided at the Church Centre. For families using a car, that is a practical part of the village setting, alongside its term-time hours.

The nursery describes its Woodland Tales collaboration with Claverdon Primary School. Attending Stepping Stones does not guarantee a school place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process. The outdoor collaboration gives pre-school children a forest school afternoon each term.

• Contracted session times. The detailed funded and private timetable differs from another fee schedule, which gives a 9.15am start for day and morning sessions. Ask which timetable applies to your intended booking and have its times recorded in the contract.
• A shorter autumn term. The nursery finishes on 11 December in 2026, a week before school. Families coordinating siblings or work commitments need to plan for that earlier finish as well as school holidays.
• Activities by age. Drama Tots, Woodland Tales and Hill Close Gardens trips are for pre-schoolers. At a visit, ask how the French, sports and yoga sessions fit your child's attendance days and age.
• Packed lunches and everyday supplies. Morning and day sessions both include lunch together. Ask what families should supply for lunch and personal care, and how any charges apply to funded attendance.

Stepping Stones suits families seeking term-time morning sessions or days ending in the afternoon, with a village base and opportunities to participate in the organisation. La Jolie Ronde, Wholesome Hedgehog and the termly garden and woodland experiences give parents concrete reasons to consider it beyond its Outstanding judgement from July 2022.

The practical fit depends on the contracted timetable and term calendar. For families whose routines match those boundaries, the combination of a separate pre-school classroom, outdoor resources and named activity partners makes this a nursery with a clear identity and a substantial play-based offer.