PATA, Funbusters

Logs, insects and a rope swing give PATA, Funbusters a recognisable character in its October 2021 account of outdoor play. Children investigated living things and tackled physical challenges, with adults turning their discoveries into conversations. This is the setting at Cam Everlands School in Dursley, trading as PATA @ Little Everlands, with capacity for 35 children.

Ofsted rated the setting Good on 13 October 2021, while identifying daily routines and staff guidance as areas needing further work. The children attending then were aged two to four; that age range belongs to the inspection period.

Today's offer combines play-led learning, a key person approach and term-time attendance. Three-hour and six-hour sessions give families a choice between a shorter session and a full nursery day. Parent involvement has a practical form here: Wow vouchers bring achievements from home into the conversation about a child's development.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, conversation, exploration and creative activity. It is the shared early-years foundation, rather than an extra programme unique to this setting. Activities follow children's interests, with some led by children and others guided by an adult. That balance gives children room to make choices while also encountering ideas they might not discover independently.

Planning includes persistence and problem solving as well as trying something new. Children are encouraged to develop their own ideas, connect experiences and choose how to approach a task. For parents, this means the learning offer is about how children investigate and think, as well as what they make or practise.

Traditional songs connect sessions with home. Hey diddle diddle and Hickory dickory dock are among the nursery rhymes used, giving families familiar words and rhythms to repeat together. The practical value is continuity: a song heard during a session can become part of play at home too.

Outdoor and Community Life

In October 2021, the garden supported close observation of nature. Children searched beneath logs and examined insects through magnifying glasses; adults returned to earlier discoveries about caterpillars to discuss how they had changed. The activity went beyond spotting a bug. It linked something children remembered with a new observation.

Physical play that month included large tyres, a rope swing and logs used for hopping. Dancing prompted conversations about breathing and heartbeats, connecting movement with children's awareness of their bodies. At a smaller scale, children handled pipettes and spoons, cut rosemary and peeled garlic during a pretend soup activity. These examples show different kinds of movement, from whole-body climbing to careful hand control.

Outdoor clothing remains a practical part of the current day. Families supply wellies and suitable wet-weather layers, because children spend substantial time outside. Comfortable shoes and clothes that can cope with messy play matter more than keeping an outfit pristine.

Relationships and Communication

A key person approach sits alongside plans for individual children. Regular updates travel home, while parents are encouraged to share significant experiences and achievements in return. Wow vouchers provide a simple mechanism for doing this: a small success outside nursery can help staff understand what matters to a child.

Parent workshops or courses take place from time to time, exploring how adults can support learning at home and connect it with nursery experiences. This is a useful extension of everyday communication, rather than a promise of a fixed workshop timetable.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2021 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and good support for children with SEND, including shared visual signs used by children, staff and parents to support communication. These are dated judgements. Current arrangements include a SEND coordinator who works with families and other professionals, such as health visitors and speech therapists, alongside plans addressing individual needs.

Staff undertake training in child protection, paediatric first aid, food hygiene and online safety, with further professional development and mentoring. Students training as practitioners are supervised, and parents are told who they are. These are concrete arrangements for how adults prepare for their work; the inspection judgement remains the dated assessment of effectiveness.

Preparing for school centres on everyday independence and relationships. Children practise taking responsibility for belongings, expressing feelings and managing disagreements. The emphasis gives families useful things to reinforce at home, rather than treating readiness as an early start on formal lessons.

Sessions and Attendance

The setting is based at Cam Everlands School, Dursley, GL11 5SF; its contact address also identifies Birch Rd. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. The attendance calendar follows Cam Everlands Primary School's term dates.

Three-hour sessions and six-hour sessions are offered. The shorter pattern suits families building a day around a half-day session, while the longer pattern uses a full nursery day. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by emailing littleeverlands@pataglos.org.uk.

Uniform is encouraged but optional. Families bring a change of clothes, a water bottle and outdoor essentials; preschool children also need a PE kit. Collection arrangements use a password when the collecting adult is unfamiliar to staff, and changes to who collects must be communicated and recorded. Late collection attracts a separate charge.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded entitlements can cover all six daily core hours without an additional core-hours charge, subject to eligibility. The offer includes working-parent entitlements, early learning funding for eligible two-year-olds and universal funding for three- and four-year-olds, delivered within the term-time opening pattern. Private sessions are also charged; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charge structure outlined on its fees and funding page.

Families provide packed lunches, while snacks carry an optional separate charge, including alongside funded hours; families declining it supply a snack meeting the setting's requirements. The nursery publishes a nut-free policy and gives lunchbox guidance on reducing choking risks.

Parents supply nappies and wipes when needed, plus sun cream in hot weather. Those non-food items therefore belong on the family packing list rather than being treated as included extras.

Sharing a school site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Routines and adult guidance. In October 2021, children sometimes waited too long or were uncertain about what happened next, while some staff needed clearer guidance about their responsibilities. On a visit, ask how transitions now work and how adults organise tasks while keeping children involved.
• Term-time fit. Opening ends at 3pm and follows the school calendar. The three-hour and six-hour choices need to fit the family's working day and holiday arrangements.
• Lunches and allergies. Lunch comes from home, and snack provision involves either a separate optional charge or a suitable snack supplied by parents. Families managing allergies should confirm current practice under the nut-free policy.
• Starting age. The October 2021 children were aged two to four, while the current fee structure includes younger age bands. Before joining, ask which starting ages the setting currently accepts.

PATA, Funbusters suits families seeking either shorter three-hour sessions or six-hour nursery days within a school-term calendar. Play-led learning, practical independence and two-way parent communication give the offer a clear shape. Wow vouchers are a useful detail: learning at home has a route back into nursery planning.

The October 2021 outdoor examples add substance, but they should be read alongside the concerns about waiting, routines and adult responsibilities. For a family whose schedule fits, the deciding conversation is how those parts of the day now work in practice.