Little Treasures Kindergarten

Two roundels, the blue room and the yellow room, give Little Treasures Kindergarten its recognisable shape. Alongside the main room, a garden with growing boxes, bikes and a sandpit gives children space for practical play. This Sittingbourne setting welcomes children from age two and has 40 places in total. Its appeal rests on hands-on activities and a clear link between learning at nursery and learning at home.

Ofsted rated the setting Good at its 10 January 2023 inspection. In January 2023, children chose their activities independently, made sandwiches for a tea party and turned an interest in space into homemade astronaut outfits. Those examples give a useful picture of the learning: children could make choices, handle materials and develop an idea through play.

Attendance is term-time only, with morning, afternoon and all-day patterns. That makes the kindergarten relevant to families seeking shorter sessions as well as a day that ends in the afternoon.

Rooms and Ages

The blue room and yellow room occupy the two roundels, while the main room provides another indoor space. Book-character pictures decorate the rooms, giving familiar stories a physical presence around the children. The nursery welcomes children from age two.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides activity planning across children's areas of learning. Construction, cooking, puzzles, role-play and reading give children practical ways to explore ideas, use language and solve problems.

In January 2023, an interest in cars became an activity involving paint tracks and talking about the marks children had made. Space prompted planet names, imaginative pictures and costume-making. Staff used subjects children already cared about as starting points for language, early literacy and creative work. A miniature railway outing also connected an interest in trains with a real experience beyond the nursery.

There were limits to adult involvement, too. In January 2023, quieter children sometimes waited for encouragement during activities involving a large group, and staff did not consistently explain why particular uses of equipment were inappropriate. Both points matter when judging how an engaging activity works for an individual child: joining in and understanding expectations need adult attention as well as appealing resources.

Outdoor and Community Life

Growing boxes, slides, bikes and the outdoor sandpit give children ways to move, explore materials and grow things.

In January 2023, children ate carrots and tomatoes they had grown, linking gardening with snack time. Stepping stones and a small climbing wall gave them opportunities to practise balance and movement.

Relationships and Communication

A key person is allocated before a child starts. That practitioner acts as the family's main contact and works with parents on the child's care and learning, giving the relationship a purpose beyond simply knowing a familiar face. Settling is planned together, with recognition that children differ in how readily they manage separation; the settling policy rejects leaving a distressed child to cry as a way to speed the process.

Tapestry Online Learning Journey is the nursery's electronic record of photographs, observations and comments about each child's experiences. Parents can view entries and contribute their own photographs and comments. This gives families something concrete to discuss with their child and lets staff hear about interests that develop at home.

In January 2023, parents shared children's home interests with staff, who used them in planning and discussed achievements and next learning steps.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and staff able to support communication, including for children with SEND, through signs and visual symbols. Those findings belong to that visit. Current arrangements include a SENCO role, and the SEND policy sets out a cycle of assessment, planning, action and review with parents involved in decisions.

Support can include referrals for further assessment and work with external agencies. The practical point for families is that there is a defined route from noticing a concern to planning support and reviewing it. Behaviour support also has a stepped process: staff and parents consider possible causes, agree an action plan where needed and seek specialist involvement if concerns continue.

Children do not have to be toilet trained to attend. The nappy-changing policy provides for individual changing routines and work with parents on toilet learning, so wearing nappies is not itself a barrier to participation. For children with ongoing medical needs, the medicines policy provides for a health plan developed with parents, including emergency arrangements.

School transition includes sharing appropriate learning and development information with the receiving setting and involving parents in the process. That gives the next practitioners a starting picture of the child, including additional needs, rather than requiring families to explain everything afresh.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Suite 2, The Oast House, 62 Bell Road, Sittingbourne, ME10 4HE. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time; the kindergarten closes for school holidays. Its calendar therefore needs to fit alongside a family's holiday-care arrangements as well as its working day.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, afternoon sessions from 12.30pm to 3pm, and all-day sessions from 9am to 3pm. Paid childcare and funded childcare are both offered. The application form lets families indicate their preferred attendance days and pattern, making the distinction between the opening window and the session being booked clear.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01795 550009 or by email at littletreasures201@gmail.com. Parents must give two weeks' notice before the last date of care; the provider may terminate immediately if payment is late. It also requires payment for sickness absences and holidays taken during term time, which matters when comparing the cost of attendance with the days a child actually uses.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is accepted within the term-time offer, including funding for working parents of children aged two to four. A separate consumables charge applies per session to that working-parent funding arrangement. Families should obtain a current written quotation covering their chosen sessions and the charges that apply to their funding arrangement.

Parents supply a packed lunch for all-day attendance, with lunch between noon and 12.30pm; the nursery provides snacks at other points in the day. Its food policy records dietary requirements and allergies with parents and discourages children from exchanging food, so lunch preparation needs to follow the arrangements agreed for the child.

Uniform is optional. A nursery-logo T-shirt or sweatshirt can be purchased, giving families a choice about using nursery clothing for messy activities.

Getting There

There are no nursery parking spaces at the setting: the adjoining car park's spaces belong to other businesses. The application form directs families towards parking on the road or by the shops, so drivers need to allow for collecting children without using those allocated spaces.

• Quieter children in group activities. In January 2023, staff did not always offer encouragement promptly when quieter children needed help to participate. At a visit, ask how practitioners now notice and involve a child who hangs back, and how they explain safe use of equipment.
• Term-time sessions. Morning, afternoon and all-day attendance all sit within the term-time calendar, with the day ending at 3pm. Families need a workable plan for school holidays and any care required after that finish.
• Funded sessions and lunch. Working-parent funding for children aged two to four carries a separate consumables charge, and all-day children bring lunch. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food-handling arrangements and what their child's packed lunch needs to accommodate.
• Settling into the roundels. The blue room, yellow room and main room provide several indoor spaces, while settling is agreed with parents and a key person. Use a visit to discuss how a new child builds familiarity with those spaces and the practitioner who will support them.

Little Treasures Kindergarten suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, or an all-day place ending at 3pm. Its roundels, garden activities and Tapestry give children materials to explore and parents a way to contribute to learning.

The January 2023 Good judgement sits alongside concerns about involving quieter children and explaining behaviour expectations. Weigh those against the practical activities and planned key-person relationship when considering the fit for your child.