Magpie Pre-School

Fruit and vegetable growing, pet stick insects and a forest area give Magpie Pre-School a practical connection with the natural world. Children help care for crops, harvest them and eat them, while the garden provides opportunities to investigate living things. This is play with something real to discover.

Based on School Lane in Faversham, within the grounds of Boughton and Dunkirk Methodist Primary School, Magpie has 24 places in total. At its November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and judged safeguarding effective. That is a dated judgement, rather than an assessment of today's daily practice.

The attendance choices include morning, afternoon and full-day sessions, with a separate lunch club. Outdoors, a covered garden space helps keep play going across the seasons; indoors, accessible resources support children in choosing what to do for themselves.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the foundation: children develop language, physical skills and relationships through play, alongside early experiences of numbers, stories and the wider world. Magpie builds its day around children's interests, with staff adapting activities and introducing topics that emerge from their play. Children have choices, but adults also organise opportunities to learn together.

The curiosity approach and hygge concept shape the surroundings, with an emphasis on interesting things to investigate and comfortable spaces to explore. These approaches sit alongside the EYFS. Their practical expression here includes low shelves that let children select materials independently, labels that help them return things, and an area where they choose songs and rhymes.

Number work is woven into ordinary activities. Calculators, clocks and an interactive number line sit alongside objects of different weights, shapes and sizes, giving children reasons to compare, count and use mathematical language. Stories use props, while rhyme cards and singing provide different ways to engage with sounds and words.

In November 2022, children investigated old cameras, mobile phones and remote controls, comparing their experiences and talking about the objects. Other activities involved extracting pumpkin seeds and using tweezers to retrieve small objects. These offered practical opportunities to use the fingers and coordination involved in later writing.

There were also clear teaching priorities in November 2022. Adults sometimes moved conversations forward before children had enough time to answer, and older children needed more opportunities to develop listening, speaking and turn-taking together. Those points matter because providing appealing materials and extending a child's thinking are different parts of teaching.

Outdoor and Community Life

A 6m X 12m covered area in the rear garden adds sheltered space for outdoor play. The setting also has its own forest area, where a visiting forest schoolteacher regularly leads sessions. Children have experienced bush craft and camp building in the setting grounds.

The growing plots give children responsibility over time: watering, tending and eventually picking produce. A bug area allows investigations beneath stones and tyres, while caring for pet stick insects brings living things into the nursery day. These experiences connect exploration with gentle handling and care, rather than treating nature as a background decoration.

Physical activity includes obstacle courses, dancing and chasing games. Children also practise judging risks in their play, such as deciding where crash mats belong beneath climbing equipment. The emphasis is on learning how to take part safely while having a go.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who works with their family on individual interests and needs, helps with settling and supports participation in activities. That gives parents a clear relationship through which to discuss their child's experience.

Before children start, families complete forms about them, including customs and celebrations that matter at home. Parents contribute to initial assessments and later milestone reviews, so planning draws on what families know as well as what staff observe. Open mornings and afternoons also give parents opportunities to join in play.

Independence is taught through manageable tasks: putting on outdoor clothes, choosing resources and helping tidy up. In November 2022, children practised fastening coats and counting as they put on boots. These small jobs make self-care part of learning rather than something adults simply do for children.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staff structure includes safeguarding lead and SENDCO roles, and early years educators hold childcare qualifications. Support mechanisms include identifying learning barriers during assessment, deciding on individual interventions with parents and discussing children's needs with other professionals.

At the November 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND received timely referrals to outside services and individually sequenced support, making progress in communication and in personal, social and emotional development. This gives a concrete account of support at that time, rather than a general promise about every child's experience.

Emotion cards, books and posters help children recognise and discuss feelings. Staff also use pictures and words to help children express themselves, while maps, flags and translated phrases bring children's home languages into activities. Healthy snacks and water accompany discussion of handwashing and dental care.

Preparation for school includes sharing information and building relationships with Reception staff during spring and summer. This is continuity work: helping the next setting understand a child's learning and needs.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is C/O Boughton and Dunkirk Methodist Primary School, School Lane, Faversham, ME13 9AW. Families can enquire through the contact form or by telephone on 01227 751404.

Morning sessions run from 8.45am to 11.15am, afternoons from 12.30pm to 3pm, and full days from 8.45am to 3pm. Lunch club runs from 11.30am to 12.30pm when required. These are separate attendance choices, so a family can consider the shorter patterns as well as a whole day.

In November 2022, the setting operated on weekdays during school terms. That historical pattern should be distinguished from the session choices above when planning care across the year.

Funding and Paid Extras

Magpie accepts Free for2, universal and working parent entitlement funding, alongside paid childcare. Funded attendance is offered Monday to Friday within 8.45am to 3pm; children using the full 30 hours in a week can start at 9am to avoid fees. The shorter start option therefore has a specific condition attached.

Lunch club is separately priced when required. Families can obtain current prices in a written quotation, using the session and funding information to identify the pattern they want.

The primary school site is a practical connection, but attending Magpie does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Conversation and group learning. The November 2022 priorities concerned giving children longer to answer and strengthening older children's group participation. During a visit, ask how staff now develop these skills in both child-led play and organised activities.
• Care across the year. Morning, afternoon and full-day choices are offered, while the November 2022 operating pattern was term time. Ask for the attendance calendar that applies to your intended start date.
• The complete quotation. Lunch club has its own charge, and the 9am funded start applies to children using the full 30 hours each week. Ask for a written breakdown covering your chosen hours, food and non-food supplies.

Magpie suits families considering either short morning or afternoon sessions or a full preschool day, with an interest in child-led play and practical outdoor experiences. Growing food, caring for insects and using the forest area give that approach substance.

The November 2022 Good judgement provides an inspection reference point, alongside specific strengths in individual support and clear priorities for language and group learning. Families choosing it now should use those priorities to guide their visit and weigh the attendance calendar against the care they need.