Ducklings Pre-School

A take-home toy called Daddles gives children something personal to talk about at Ducklings Pre-School. In January 2025, children described their experiences with it, bringing home life into group conversation.

Ducklings operates at Caterham Valley Chapel on Croydon Road, Caterham, and has 32 places in total. It welcomes children from age two until statutory school age. Children can start before they are toilet trained, a useful practical detail for families considering preschool while toileting is still developing.

Ofsted rated Ducklings Good on 14 January 2025, finding effective safeguarding and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), while asking staff to extend learning more consistently for everyone. Current arrangements include a key person, individual planning where needed and an online learning journal. Attendance is term time, with morning, afternoon and full-day patterns.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage gives the day its educational structure, with learning through play covering communication, physical development, relationships and the wider areas of learning. Children choose between activities during free play, while group time brings songs, musical instruments, stories and discussion into the session.

Communication has concrete tools behind it. Makaton combines spoken language with signs and symbols to help children communicate and understand. Staff have training in the programme, and in January 2025 they used it across the group, including with children learning English as an additional language. They also gathered useful words from children's home languages, giving them a starting point for exchanges at preschool.

Early Talk Boost Programme provision consists of intervention groups, with two programmes per school year depending on the cohort's needs. This sits alongside individual next steps rather than replacing the wider play offer. Picture symbols printed using Widget and a visual timetable provide other ways for children to understand what is happening, reducing reliance on spoken instructions alone.

In January 2025, audio signals marked tidy-up and group times, while visual reminders explained listening, considerate behaviour and indoor movement. These cues made routines easier to understand.

In January 2025, staff sometimes concentrated on individual targets at the expense of extending learning for other children. The issue was challenge across the group.

Outdoor and Community Life

An outdoor play area is used in most weather, so coats, hats and suitable footwear belong in the everyday kit. In January 2025, children could move freely into a small outdoor space, building with large bricks and knocking their constructions down. Indoors, exercise to music encouraged whole-body movement, while picking up counters with tweezers offered a contrasting activity requiring precise hand control.

Outings include the local park and library from time to time, with parent helpers supporting these visits. In January 2025, children also bought fruit at local shops, made regular library visits and had attended a community Christmas event. Families could also borrow books for reading together at home.

Relationships and Communication

A key person oversees each child's learning and gives parents a clear first contact for discussing development. Home visits help staff gather information before a child starts, using All About Me forms on Tapestry, the online learning journal. Families also complete a Starting Points questionnaire and can update the information they have shared. Where a home visit cannot happen, a Zoom meeting can be arranged to discuss additional needs.

Tapestry entries include observations, photographs and examples of children's work, added weekly. Parents can access the journal on a phone, tablet or computer, making the child's experiences visible between face-to-face conversations. Consultation meetings take place twice a year, in the autumn and summer terms.

Settling sessions can be arranged where needed, including a short period with a parent staying if that would help the child. In January 2025, staff used knowledge of children's interests when organising activities and offered comfort to those who were unsettled.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support planning is specific. A Surrey Support Plan can be introduced after discussion with parents and the professionals involved, then reviewed each half term by the SENCO and key person. Parents receive copies, including reviewed plans. Referrals may involve Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy or a developmental paediatrician, and an Early Years SEND Advisor can be involved where needed.

A SENCO and deputy SENCO coordinate support. In January 2025, funding enabled additional staffing for children with SEND, and staff used advice from outside professionals.

Physical access deserves attention too. The building has steps and a ramp described as quite steep, followed by level entry. A disabled toilet includes a changing table, and the room layout can be adjusted for mobility aids. Care plans are developed with the relevant professionals where necessary, so a child's physical and medical needs can be considered alongside their learning.

Moving to another setting involves sharing the learning journey and relevant information. Parents who do not wish this information to be shared should write to the manager explaining their reasons. For children with SEND, Ducklings can invite the receiving SENCO, manager or teacher to discuss transition; a visit to the next setting with the child can also be arranged if necessary.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Caterham Valley Chapel, 84 Croydon Road, Caterham, CR3 6QD. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Ducklings operates for 38 weeks each year and closes for school holidays and bank holidays.

Monday to Thursday booking patterns are mornings from 9am to noon, afternoons from noon to 3pm and full days from 9am to 3pm; Friday bookings are morning sessions from 9am to noon. Children aged three and over must attend at least three sessions weekly; an attendance pattern of 15 hours per week must include an afternoon session.

Written notice of at least half a term is required to withdraw a child or reduce sessions, and changes take effect at the start of a new term. Paid sessions remain chargeable during illness or holidays. Ducklings also requires a logo t-shirt or sweatshirt, indoor footwear and a spare change of clothes, so the clothing arrangements form part of the practical commitment.

Funding and Paid Extras

Ducklings participates in funded education for eligible two-year-olds, universal funding for three- and four-year-olds and Working Parent Entitlements for two- to four-year-olds. Funded hours are delivered during term time and can fall within the opening hours, subject to availability. Hours beyond the funded entitlement are paid separately; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Voluntary contributions are requested for activity consumables, including for funded children. Wednesday afternoon cooking also carries a voluntary contribution request. Funded children receive a logo t-shirt free; for self-financing children, a t-shirt is included in the registration charge, which does not apply to FEE- or FEET-funded children.

• Challenge within shared activities. In January 2025, attention to individual targets sometimes narrowed learning opportunities for other children. On a visit, ask how staff now extend an activity for children working at different stages.
• Food and allergy arrangements. The prospectus asks families to send prepared fruit, while the terms prohibit food brought into preschool because of serious allergies. These instructions conflict; confirm the current snack and allergy arrangements before sending food.
• Access and personal care. The ramp is quite steep, and the changing arrangements may need adapting to a child's size and needs. Families using mobility aids should discuss the route and personal-care arrangements during a visit.
• Attendance commitment. Children aged three and over have a three-session weekly minimum, and reducing sessions requires advance written notice. Compare that commitment with your family's timetable before choosing a pattern.

Ducklings suits families seeking term-time morning sessions, afternoon attendance or full days, with a clear key-person relationship and detailed mechanisms for discussing additional needs. Makaton, Tapestry and Surrey Support Plans give the communication and support offer tangible form. The January 2025 improvement point is equally useful: families should weigh how individual targets are balanced with opportunities for the whole group. For parents whose timetable fits the attendance conditions, this is a preschool with practical support arrangements and a day built around play, conversation and shared routines.