St Josephs Pre-School Unit

Weekly visits to Southlands residential home take St Josephs Pre-School Unit beyond its classrooms, with games, stories and crafts shared with residents. The setting occupies two large classrooms within the grounds of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Newton Abbot and has 25 places in total.

At its March 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good and safeguarding effective, with positive findings about relationships, language development and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children attending at that time were aged two to four. The important qualifications concerned how well group activities suited different stages of development and how much conversation happened around food.

Attendance follows school terms, with flexible childcare and advance booking.

Rooms and Ages

Starfish room places an emphasis on preparation for school, while Turtle room has a designated space for children who need a daytime sleep. Both rooms have cushioned seating within their book corners for quieter moments. That gives rest a place in the day alongside busier activities.

A covered outdoor area allows indoor-outdoor play in wet weather. Books, imaginative play and messy activities sit alongside gardening and physical equipment. A quieter space supports individual key-person work or small groups, giving children an alternative to larger gatherings.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the shared framework for play-based learning, including communication, movement, literacy and mathematics. Children choose indoor and outdoor resources, with structured activities introduced when they are developmentally ready.

Weekly Rhythm Time combines singing, dance and movement with a specialist provider. Yoga Sessions also include movement, songs and dance; Starfish children participate weekly. Weekly cooking rotates between days, helping children with different attendance patterns join in.

In March 2025, language practice grew from play: colour names at an easel, stories with unicorn figures and descriptions of cooked pasta. Microphones encouraged children to explore their voices.

In March 2025, the size of the circle-time group contributed to children losing interest and becoming distracted. Some younger children also disengaged when tasks exceeded their stage, including identifying an initial sound in their name. Older children and younger children did not always need the same teaching. That distinction matters when considering how school preparation is adapted for each child.

Outdoor and Community Life

Weekly Southlands residential home visits involve crafts, stories and games, sometimes lunch, giving children contact beyond family and nursery friends.

Children play outside daily, using the school playground and woodland during the week. In March 2025, they explored a wooded slope, water and mud; a small trampoline and large indoor blocks added physical challenges.

Families can join termly outings. Occasional visitors include Shaldon Zoo, a dentist and the police. Past trips include Newton Abbot Museum and a beach visit by train, with sand digging and water play. Sports day and Graduation bring families together; a Graduation celebration included a park picnic, games and gowns.

Relationships and Communication

Before starting, children have a welcome session. Parents and staff agree settling arrangements, including whether parents stay, allowing separation to follow the child's needs. The key person remains a family contact.

Tapestry stores learning journeys and records naps, nappy changes and intimate care, keeping parents informed. Book Bags lets families exchange books at their child's pace for shared reading at home.

Practitioners hold level 2 and level 3 qualifications; the manager is also SENDCo. In March 2025, the local Family Hub brought parent support and training onto the premises.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff used specialist county services and speech and language therapists, made referrals and arranged additional staffing to support individual children's needs. Current SEND procedures set out a graduated process involving the key person, SENDCo and parents, with individual education plans specifying interventions, resources and who delivers them. Reviews take place at least termly, and medical needs can be incorporated through a health care plan.

Rest follows individual needs and parent-agreed routines, with a familiar adult helping children settle. Sleep mats and blankets are not shared, and staff monitor sleeping children with checks every 10 minutes. Children are neither forced to sleep nor kept awake.

Toilet training need not be complete before joining. The intimate-care policy rules out refusing admission because a child has not achieved continence, and staff agree care with parents. Families supply nappies or pull-ups, wipes, the creams they use and spare clothing. This makes the practical responsibilities clear while allowing care to follow the child's development.

School lunches are prepared on the school premises, and the dietary policy requires staff to record individual requirements and identify allergens on menus. The allergy policy requests that families exclude nuts and nut products, with individual risk assessments and health care plans where needed.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is St Josephs RC Primary School, Coombeshead Road, Newton Abbot, TQ12 1PT. The pre-school follows school term dates, and its fees information gives Monday-to-Friday opening hours of 8am to 5.30pm. Flexible childcare is the attendance model.

Sessions must be arranged in advance. Existing families complete a declaration for the following term around half term, after which remaining spaces are allocated to waiting-list children and those due to start. The waiting-list procedure considers application order, room and age, and includes conditional priority for older children. These are booking rules, not an indication of current vacancies.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Universal funding (15hrs), Working entitlement (30 hrs) and Targeted funding (15hrs), subject to the relevant eligibility conditions. Attendance follows school terms. Working-entitlement families need an eligibility code when booking and must reaffirm it each term; private, fee-paying hours are also offered.

Snacks carry no extra charge and drinks are supplied during the day, including for funded attendance; booked school lunches cost extra, or families send a packed lunch. Parents provide the nappies, wipes and creams needed for their child, including during funded hours.

A one-off registration charge applies when a child starts. Additional charges can cover activities or outings whose costs the pre-school cannot meet, with written notice before extra payments are charged. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page explains the charge structure.

Leaving normally requires four weeks' written notice, except when a child moves into full-time primary school. Fees and funding claims continue through that notice period. Families changing arrangements therefore need to consider the notice terms alongside their intended final attendance date.

Children moving to St Joseph's Catholic Primary School can become familiar with its staff and spaces through shared activities and resources. Transition procedures also include exchanging learning records, welcoming teachers and supporting visits to the child's chosen school. Attending the pre-school does not guarantee a Reception place; families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Group learning and conversation. In March 2025, some group tasks exceeded younger children's learning stage, and snack organisation sometimes displaced conversation. During a visit, ask how circle time is adapted and how adults now use meals to develop children's talk.
• Youngest intake. The home page gives a starting age of 18 months, while the fees policy describes places for children aged two to five. Confirm the intended starting age and room before making plans for a younger toddler.
• Collection time. The fees information gives a 5.30pm finish, but the home page describes childcare ending at 5pm. Establish the agreed collection time for the proposed booking, especially if work makes that difference important.
• Funded attendance and personal care. School lunches cost extra, and families supply nappies, wipes and creams. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice, including the individual risk assessment and health care plan arrangements.

St Josephs suits families seeking flexible hours within a school-term routine, especially those who value weekly community contact, music and daily outdoor play. Southlands residential home visits and Rhythm Time give that offer tangible substance. The school setting also supports familiarisation for children moving on there, while leaving Reception admissions as a separate decision.

The March 2025 findings give parents both strengths and specific questions: relationships and individual support were positive, but group teaching and conversation around food needed attention. A decision should turn on how those everyday interactions now work for the individual child, as well as whether term-based attendance fits the family's year.