Charlton & District Playgroup

A wild garden, a mud kitchen and a sandpit give Charlton & District Playgroup a character that goes beyond its church setting. Based at St. Thomas’ Church in Charlton, near Andover, it combines activity zones indoors with a large outdoor area where children can run, garden and explore. There is room for energetic play as well as quieter choices.

At its April 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the playgroup Good and found safeguarding effective. Its current offer is for children from two years six months to rising five, with capacity for 38 children in total. Care is non-denominational, and a voluntary committee involving parents and other volunteers manages the setting.

Attendance is term time only, with afternoon sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays alongside flexible daytime care. This is a preschool offer whose timetable needs to fit the family’s week.

Rooms and Ages

Resources are arranged across two rooms, with activity zones that let children find materials and choose what to use. The Butterfly room contains the snack bar, where children select food and pour drinks for themselves. That gives everyday routines an independence-building role, rather than making every part of the day adult-directed.

Choice has a clear place in the timetable. Children move between activities led by adults and those they choose themselves; shared carpet time brings them together for songs, stories and discussion. The routine can change to accommodate extra experiences or spontaneous learning, so its structure leaves room to follow an interest.

Learning and Activities

The curriculum follows the Early Years Foundation Stage, the framework for children’s learning, development and care: here, play, conversation, physical activity and everyday self-care put that learning into practice. The framework is the foundation rather than an added programme.

Language & Listening groups are daily key-group activities organised by rota. A separate Language Group provides additional language support on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. These give conversation a planned place within the week, alongside the informal talk that happens during play.

In April 2025, children chose sustained creative activities, including models made from discarded materials and insects shaped from dough. Adults used conversations about fruit and plant care to draw on what children already knew. These are concrete examples of learning through making and talking, rather than relying only on whole-group instruction.

The Playgroup Song gives social expectations a simple shared form: its words encourage kindness, sharing toys and speaking considerately. Songs also feature in the daily routine. Together, these make language part of group life as well as a separate learning activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large fenced grass area provides space for movement, while the developing wild garden contains a mud kitchen and sandpit. Gardening and observing nature sit alongside physical play, giving children different reasons to spend time outdoors.

Outdoor access changes with the season. During warmer months, children can move between indoor and outdoor activities; in colder periods, the routine includes outdoor time together. In April 2025, physical activities included balancing on stepping stones, playing with balls, working dough and digging in sand. The combination involves both whole-body movement and hand control.

Visitors broaden the experiences beyond the playgroup’s usual resources. Fire fighters talk about their community role, while a dance instructor, storyteller and visiting farm bring movement, stories and encounters with animals into the setting. These experiences introduce children to people and activities beyond their immediate group.

Relationships and Communication

At the April 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff understood their key children’s needs, worked with families and professionals on individual education and behaviour plans where appropriate, and used small-group work to support development and progress. That matters for families whose child needs help tailored to a specific difficulty, rather than the same response as everyone else.

In April 2025, adults helped children who needed extra support to settle and join activities. Behaviour was addressed through calm conversation at the child’s level, with encouragement for positive choices. Visual schedules and pictures supported spoken instructions, giving children another way to understand a change of routine.

Home learning also had a practical form in April 2025: families received books and activities to continue learning outside the playgroup. This connects the child’s experiences across home and preschool without requiring parents to recreate the whole nursery day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The setting is accessible to parents and children with physical disabilities and works with outside professionals to support additional needs. All staff hold current paediatric first-aid certificates. These are concrete arrangements that families can weigh alongside the dated inspection findings.

At the snack bar, food choices take account of individual dietary needs and family preferences, while children practise helping themselves and pouring drinks. In April 2025, growing produce and talking about food choices linked healthy eating to hands-on experiences; handwashing and self-care were also part of everyday learning.

Sessions and Attendance

Flexible daytime care operates during term time. The daily routine includes a 9am start and a later start at 9.30am; children can leave at noon or remain for lunch, with everyone leaving by 12.30pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, children can leave after lunch, stay on, or join the afternoon session at 12.30pm; the day ends at 3pm. Afternoon activity includes play choices, outdoor time, a snack, and stories or singing. The difference between the shorter days and the two afternoon days is a practical part of choosing a weekly pattern.

Getting There

The address is St. Thomas’ Church, Charlton, near Andover, Hampshire SP10 4AN. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone or by email.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is accepted, with term-time delivery, and additional private hours can be purchased. Obtain a current written quotation for prices and the charge structure before committing to a booking.

• A term-time timetable. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays finish at 12.30pm, while Tuesdays and Thursdays continue until 3pm. Consider how those different finishing times fit work and collection arrangements.
• Questions and staff consistency. In April 2025, some adult questions came too quickly or offered too little challenge, and practice varied across the staff team. At a visit, ask how questioning and staff development have been adjusted in response.
• Funding and everyday costs. Funded childcare and additional private hours are both offered. What will your proposed pattern include for meals, snacks and non-food consumables, and what would you need to supply or pay for separately?

Charlton & District Playgroup suits families seeking flexible daytime attendance or Tuesday and Thursday afternoon sessions during term time. Its strongest practical attractions are the outdoor space, planned language groups and opportunities for children to choose resources and manage everyday tasks themselves.

The April 2025 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, balanced by specific work on adult questioning and consistency across the team. For a child who enjoys making, movement and outdoor exploration, the grass area, wild garden and visiting activities give this small preschool offer plenty of substance.