Little Chestnuts Preschool

An allotment, a forest garden and children acting out their own stories in June 2025 give Little Chestnuts Preschool a clear identity: practical learning with plenty of room for children's ideas. The Purfleet-on-Thames setting occupies The Vinery at High House Production Park, a heritage site that also becomes part of the children's learning. Outdoor experiences extend beyond garden play into growing food, exploring the grounds and making decisions about manageable risks.

At its 6 June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the preschool Outstanding, found safeguarding effective and reported rapid progress from children's starting points. That judgement has concrete examples behind it, from examining a caterpillar with a visualiser to preparing produce grown in the preschool allotment. The emphasis is on doing, noticing and talking rather than simply completing an adult's activity.

There are 33 places in total, and the current age offer is two to five years. Morning, afternoon and all-day sessions give families different ways to use the preschool. Its strongest appeal is the combination of outdoor exploration, responsive teaching and everyday tasks that help children become more independent.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play supports communication, physical skills, relationships and early understanding of the world. Alongside that framework, Little Chestnuts uses a group-wide skills-based curriculum shaped around children's starting points and information from parents. Communication, emotional development and independence receive substantial attention, giving practical purpose to what children do throughout the day.

Planning follows children's interests. The group-wide In the moment approach means practitioners observe play and adjust the learning as it happens, rather than requiring every child to follow a fixed activity. For a child absorbed in a discovery, that allows an adult to extend the conversation or introduce a fresh challenge while the interest is still alive.

In June 2025, a visualiser let children examine a caterpillar closely and discuss its transformation into a butterfly. Mathematics also appeared in ordinary play: children compared amounts of rice, matched picture cards and talked about patterns. These are useful examples of how observation, language and early mathematical thinking can share the same activity.

Helicopter Stories, used in June 2025, brought children's own narratives into acted storytelling, with pictures and props supporting their ideas. Children could practise putting events in order and finding words for what they wanted to express. The activity gives storytelling an active role, rather than leaving children only listening to an adult read.

Outdoor and Community Life

The forest garden is used daily for seed planting, bug collecting, potion making, construction and digging in sand. These experiences provide different reasons to handle materials, investigate changes and work alongside other children. The garden is a working part of the day.

Little Chestnuts' group-wide Forest School–inspired approach adds practical outdoor tasks, including exploring natural materials, using tools and making shelters or dens. This is an approach to hands-on learning and considered risk-taking, rather than a claim that the preschool runs a separately accredited programme. Children have opportunities to judge what they can manage and try an achievable next step.

High House Production Park extends the outdoor setting beyond the garden. The preschool has its own allotment, and children have picked pears from trees with the groundsman's permission. In June 2025, children grew produce, gathered it and prepared it for snacks, connecting the work of tending plants with something they could eat.

With parental permission, children can also visit the nearby park for climbing, swings and slides. Free Flow, a group-wide approach allowing children to choose between indoor and outdoor play, gives them a say in where their learning happens. Suitable clothing comes from home because outdoor play continues in different weather conditions.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is planned with parents rather than treated as a fixed routine for every child. Staff agree an approach with each family and welcome information about home life and previous experiences. This gives parents a practical part in helping staff understand what feels familiar, what may be difficult and how their child responds to change.

In June 2025, family events and parent consultations formed part of communication, alongside regular updates about children's development. Staff also worked with outside agencies when children or families needed additional help. For parents, the useful combination is an ongoing exchange of information and opportunities for a fuller conversation, rather than contact only when a problem arises.

Everyday independence receives deliberate attention. At snack time, children choose food, pour drinks and clean their plates and cups afterwards; adult guidance supports spreading and peeling with real utensils. Lunch brings children together, with conversation and turn-taking woven into the meal.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO role forms part of the Purfleet team. Across both Little Chestnuts settings, targeted intervention uses additional adult support, and the waiting-list policy prioritises children with SEND, looked-after children and those facing significant disadvantage. These are concrete arrangements families can discuss in relation to their own child's needs.

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that support for children learning English as an additional language helped them make rapid progress, with home languages, cultural experiences and signing supporting participation. That finding gives substance to the preschool's inclusive approach: communication was supported in several ways, rather than relying solely on spoken English.

Emotional understanding is also taught within the curriculum. Staff help children recognise feelings and express them appropriately. In June 2025, verbal reminders and visual cues helped explain expectations, while advance warning before tidying gave children time to prepare for a change of activity. Small routines can make the day easier to understand.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Vinery, High House Production Park, Purfleet-on-Thames, Essex RM19 1RJ. Morning sessions run from 08:30 to 11:30, afternoons from 11:45 to 14:45, and the all-day session from 08:45 to 14:45. These are separate attendance patterns: the all-day start is later than the morning-session start, which matters when planning the working day.

In June 2025, the preschool operated on weekdays during term time. The shorter sessions offer a different rhythm from the all-day option, while the afternoon finish remains the same for afternoon and all-day attendance. Families should weigh the actual clock times against their commitments rather than read all-day as an extended evening service.

Enquiries can be made by email to Purfleet@littlechestnutspreschool.com or through the contact form. The preschool also accepts requests to book a viewing by email or form. This gives families a direct route to discuss a proposed attendance pattern and begin the joining process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded places are offered for eligible two-, three- and four-year-olds, including the 30 hours entitlement. Private morning, afternoon and all-day sessions are also offered for children attending without funding.

There are no consumable fees, including for funded attendance. Current prices for private attendance come in the preschool's written quotation.

• Different start times. Morning attendance begins at 08:30, while the all-day option starts at 08:45. Use those specific times when deciding which pattern fits your commitments.
• An outdoor-heavy day. Daily forest-garden activity and outdoor play in different weather conditions make suitable clothing from home part of the routine. This will suit children who enjoy practical exploration, with clothing planned accordingly.
• Individual settling and support. Settling arrangements are agreed with families, and additional adult support forms part of the SEND offer. At a visit, discuss how those arrangements would work for your child; for funded attendance, also ask how the entitlement would be scheduled and what to bring for meals.

Little Chestnuts suits families seeking either morning or afternoon preschool sessions, as well as those wanting the longer all-day pattern. The published times make that choice tangible. This is a setting whose appeal rests on children investigating, telling stories and doing useful things for themselves, supported by a strong June 2025 inspection judgement.

The forest garden, High House Production Park and allotment give its outdoor emphasis substance. In June 2025, Helicopter Stories gave children another route to contribute their own ideas. For families who value hands-on learning and an individually agreed start, there is a coherent offer here, provided its attendance times fit the family's day.