Catkins Preschool

A community hall, a book woven through the term’s activities and an outdoor area for physical play give Catkins Preschool its character. Based at Tunbury Hall in Walderslade, Chatham, it welcomes children from age two and has 53 places in total. This is a preschool built around play, stories and preparation for school.

At its April 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Catkins Good and found that adapting group activities helped children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) participate. That judgement needs to be read alongside the later regulatory position: a welfare requirements notice issued in October 2025 required changes to behaviour support and whistleblowing practice.

Attendance follows the school-term rhythm, with half-day collection options alongside attendance into the afternoon. For parents, the central decision is both practical and about care: whether that timetable fits, and how the nursery has addressed the later required changes.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children’s learning and care, with play-based activities tailored to their development. At Catkins, stories supply a concrete thread through that work. A book of the term connects activities across areas of learning, while stories are read twice daily and children can choose books in the reading area.

Elmer is one example of that approach. The elephant’s differences and the characters’ use of their individual strengths give children material for thinking about identity and cooperation. It makes the story a starting point for conversation, rather than simply a book to finish.

The role-play area gives children space to invent situations and play together. Messy activities encourage exploration through the senses. In April 2023, an ice activity prompted children to investigate, learn vocabulary and return to their play as the ice changed; they later added mud and toy cars. The example shows how an activity could develop through children’s own interests.

Rising fives sessions run on Monday and Wednesday afternoons from January. They extend skills across the seven areas of learning and are mainly intended for children approaching school that September, although younger children can also join. In April 2023, the school-preparation work included children talking to the group about favourite toys brought from home, giving them practice speaking and listening in front of others.

Outdoor and Community Life

The hall is the main activity space, with a smaller side room for messy play and a kitchen used for cooking activities. That arrangement gives different experiences their own spaces within the community-hall setting. A secure outdoor play area adds room for movement, and outdoor activities change daily, with children encouraged to engage with the natural environment.

In April 2023, children also took regular walks and outings in the surrounding community. Those experiences extended physically active play beyond the preschool premises. They are an inspection-time example, separate from the current outdoor offer.

Relationships and Communication

A designated key worker gives each child a consistent staff contact. Daily conversations with parents are complemented by Tapestry, the online learning journal through which families can see photographs and videos of their child. This provides a way to connect nursery experiences with conversations at home.

In April 2023, children who became upset while settling sought comfort from their key person. Staff also exchanged information with childminders and worked with local schools on children’s transitions. For children attending more than one setting, that information-sharing helped connect the different parts of their care; the current prospectus also includes sharing planning information with other settings and childminders.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staff structure includes a SENCO role, and staff hold current paediatric first-aid certificates. These are concrete arrangements for support and health needs, rather than a guarantee about any individual child’s experience. The preschool also makes safeguarding, behaviour management and whistleblowing policies accessible to families.

Repeated safety and risk-assessment incidents prompted regulatory action in November 2024. At the 5 November visit, arrival and departure procedures had been revised; a further incident notified on 14 November led to a welfare requirements notice requiring better premises security to prevent children leaving unsupervised, alongside improved risk assessments covering staff deployment and supervision. On 5 December 2024, the safeguarding and welfare actions were confirmed as met.

On 30 October 2025, Ofsted published a welfare requirements notice following its 28 October visit, requiring staff to raise concerns promptly through whistleblowing procedures and use developmentally appropriate behaviour strategies positively and consistently, with actions due by 19 November 2025. The latest published position is that the response would be monitored. This is a material consideration when assessing how children’s behaviour is understood and managed.

Sessions and Attendance

Catkins operates for 38 weeks each year during term time. The detailed timetable gives opening hours of 8.45am to 3.30pm on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and 8.45am to 3pm on Tuesday and Friday. Half-day attendance can end at either 11.45am or 12.30pm, allowing families to choose collection before or after the lunch period.

Public holidays are closure days. Election days also require closure because Tunbury Hall serves as a polling station. That additional interruption matters for families arranging care around work, even within the term-time calendar.

Getting There

The address is Tunbury Hall, Catkin Close, Walderslade, Chatham ME5 9HP, off Tunbury Avenue. The premises have their own car park, wheelchair access and accessible facilities. The preschool’s contact routes are email and telephone.

Funding and Paid Extras

Catkins accepts the universal entitlement of 15 hours for children over three, the working parent entitlement for children aged two and above, and Free for Two funding where eligible. Its funded offer is delivered across 38 weeks, with eligible children receiving either 15 or 30 hours per week according to their entitlement.

Children staying for lunch bring a lunchbox from home; lunch runs from 11.45am to 12.30pm. The preschool’s policy excludes food containing nuts. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

• Behaviour support and raising concerns. The October 2025 notice required consistent, developmentally appropriate behaviour strategies and prompt reporting of concerns. At a visit, ask how those changes now work in everyday practice and what response followed the notice.
• Afternoon hours and closures. One timetable ends Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 3.30pm, while another gives a 3pm finish throughout the week. Confirm the agreed collection time, and account for election-day closures as well as term holidays.
• Early mathematics. In April 2023, support for counting was inconsistent, with little encouragement to move beyond two. Ask how counting is now developed through play and daily routines.
• Lunch and personal supplies. Children staying for lunch need their own lunchbox, and the preschool excludes nuts. Families managing allergies should confirm current practice; also ask which personal care supplies to bring.

Catkins suits families seeking term-time preschool, whether through half-day attendance or days continuing into the afternoon. Books, role play, outdoor activity and Rising fives give the offer substance, while the hall’s separate activity spaces help explain what children can do there.

The October 2025 welfare requirements notice is central to a present-day decision. Families should place the nursery’s response to those required changes alongside the appeal of its learning activities and attendance options.