Ditton Church Pre School

A Gruffalo beach hut, an allotment and a covered storytelling space give Ditton Church Pre School a character that reaches well beyond its church-centre setting. The garden brings books, growing and imaginative play together. Inside the wider programme, practical preparation for infant school sits alongside learning shaped by children's interests.

At its May 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good overall, with Outstanding behaviour and attitudes, and found safeguarding effective. The important reservation concerned group activities: some did not help every child learn as much as they could. That distinction matters. Warm relationships and considerate behaviour were strengths, but teaching in a group needed more careful organisation.

Based at The Church Centre in Ditton, the pre-school has 30 places in total for children aged 24 to 60 months. It is a charity managed by parent and church representatives, with links to St Peter's Church. Families of all beliefs and backgrounds are welcomed, although church festivals remain part of its calendar.

Attendance is term-time, Monday to Thursday, with morning, afternoon and all-day patterns.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) guides learning through play, conversation and everyday routines. Children's interests shape activities that develop communication, movement and relationships.

Birth to Five Matters, non-statutory guidance used to assess development, supports progress reviews three times a year after children's initial starting points or age-two check. Activities reflect each child's developmental stage and interests.

Safety teaching uses stories, songs and discussion to explore Online Safety and Road Safety. All About Me/Body Awareness and Stranger Danger also feature. Community visitors, including the local lollipop lady and Community Warden, help connect those ideas with people children may encounter beyond pre-school.

In May 2022, number learning included searches for hidden numerals both indoors and outside. Natural materials gave children opportunities to practise coordination and investigate nature. These were hands-on ways into counting, recognising numbers and exploring the world. The same dated account identified the limitation in group teaching: activities occasionally failed to match everyone's needs, reducing what some children gained from them.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Pre-School Garden Improvement Project has created several different ways to use the outdoor space. An allotment lets children plant, care for and harvest vegetables and salad crops. A covered area doubles as a storytelling space and stage, giving spoken language and performance a physical home outdoors.

A wall mural depicts the Gruffalo story, while the Gruffalo beach hut is an open-fronted playhouse accompanied by a child-height wooden sand trough. A wooden climbing structure with a slide adds physical challenge. There is also a wheelchair access ramp and a bench built around the apple tree. These are useful distinctions: the garden supports growing, stories, movement and imaginative play within the same setting.

In May 2022, children could use the garden throughout the day, riding trikes and scooters, tending a dinosaur's teeth and serving make-believe ice cream from the beach hut.

Church life contributes another strand. Main Church of England festivals are celebrated, sometimes in the church building, and parents receive advance notice. Other faiths and festivals also feature during the year. Families can therefore weigh an explicitly church-linked setting against its welcome to children from different backgrounds.

Relationships and Communication

Key-person roles remain part of the staff structure. In May 2022, familiar adults supported children, settling arrangements accommodated individual needs, and communication books kept parents informed about learning and development.

Daily independence was visible in that dated account. Children washed their cups and plates after lunch; older children helped younger ones with coat pegs and lunch boxes. Adults also used conversations about feelings to explore the effect of one child's actions on another. These small routines made consideration for others something children practised, rather than merely heard about.

Parents can participate in the setting through its committee and Friends of Ditton Church Pre School, the group that helps organise fundraising and social events. Other contributions include helping with sessions, preparing resources or maintaining the garden. Involvement can therefore take different forms, depending on a family's time and skills.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO role provides a point of contact for special educational needs and disabilities, and parental consent is sought before outside agencies are approached. The setting also directs families towards children's therapy services and speech and language support. These are mechanisms for discussing and organising help, rather than a blanket promise about what any individual child will receive.

At the May 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and disabilities could participate in the learning environment, and that relationships with parents and outside agencies supported continuity of care. Current safeguarding roles include a designated lead and deputy.

Children who are well enough to attend but require prescribed medicine need a care plan specifying instructions and parental permission. This makes medication support an agreed arrangement with clear directions.

Rising Stars is the name for children in their final pre-school year before infant school. Afternoon activities include a lending library, with a book taken home and exchanged the following week, and PE introduced gradually, eventually involving a kit brought from home. Preparing to manage belongings and take part in familiar school routines gives transition work a practical shape.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Church Centre, 79 New Road, Ditton, Aylesford, Kent ME20 6AE. Morning sessions run from 9am to 12.45pm, afternoons from 12.45pm to 3.30pm, and all-day sessions from 9am to 3.30pm. These patterns operate Monday to Thursday during school terms. Friday and holiday care therefore need to fit elsewhere in a family's arrangements.

Session lengths changed in September 2025. Working-parent funding can be used for any session, while universal funding applies to mornings. This distinction is more useful than treating every funded booking as interchangeable: the entitlement a family uses affects the attendance pattern it can fund.

Registration involves completing a form and emailing it to info@dittonchurchpreschool.org. The contact telephone number is 07845 921621.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes universal provision for three- and four-year-olds, support for eligible disadvantaged two-year-olds and working-family funding. Delivery is term-time. The pre-school offers sessions up to 15 funded hours first, then extended hours where possible; it does not guarantee that every child can take 15 hours. Private morning and afternoon sessions are also offered.

Snacks and sundry resources carry separate charges, with the resource charge optional: families choosing not to pay must agree suitable alternatives with management that meet the nutrition and other policies. All-day children bring packed lunches; morning-only children do not bring lunch under the revised routine, and receive a morning snack instead.

Water is accessible during sessions, and morning snacks include fruit, cheese, bread and cucumber. Families planning a funded or private booking should budget for its charge structure as well as its attendance pattern.

• Group teaching. The May 2022 improvement point concerned activities that did not meet every child's learning needs. On a visit, ask how staff now adapt group work for children at different stages.
• A four-day, term-time pattern. Sessions run Monday to Thursday, with mornings, afternoons and all-day attendance. Families needing Fridays or school-holiday childcare need an arrangement that complements this timetable.
• Funding and lunch fit together. Universal funding applies to mornings, and morning-only children no longer bring packed lunches. Before booking, obtain a current written quotation covering the chosen entitlement, session and optional resource arrangements.
• Church participation. Some Church of England celebrations take place in the church building, alongside recognition of other faiths and festivals. Ask during a visit how these occasions are introduced to children and communicated to families.

Ditton Church Pre School suits families seeking term-time morning sessions, afternoon attendance or an all-day pattern within a church-linked community setting. Its garden has substance: growing food, climbing and Gruffalo-inspired play give children different reasons to spend time outdoors. Rising Stars adds practical preparation for the move to infant school.

The May 2022 judgement provides a positive assessment, with a specific reservation about matching group activities to every child. That is the point to explore alongside the practical fit of the four-day timetable. For families comfortable with church celebrations and term-time attendance, the combination of outdoor experiences, parent participation and school preparation offers a clear identity.