Smilers Pre-school

Woodwork, borrowing books and outings to the Co-op give Smilers Pre-school a practical, everyday character. Children have opportunities for woodwork and activities with digital resources, explore their neighbourhood and practise doing things for themselves. This is play with useful tasks woven through it.

At its October 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Smilers Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, made good progress. There were also two clear improvements to make: giving children longer to answer questions and gathering fuller information about their backgrounds.

Based at Walderslade Baptist Church in Catkin Close, Smilers has capacity for 20 children. In October 2024, the children attending were aged two to four. Term-time attendance includes full days, mornings and afternoons, with several options for including the lunchtime period.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning through play, covering communication, physical development, relationships and later skills such as literacy and mathematics. At Smilers, adult-guided activities sit alongside children's own choices, indoors and outside. Staff observe play to plan what comes next, connecting new ideas with existing interests.

The afternoon timetable has concrete variety. Woodwork sits alongside a Kindle, a digital camera and remote-controlled toys; cornflour and jelly provide materials to explore with hands. Circle time introduces subjects such as shapes and letter sounds, while children can practise recognising and writing their names. These are different routes into learning, rather than an afternoon built around one activity.

Independence is part of the routine. Children choose activities, practise managing the toilet themselves and retrieve their coats for outdoor play. They also help wash up after snacks. Small jobs give them a reason to use developing skills, with a visible purpose beyond an adult-led exercise.

In October 2024, mathematical ideas appeared in ordinary moments: bread shapes at snack time and counting the legs of small creatures. Painting prompted conversations about animals and their habitats. Staff also used a partly assembled railway track to encourage children to complete a shared project, bringing problem-solving and cooperation into the same game.

Books have a place beyond story time. Children choose a book to take home at the end of the afternoon; in October 2024, they also returned independently to favourite books and joined in repeated phrases during reading. Borrowing extends that interest into family life.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden provides outdoor play space, and afternoons may also include activities in the church downstairs or a park visit. Each term brings a local walk, which can involve listening for sounds, searching for objects or following a map. These give children something specific to investigate outside their usual play space.

Trips include the library, the Co-op and a café, as well as bus rides. The curriculum also includes growing seeds and eating the produce, baking, and encounters with community helpers such as dentists and police. Everyday places and people become material for conversation and understanding the world.

P.E. sessions take place each term, with an exercise routine that includes warming up and cooling down. Children remove and replace their shoes and socks, so physical activity also includes practice in dressing themselves.

Relationships and Communication

In October 2024, children sought comfort from practitioners and invited them into their games; their key person was a familiar point of contact. Staff encouraged sharing through gentle reminders and praise. Those observations describe relationships built through ordinary interactions.

Parents contribute to an initial assessment shortly after their child starts. Later assessments track development, and the statutory two-year-old progress check involves families too. This gives parents a role in describing what their child can do, rather than receiving only an account of nursery activities.

The two October 2024 improvement points matter here. Adults sometimes supplied answers before children had enough time to respond, limiting their opportunity to express ideas. Information gathered at the start also needed to capture children's cultural backgrounds more fully. Both concern how well adults listen, to children during play and to families at the beginning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Assessment is used to identify children needing extra help and to prompt action when progress needs attention. Flashcards support basic English and help children communicate their wants and needs; additional funding can support identified needs. Discussions can involve other professionals, including a health visitor or social care worker.

Preparation for school includes sharing information with receiving schools during the summer. The practical value is continuity: the next setting receives information about the child's learning rather than starting with a blank picture.

The afternoon snack routine includes handwashing and milk or water. A voluntary snack contribution is charged separately, with an agreed alternative snack arrangement for families who choose not to pay it.

Sessions and Attendance

Smilers is at Walderslade Baptist Church, Catkin Close, Walderslade, Chatham, Kent, ME5 9HP. Telephone contact during pre-school hours and email provide enquiry routes, and an admission form is offered.

Full days run from 9am to 3.30pm. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon or 9am to 12.30pm; afternoon sessions run from noon to 3.30pm or 12.30pm to 3.30pm. The lunchtime period is noon to 12.30pm. These options let families choose a shorter session or combine attendance with lunch.

Attendance is term-time only, with funding claimed over 38 weeks. In October 2024, the setting operated on the first floor of the church hall. That layout is relevant to families considering access.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes working-parent funding for eligible two-year-olds, KCC Free For 2 provision, and funding for three- and four-year-olds. Smilers offers funding in three-hour session blocks; its weekly opening total limits use of the extended entitlement to 29 hours. Eligibility and the attendance arrangement determine how funding applies.

Private sessions beyond funded hours are charged separately. Funding can cover the lunchtime period where sufficient entitlement remains; otherwise that attendance carries an extra charge. The voluntary snack contribution also applies separately, with the alternative arrangement described above.

A holding payment is required when a place is offered. For funded children it is returned within their first month or put towards lunch clubs; for paying children it is credited against the first invoice. Invoices are issued at the start of each term, and private session charges still apply during sickness or holidays.

Fee-paying families must give written notice of at least two weeks when leaving before school or reducing sessions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees policy explains the payment structure.

• Listening and family backgrounds. The October 2024 improvement points concerned response time and initial family information. During a visit, ask how practitioners now leave space for children's answers and incorporate home experiences into planning.
• First-floor access. Activities used a first-floor church hall in October 2024. Ask how access works for your child and any mobility needs.
• Lunch and funding. The session choices include different lunchtime arrangements, and lunch-period funding depends on unused entitlement. Choose the attendance pattern and review its funded and chargeable elements together.

Smilers suits families seeking term-time mornings, afternoons or full days, with practical independence and neighbourhood experiences threaded through play. Woodwork, book borrowing and visits to everyday places give parents concrete reasons to consider it. The Good judgement from October 2024 provides a dated quality benchmark; the listening and family-information improvements remain useful points for a visit discussion.