Collaton St Mary Pre-School Paignton

Pumpkins grown for cooking, a wildlife garden and summer Forest School give Collaton St Mary Pre-School Paignton a recognisable outdoor character. Based at the Parish Rooms in Collaton St Mary, on Paignton’s semi-rural outskirts, it combines practical exploration with language work and preparation for school. This is a preschool setting: children join from two and stay until they leave for school.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good, found that children made good progress and judged safeguarding effective. The detail behind that judgement matters more than the label: children investigated weather, handled creative materials and explored musical instruments. There were also two clear priorities for improvement, concerning individualised home learning and conversation at mealtimes.

There is capacity for 30 children in total, with activities based in two ground-floor rooms and an outdoor play area. Full-day and sessional attendance operate during term time. For parents, the strongest combination is hands-on learning, a manageable setting-wide scale and several ways to organise the preschool week.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes the day through play, conversation, movement and activities that develop early literacy and mathematics. It is the shared early-years framework, while this preschool’s particular additions include language sessions, gardening and Forest School. The curriculum links these areas through practical activities.

Each session includes stories, with individual and small-group reading and a lending library for sharing books at home. Children practise writing through marks, letters, names and labels.

Cooking, number songs and pretend shops develop counting and comparisons; construction toys, threading and jigsaws exercise hand control. Role-play encourages negotiation and conversation. Observation, planning and assessment shape activities around children’s interests.

BLAST, short for Boosting Language Auditory Skills and Talking, develops listening, attention, turn taking and communication in small groups. Its initial six-week sequence leads into follow-on activities, giving language practice a defined structure.

In January 2024, children recorded temperature twice daily and discussed changes, while older children hunted for shapes. Scissors, tape and glue exercised coordination; drums, guitars, clarinet and flute introduced musical exploration.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Wildlife Garden and Growing Area makes seasonal change tangible. Its raised bed, pond and planting spaces give children things to observe over time, rather than a single nature activity to finish and put away. In autumn 2025, harvested beans became chutney and pumpkins were used for pies and a weight-guessing activity. By spring 2026, planting included tomatoes and squash, with potatoes growing and strawberry runners filling gaps among established plants.

Forest School is offered each summer term to children preparing to leave for school, through six sessions involving outdoor exploration, den building and tools used to make bug boxes. It adds practical challenges to the usual preschool activities. Tools and construction tasks give children opportunities to tackle unfamiliar problems.

In January 2024, outdoor activities included stilts, tricycles and working with sticks and vegetable peelers, with log boundaries introducing fire safety. Residential care-home visits then brought children and residents together for movement, music and creative activities.

Little Acorns offers accompanied crafts, stories and music in the hall for children aged zero to four and their parents or carers, on term-time Thursdays from 9.30am to 11am.

Relationships and Communication

Learning Diaries record activities through photographs and written accounts, giving families concrete examples to discuss at termly key-worker meetings. Parents can also see them on request and keep them when their child leaves.

Parents are welcome during early attendance, while a private parent area provides photographs and information to revisit at home.

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted identified that home activities needed closer links to each child’s next steps, and that adults needed to encourage more social interaction and conversation while children ate. Staff were not sitting alongside children at meals, and children sometimes left their seats and wandered. These were specific practice issues, so they deserve specific follow-up rather than being lost behind the overall grade.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A designated SENCO role provides a point of contact for special educational needs, alongside safeguarding and behaviour responsibilities within the staff team. The preschool participates in Operation Encompass, a police and education partnership supporting children affected by domestic abuse. Notifications reach the setting’s safeguarding leads through the Early Years and Childcare Service, enabling staff to respond to the child’s circumstances.

Health routines include an NHS oral hygiene programme for three- and four-year-olds, with daily afternoon toothbrushing for children whose parents consent. Staff lead the activity, and children receive a toothbrush, toothpaste and timer for home use. The published emergency procedures also provide for paediatric first aid training and recording accidents, with parents informed about minor injuries at collection or contacted earlier where staff have concerns.

Sessions and Attendance

At The Parish Rooms, Blagdon Road, Paignton, TQ3 3YA, full-day and sessional care run Monday to Friday, term time only, for 38 weeks each year.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, followed by lunch club from noon to 12.30pm; afternoon sessions run from 12.30pm to 3pm. Early starts are either 8am or 8.30am until 9am, and a late session runs from 3pm to 4pm. Full-day attendance is also offered. The early and late options extend booked sessions, and eligible funding can be used for those hours.

Online or paper interest forms add children to the waiting list without guaranteeing admission. September and January starts follow the second birthday. Waiting-list decisions consider birth date, time on the list, siblings attending and home proximity.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal 15-hour funded childcare starts from the term after a child’s third birthday. Two-year-old funding and 30-hour funding are subject to eligibility, with provision arranged across the term-time year. Additional private hours and attendance without funding are charged, and the entitlement can cover combinations of hours that include an early start or late finish. Families should obtain current prices in the preschool’s written quotation and use the fees and funding information to understand the structure.

Food arrangements differ by item: cereal and toast are included for early-session children, while parents supply a packed lunch, including for children using funded hours. The food policy asks families to avoid foods containing, or potentially containing, nuts; this is a policy position that allergy-affected families should discuss alongside their child’s individual requirements.

Booked sessions remain chargeable when a child is absent, and missed sessions cannot be exchanged. Leaving before the expected departure date requires a month’s written notice, with fees payable through the notice period. These terms matter when weighing a regular commitment against changing family plans.

The preschool describes Collaton St Mary Primary School as the destination for most of its children. Attendance here does not guarantee a school place: families still apply through the local authority’s admissions process. The curriculum’s emphasis on independence prepares children for the move, but school allocation remains a separate decision.

• Term-time attendance and entry. The 38-week calendar and September or January starts need to fit family arrangements. An open visit with your child is offered before starting; use it to discuss how the initial sessions will build familiarity.
• The January 2024 improvement priorities. Individual home learning and adult conversation at meals needed attention. Ask how activities now reflect your child’s next steps and how staff participate during lunch.
• Packed lunches and allergies. Parents provide lunch, and the food policy asks parents not to bring foods containing or potentially containing nuts. Confirm the current arrangements for checking lunchboxes and supporting your child’s particular allergy.
• The written charging agreement. Absences remain chargeable, sessions cannot be swapped and a month’s written notice applies to early departure.

Collaton St Mary Pre-School Paignton suits families looking for morning or afternoon preschool sessions, as well as those combining sessions into full-day term-time care. Gardening, structured language activities and the summer Forest School sequence give the offer substance. Learning Diaries and termly key-worker meetings provide practical ways to follow a child’s experience.

The Good judgement from January 2024 is a useful foundation, accompanied by clearly defined improvements to discuss. The decision turns on the combination: outdoor exploration and preparation for school, within a term-time calendar and a session model that ends at 4pm.