Holy Angels Pre-School

Dens, digging and Makaton give Holy Angels Pre-School a recognisable character: outdoor exploration sits alongside a deliberate approach to helping children communicate. Based on a primary school site in Torquay, it has capacity for 30 children aged two to five. In September 2022, the preschool had a designated space of its own on that site.

At its September 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Holy Angels Outstanding, finding highly effective teaching, excellent progress and strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That judgement belongs to that visit. The current offer includes regular Forest School sessions, signs and symbols used alongside speech, and personalised learning planned through observations and assessments.

Term-time attendance can combine morning, afternoon or all-day sessions with early starts and later finishes. Another practical strength is the charge structure: funded attendance carries no additional daily, weekly or termly fee. Families still supply packed lunches, so the distinction between snacks and lunch matters.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the shared early-years framework: activities respond to children's interests and development, with learning assessed and reviewed as they grow. Here, observations inform an individual curriculum for each child. The useful distinction is between that common framework and the concrete experiences Holy Angels adds to the day.

Makaton is one of those additions. This language programme combines signs and symbols with spoken words, giving children another way to express themselves and understand others. Staff completed its level 1 and level 2 training in September 2024, and children are encouraged to use it with adults and friends. Resources and signs around the setting support the same approach, so communication is part of everyday activity rather than confined to a separate intervention.

Early literacy begins with practical preparation. Threading, puzzles and play dough develop hand control, while chalk, stamps and sponge painting give children different ways to make marks. A book corner supports both shared and individual stories, and a listening corner can be used alone or with a small group. Changing role-play themes include a doctor's surgery and hairdresser's, creating reasons to talk, take turns and try new vocabulary.

Mathematics also connects with ordinary play. Children can rearrange number lines, experiment with shapes and quantities in sand or water, and weigh ingredients while cooking. This makes counting and measuring something they can use. Creative activities leave room for choice: music, movement, modelling and gardening sit alongside opportunities to finish work at a child's own pace.

In September 2022, children tested how to make brick towers taller by improving their balance, and matched toy dinosaurs with pictures in information books. These examples show the inspection-era day in concrete terms: children were trying ideas, looking for information and staying with a problem. That is more useful to a parent than a curriculum label alone.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School means practical exploration in a natural outdoor space, with time for children to choose activities and develop skills. Holy Angels runs regular sessions in its developed outdoor area. Dens, sensory plants and a large digging area give children different ways to investigate; a log circle supports stories and songs, while paths through long grass invite imaginative play.

The wider outdoor provision includes mud kitchens and a natural messy kitchen area. Natural materials such as pine cones, feathers and sticks become play resources, and reusable packaging is collected for creative work. An allotment is being developed, so that element remains a project rather than an established growing programme.

Trips named in the preschool's activities include Kents Cavern, Paignton Zoo, Cockington Park and Village, and the beach. No frequency is attached to those outings. Sports day is shared with the primary school on the same site, while children can choose whether to join the Christmas nativity.

Fundraising also creates recurring occasions. The annual Sponsored Bounce involves children bouncing for one minute. Stay and Play gives parents time alongside their child in preschool activities; sessions took place in the final weeks of the spring and summer terms in 2026. These are opportunities for families to take part in the preschool's life, rather than simply receive updates about it.

Relationships and Communication

A personal keyworker supports each child, and settling-in forms help staff understand the child and family as they begin preschool. Independence is built into familiar routines: children choose from a self-service snack bar, practise managing coats and shoes, and are encouraged to wash hands and use the toilet independently. The emphasis is on manageable tasks they can gradually take responsibility for.

FAMLY, the preschool's communication app, carries messages, photographs and updates between practitioners and families. It also holds each child's online learning diary, which parents can access on their devices. Photographed work can contribute to that diary while the original goes home, giving families a practical connection between what a child makes and what staff observe.

Parent involvement extends beyond the app. Termly meetings, discussion groups and Stay and Play sessions sit alongside invitations to contribute stories, photographs and ideas from home. Parents can also participate in policy reviews and planning conversations. This gives several routes into the relationship, including for families who prefer a conversation to an electronic update.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised the prompt recognition of additional needs, structured language support and compassionate help for children struggling to regulate their behaviour. Those findings are dated; the present SEND policy describes the mechanisms families can expect, including discussion between the key person, SENCO and parents, targeted plans and referrals where appropriate.

Support plans are reviewed with parents every six weeks. They can include short-term targets, health care plans and risk assessments, with advice sought from external specialists when needed. Holy Angels also applies for ALFI and DAF funding. The practical value is a stated process for identifying a concern, planning a response and returning to it with the family.

For three- and four-year-olds, the stated staffing approach is at least one adult for every five children, compared with the legal minimum of one to eight. This allows more adult attention than that minimum requires; it does not establish a group-size limit. Staff are also expected to complete at least five training courses each year.

Current safeguarding arrangements include a lead and deputy roles, recruitment checks and a keypad entry system. Collection by someone outside the nominated arrangements requires advance information and an agreed password. Operation Encompass, a police and education partnership supporting children affected by domestic abuse, provides notifications that help the preschool respond to a child's circumstances.

Families provide lunch, while snacks and food offered by the preschool carry no separate charge; the preschool operates a nut-free policy and asks families to avoid sweets and fizzy drinks in lunchboxes. Nappy cream and sun cream are also supplied without an extra charge, including the no-extras arrangement for funded attendance.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Holy Angels Preschool, Our Lady Of The Angels Catholic Primary School, Queensway, Torquay, TQ2 6DB. Opening hours are 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time, with closure for school holidays. That calendar matters for families arranging care across the year.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, afternoons from noon to 3pm, and all-day sessions from 9am to 3pm. Children do not have to follow those fixed blocks: different hours can be considered where the preschool can accommodate them. Early starts begin at 7.30am, and afternoon attendance can be extended to 5.30pm.

Breakfast club runs from 7.30am to 8.35am and after school club from 3.15pm to 5.30pm. These clubs serve preschool children and children attending Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Primary School. Enquiries and registration use an online FAMLY form, with telephone contact also available on 01803 613095, option 3.

Non-funded booked sessions remain payable when a child is absent, and missed sessions cannot be exchanged. This is a useful distinction from flexibility when initially agreeing attendance: a flexible booking arrangement does not mean unused sessions can be moved afterwards.

Funding and Paid Extras

Holy Angels offers 15 hours and 30 hours Funded Childcare, with provision across 38 weeks. Funding includes eligible two-year-olds and children aged three and four; entitlement depends on the relevant conditions. Funded hours can be combined to cover earlier starts or later finishes, rather than being restricted to the standard session blocks.

Private hours are also offered. Food supplied by the preschool, resources, nappy cream and sun cream have no separate charge, and funded attendance attracts no additional daily, weekly or termly fee. Packed lunch remains the family's responsibility. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation; the sessions and fees page explains the attendance and charging arrangements.

Sharing a school site and sports day does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process. The preschool experiences can help children become familiar with a school setting, but the admissions decision remains separate.

• Term-time calendar. Holy Angels closes during school holidays. Families needing care throughout the year should weigh that calendar alongside its morning, afternoon and extended attendance options.
• Settling and communication. Keyworkers, settling-in forms and Makaton are part of the approach. At a visit, discuss how these would work for your child's communication and settling needs.
• Lunch and allergies. Families supply packed lunch and the preschool has a nut-free policy. Allergy-affected families should confirm current handling arrangements before attendance begins.
• September 2022 judgement. The Outstanding judgement is from that visit. A visit is the opportunity to explore how today's activities and support arrangements work for your child.

Holy Angels suits families seeking term-time preschool with a choice of morning, afternoon and all-day attendance, plus the possibility of earlier starts and later finishes. Its strongest current reasons to consider it are tangible: regular Forest School, Makaton throughout everyday communication, personal keyworkers and a SEND planning process with scheduled parent reviews.

The September 2022 Outstanding judgement adds substantial weight, while the no-extras arrangement makes funded attendance easier to understand. Holiday closure and packed lunches are the main practical considerations. For families whose calendar fits, this is a preschool with clear outdoor and communication priorities, and several ways for parents to participate.