St Marychurch Pre School

A parish hall, a garden with wooded dens, and a language programme delivered in short daily bursts give St Marychurch Pre School its character. Based at The Parish Hall in St Marychurch, Torquay, it combines classroom play with space for movement and outdoor exploration. Children can join from age two. There are 26 places in total, a whole-setting capacity rather than a promise about the number sharing an activity.

At its 23 March 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good and found safeguarding effective. The practical appeal today lies in its enclosed garden, individual key-person planning and Tapestry, the online learning diary through which families follow and contribute to children's learning.

Attendance is term-time only, with morning and afternoon sessions plus an early start and a lunch club. That school-year rhythm is central to deciding whether the setting fits family life.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning through play, including language, movement, relationships and early number work. It is the shared foundation for early-years provision. Here, weekly planning starts with each child's interests, developing abilities and next steps, with individual work or practitioner-led small-group activities used to carry that planning into the day.

The curriculum connects books, conversation and creative play rather than treating them as separate subjects. Stories, songs and rhymes support expression and listening; work with shapes and quantities develops mathematical understanding; art, movement and role play give children ways to communicate ideas. For parents, the useful distinction is between that broad framework and the particular activities added to it.

Blast is one such addition: a programme for three-year-olds that develops listening, memory, taking turns and participating in a group. Short daily sessions run over six weeks. Songs, stories, rhymes and a language activity give those sessions a recognisable structure, so children practise communication repeatedly rather than encounter it only in occasional activities.

Weekly yoga and music and movement add another form of participation. A weekly phonic sound also directs attention towards the sounds within language. These sit alongside outdoor learning, giving the programme both seated and active elements.

In March 2022, children used sand and pretend tea-making to practise controlled hand movements, while dough play involved pinching, shaping and conversation with staff. Familiar books supplied connections between activities and earlier learning. These examples show how ordinary play materials were being used for several purposes at once: physical coordination, imagination and talk.

There was a qualification to that picture. In March 2022, group activities were not consistently organised around the abilities of the children taking part or the number involved. Some children therefore had less opportunity to remain engaged. This makes the organisation of group learning a useful subject for a visit, alongside the content of the activities themselves.

Outdoor and Community Life

An enclosed outdoor area includes grass and wooded dens, while the wider layout adds a mud kitchen, ball run and patio. Indoors, children use a classroom and have access to a larger hall for bikes, scooters and toy prams. The combination provides different scales of play: quieter exploration, imaginative activity and space for moving equipment.

Outdoor use is frequent enough that families are asked to supply spare wellington boots and waterproof clothing. In March 2022, garden play took place daily, with children balancing, climbing and jumping over obstacles, then using bark and grass in pretend cooking. The current emphasis on outdoor equipment and clothing keeps that practical connection with the garden clear.

The Baby And Toddler Group is a separate adult-accompanied session, combining free play, messy activities, crafts and a snack. It welcomes children under five with parents, grandparents or carers. Adults remain responsible for their children throughout; this is shared play rather than a childcare booking.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person who plans around their interests and development. Observations go into the online journal, and families receive a progress report through Tapestry at the end of each term. That gives parents both individual examples of learning and a periodic account of how things are developing.

Tapestry includes photographs, videos and written observations, with an email notification when a new observation is ready. Parents can add their own photographs and observations too. Home experiences can therefore inform planning, rather than communication flowing only from staff to families. The learning diary is accessible on different devices, making it possible to revisit an activity with a child or share it with family members.

Settling begins with a pre-start playdate from 9.30am to 10.30am for the child and parent. The purpose is familiarity with the people and surroundings before regular attendance begins. Staff, especially the child's key person, work with parents during the settling period and contact them if their child is not settling. That is a concrete communication arrangement, rather than an assumption that every child will separate easily.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SEND coordinator and deputy coordinator provide a defined route for additional-needs support. Communication tools include Makaton, picture prompts and objects used as references, while visual timetables can help children understand routines. These mechanisms give families specific support arrangements to discuss in relation to their own child.

For medical needs, the setting prepares a risk assessment and healthcare plan, seeks advice from medical professionals and pursues further training. Its SEND arrangements also include working with parents and other professionals. The emphasis is on planning around a child's circumstances rather than offering a blanket assurance about what support will achieve.

At the March 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that staff identified additional needs promptly, monitored development and made referrals, including to speech and language therapists. In March 2022, children also used morning self-registration to recognise whether they felt happy or sad and discussed ways to help a friend who was upset. This connected emotional vocabulary with considerate behaviour and preparation for moving on to school.

Behaviour guidance needed greater consistency in March 2022: children were sometimes unclear about what staff expected. Less-experienced practitioners also needed clearer management direction to develop their practice. Those concerns matter alongside the positive account of relationships and support; they concern how reliably care and learning were delivered across the team.

Snack time is shared at around 10am, with regular choices including vegetables, fruit, yoghurt, toast and crumpets, and water accessible throughout the day. A voluntary consumable charge covers healthy snacks, with parents able to opt in or out.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Parish Hall, Church Road, St Marychurch, Torquay, TQ1 4QY. Opening hours run from 8.30am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. This is a sessional pattern with a school-day finish, so the afternoon collection time deserves as much attention as the morning start.

The morning session runs from 9am to noon; the afternoon runs from 12.30pm to 3pm. Between them, lunch club operates from noon to 12.30pm. An additional early morning session runs from 8.30am to 9am and is non-funded; it can be booked daily. These are separate elements of the timetable, rather than an opening window presented as a single full-day booking.

Children may join during the school year. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01803 312542 or through the contact form. The separate Baby And Toddler Group meets on Mondays and Fridays from 10.30am to 11.45am in term time.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded and privately paid childcare are both offered. Funding includes 30 hours for children from the term after their second birthday where parents meet the eligibility criteria, and 15-hour two-year-old funding for eligible children. Attendance follows the term-time timetable. For funding after a child's third birthday, staff require a birth certificate and proof of address.

Private charges apply where a child is ineligible for funding, or where eligible families use their funding at another establishment. The early morning session is paid separately. There is no deposit or registration charge, and booked sessions still require payment when a child does not attend.

The voluntary snack-related consumable charge allows families to opt in or out. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the funding and charges information explains the structure.

• Term-time timetable. Morning and afternoon sessions finish within a day ending at 3pm, and the early start is non-funded. Families needing care through school holidays or later afternoons should weigh that pattern against their routine.
• Group learning and staff guidance. The March 2022 improvement points concerned activity organisation, consistent behaviour expectations and direction for less-experienced staff. During a visit, ask how group activities and practitioner support now address those points.
• Settling and additional needs. A pre-start playdate and key-person support form the settling arrangements, while communication aids and healthcare plans support individual needs. Use the visit to discuss how those arrangements would work for your child.

St Marychurch Pre School suits families seeking either morning or afternoon term-time attendance, with lunch club and an early start providing additional timetable options. Its garden, Blast language sessions and two-way Tapestry diary give parents concrete reasons to consider it. The balance is a Good judgement from 2022 alongside improvement points about consistency and group organisation. The strongest fit is with families who value play-based learning and an involved relationship with their child's key person, and whose childcare needs match the sessional day.