White Rock Pre-school

A book of the week, regular use of the neighbouring park and learning built around children's interests give White Rock Pre-school a clear character. Based at Hookhills Community Centre in Paignton, this charitable, non-profit setting takes children from age two until they start primary school. Its appeal lies in the combination of purposeful play and close communication with families.

Ofsted rated the pre-school Outstanding on 14 May 2024, finding that teaching helped children make rapid progress and that the curriculum was adjusted skilfully to individual needs. The practical examples matter as much as the grade: construction became an opportunity to solve problems, outdoor play introduced measurement, and stories and conversation developed vocabulary.

Morning, afternoon and whole-day attendance are offered during term time. That gives families a choice between shorter sessions and a day running through to mid-afternoon, while keeping the setting's calendar tied to school terms.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care. Play, conversation, movement and creative activities develop language, physical skills and relationships. Books throughout the setting and a book of the week support vocabulary and literacy. Adult-led activities sit alongside children's own choices.

Plan for Potential identifies what weekly activities can teach and how they extend everyday play resources. Longer-term planning puts learning in sequence. Fantastic Beasts explores animals across countries and environments, including kindness towards living things; Growth covers plants and lifecycles, including butterflies, frogs and chickens.

Travel considers transport on land, at sea and in the air, including working vehicles and people who help others. It's a Kind of Magic brings imaginary creatures and superheroes into storytelling and creative mark-making. These themes give children fresh situations in which to apply earlier learning.

In May 2024, children investigated forces using cars, tubes and ramps, and used tyres and chairs to invent vehicles for their stories. Staff also encouraged children building model aeroplanes to try different ways of attaching materials when their first attempt proved difficult. That gives a concrete picture of learning through play: children test an idea, encounter a problem and have another go.

Outdoor and Community Life

The neighbouring park is used regularly, extending children's outdoor experiences beyond the pre-school's own spaces. There is also a practical link with the local library, which supplies new books to match children's interests. Outdoor activity and reading both have connections beyond the setting itself.

In May 2024, a community gardening project introduced plant growth, while a paramedic's visit let children investigate a stethoscope and try applying bandages. Outside, rolling tyres became a measurement activity, with staff helping children compare how far they travelled. These were concrete experiences of science, number and the jobs people do, rather than topics confined to pictures or explanations.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key worker and joins key groups morning and afternoon. That practitioner helps with settling, follows development and exchanges information with parents.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, enables staff to share observations and photographs and parents to contribute experiences from home. Communication works both ways. An All About Me form gathers information for settling, while parents' contributions and ongoing observation help staff identify needs and plan support.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO role supports provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Individual Learning and Development plans set developmentally appropriate targets, with reviews each half term and adjustments to strategies where needed. Staff can seek guidance and specialist equipment from the Early Years Advisory teacher and other professionals in Torbay. These are specific mechanisms for support, rather than a general promise that every need can be met in the same way.

At the May 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised the way staff identified additional learning needs, worked with families and outside agencies, and supported children's transitions. Current arrangements include a designated safeguarding lead and regular child-protection training for staff.

Operation Encompass is a police and education partnership that supports children affected by domestic abuse. White Rock participates through notifications passed via the Early Years and Childcare Service, allowing its safeguarding staff to respond to a child's circumstances. The arrangement provides a route for information to reach the setting when support may be needed.

For children with long-term medical conditions requiring ongoing medication, staff and parents draw up a healthcare plan, including emergency arrangements; it is reviewed every six months or sooner where necessary. Medication requires written parental permission, and administration is recorded. This makes the responsibilities around a child's treatment explicit.

School transition also involves sharing information. The Torbay council transition document brings together the key person's account, parents' views, language development and additional needs. Staff contact receiving primary teachers to discuss individual children, with parental permission for information sharing. The receiving setting can therefore understand more than a child's age and starting date.

Sessions and Attendance

White Rock operates at Hookhills Community Centre, Freshwater Drive, Paignton, Devon TQ4 7SB. Attendance runs Monday to Friday across 38 weeks of the year, during term time.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, afternoons from noon to 3pm, and whole days from 9am to 3pm. Children can attend either session or both together.

Admissions begin after a child's second birthday, subject to a place. The waiting list is ordered by when families request a place and the term in which the child would start. Requests for future increases in sessions also join a waiting list; children already attending who need an increase, and families seeking an immediate start, receive priority over those future requests. Planning a later increase therefore involves a different booking position from arranging the initial pattern.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01803 845989 or by email at whiterockpre-school@hotmail.co.uk. Branded T-shirts and sweatshirts are optional, and clothing that children can manage themselves is encouraged. Independence is therefore supported through an everyday practical choice, rather than a compulsory uniform purchase.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered during term time. The funding arrangements include 15 hours a week for three- and four-year-olds across 38 weeks, beginning in the term after the third birthday; 30-hour funding and funding for two-year-olds are offered in qualifying circumstances. Additional hours outside funded entitlement are charged privately. Eligibility and the attendance arrangement remain separate questions.

There are no additional top-up fees or consumable charges, including for funded attendance. Non-funded sessions are invoiced monthly, with weekly or termly payment arrangements possible. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Meals are not provided; children normally bring a packed lunch prepared at home.

Fees for booked non-funded sessions remain payable if a child misses them because of sickness or holidays. Four weeks' notice is required both to leave early and to reduce sessions, with fees payable through that notice period. These terms matter when a family's routine changes, even where the child is attending fewer sessions.

Attending White Rock Pre-school has no bearing on an application to White Rock Primary School. Preparation for moving on and the transfer of developmental information support the child; they confer no admissions advantage.

• Term-time timetable. Sessions finish at 3pm and attendance covers 38 weeks. Families needing care later in the day or during school holidays should weigh that calendar against their working pattern.
• Future session increases. Requests for a later term sit behind immediate starts and increases for children already attending. During a visit, discuss how the waiting-list rules would apply to the pattern you intend to build.
• Settling and individual support. Key workers, individual plans and half-termly reviews provide a clear structure. Use a visit to discuss how settling would work for your child and, where relevant, how the SENCO would coordinate support.
• Food during the whole day. Meals are not provided, so children normally bring a packed lunch prepared at home. Discuss current allergy arrangements before choosing a whole-day booking.

White Rock suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions, or whole term-time days from 9am to 3pm. Language, themed learning and communication through key workers and Tapestry are its strongest attractions.

The May 2024 Outstanding judgement adds weight to that appeal. Families must also weigh the term-time calendar, mid-afternoon finish and rules for future session increases against their routine.