Cumnor Preschool Nursery

A parent-run charity with close links to Cumnor Primary School gives Cumnor Preschool Nursery its character: families help manage the organisation, fundraising supports learning materials, and children moving to the neighbouring school can become familiar with Reception before leaving nursery. It remains a separate organisation. The shared grounds make the relationship practical, rather than simply a name on a prospectus.

Children aged two to four attend, with entry from the term following their second birthday, and there are 26 places in total. At its May 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. The strongest reasons to consider it are its play-based learning, opportunities for parents to participate and concrete arrangements for keeping families informed about their child's development.

Attendance is term-time, with mornings for younger children and afternoon or full-day patterns for those approaching school age. That age distinction matters when fitting nursery around family routines.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides children's learning through play, covering language, movement, relationships and emotions alongside early literacy, mathematics, creative work and understanding the world. Activities combine children's own choices with experiences led by adults. Staff plan around individual interests and stages of development, so the same activity can provide different challenges for different children.

This is a curriculum built around participation. Paint, clay and glue feature in practical activities, and families are advised to send clothing that can cope with mess. Aprons are offered rather than insisted upon. The emphasis is on children taking part, with clothes they can also manage as they learn to use the toilet independently.

In May 2024, children followed caterpillars as they became butterflies, discussing the emerging insects and remembering the stages of their transformation. That brought observation, conversation and recall together around something children could watch happening. Number learning was similarly tangible: numbered train carriages supported sequencing, while dinosaur sorting introduced counting, quantities and adding or removing objects.

During that same month, staff gave children thinking time in conversations and adjusted their communication to individual styles. Visual timetables helped children understand the day's sequence. These examples give parents a useful picture of how learning was woven into play, rather than confined to a separate lesson.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden supported scooter riding, play cars and an obstacle course in May 2024. Children practised balance and coordination while waiting for turns. Physical activity therefore sat alongside the social task of sharing space and equipment.

Cumnor Primary School provides another setting for activities: the nursery uses its hall for a weekly period when it is available, and children can watch school performances or rehearsals when these fit nursery sessions. The conditions matter. These are opportunities within an existing school relationship, rather than guaranteed additions to every week's timetable.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is allowed to take time. Parents can remain with their child until the child is comfortable with them leaving, including over several sessions; parents who prefer to leave sooner can do so. This gives families room to respond to their own child's reaction instead of following a single departure timetable.

Each child is allocated a key person, with particular attention during settling. That practitioner may not attend every session the child does, because staff and children have different attendance patterns. Informal conversations with the key person are arranged, and parents can discuss progress with staff throughout the year.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, carries photographs of children's experiences to parents. An All about Me form starts the exchange of information, followed by a conversation about the child's interests and needs; parent chats then take place each term. Together, these give families both glimpses of daily activity and scheduled time to discuss development. The progress check at age two also includes a brief written account for parents or carers.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENDCo role is part of the team, and staff hold paediatric first-aid training. At the May 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that support for children with SEND was effective, with staff involving parents and other agencies when developmental concerns arose. Referrals and cooperation with families were the concrete mechanisms behind that judgement.

Children whose home language differs from English are supported to use it in learning and play alongside developing English. In May 2024, staff worked with families to bring home-language words into their interactions. Emotional learning also featured then: children discussed feelings and the effects of their actions, while small-group games provided practice in sharing and taking turns.

Collection arrangements include written notification when a different adult will collect a child and a password procedure for last-minute changes. Medication, including inhalers, requires written parental consent. These are specific routines families need to understand, alongside the nursery's request that parents report an absence by telephone before 9am.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery operates Monday to Friday during term time. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon and serve two-year-olds and younger three-year-olds; older children attending in the morning must attend for the full day. Afternoon sessions run from 12.15pm to 3.15pm for children approaching four and above who will begin full-time school the following September.

Full-day sessions run from 9am to 3.15pm for that school-entry group. For families using only the full 30 funded hours each week, the day ends at 3pm, with the additional 15 minutes available as paid time. The 15-hour funded pattern consists of five mornings for younger children or five afternoons for the older group.

September, January and April are the three intake points. Applications join the waiting list with a deposit; this is refunded after the child starts, or if the requested place cannot be offered, but retained if an accepted place is not taken up. Most children initially attend two sessions weekly, which is a usual starting pattern rather than a stated minimum booking requirement.

Dropping a session or leaving requires written notice of half a term; without it, fees remain payable for that half-term's sessions. Families can download an admission form or request one by telephone or email.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery accepts the universal 15-hour entitlement, the working-parents 30-hour grant and the disadvantaged two-year-old entitlement, subject to the child's eligibility. Funding is used during term time. Private sessions and hours beyond a child's funded allocation are charged, including attendance where funding is used with another provider; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Parents supply packed lunches for afternoon and full-day attendance, while the nursery provides a morning snack. Parents also supply spare nappies and wipes where needed, plus a named drinking bottle; dietary needs and allergies are recorded on the application form. A voluntary contribution towards running costs is requested each half-term, separately from session charges. The sessions and fees page explains the attendance and funding arrangements.

Getting There

The address is Oxford Road, Cumnor, Oxford, OX2 9PQ, within the grounds of Cumnor C of E Primary School. Cars must stay off the school drive, and families are asked to avoid both the Oxford Road bus lay-by and the area outside the gates beside the post box.

For children moving to Cumnor Primary School, the nursery's transition arrangements include meeting their teacher and seeing their future classroom. Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process. Children who will attend other primary schools are also accepted, and the nursery has no formal catchment area.

• Age shapes the timetable. Younger children attend mornings, while afternoons and full days serve the group approaching school entry. At a visit, discuss how your child's age fits the session you need.
• Key-person continuity. The allocated practitioner may not be present at every session. Ask how information and reassurance are shared when another member of staff takes over.
• Online safety. In May 2024, learning about staying safe online had yet to be included in the curriculum. Ask how this is now introduced to preschool children.
• Parent participation. A voluntary parent committee manages the nursery, and fundraising helps purchase materials and equipment. Consider whether committee work or fundraising is something your family would enjoy contributing to.

Cumnor suits families seeking morning preschool for a younger child or afternoon and full-day attendance in the year before school, within a term-time routine. Its parent committee, Tapestry communication and practical school-transition links give families clear ways to participate and follow their child's experience. The age-based timetable is the decisive constraint: the strongest fit is with families whose working and care arrangements match those session rules.