Sunningwell Pre-School

The Spinney, a woodland space within the neighbouring school grounds, gives Sunningwell Pre-School a clear outdoor identity. Forest School brings children there for hands-on exploration, while a pond area adds another place to investigate nature. This is a charity-run, parent-committee-managed setting in Sunningwell village, with shared access to the school’s field and playground as well as its woodland.

Ofsted rated Sunningwell Pre-School Good at its 16 October 2023 inspection. The setting has capacity for 24 children aged two to five, and combines play-led learning with practical independence: preparing food, managing clothing and helping look after the preschool are part of its curriculum. Those everyday tasks give children reasons to practise skills beyond a planned activity.

Term-time attendance includes morning, afternoon and all-day bookings, lunch club and a separately booked extension, giving families a choice of shorter or longer days.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, covering communication, physical development, relationships and the beginnings of literacy and mathematics. Sunningwell uses Birth to 5 matters guidance to observe development and plan what comes next. Its own curriculum turns these areas into concrete experiences, including preparing drinks, laying tables, planting and harvesting, and exploring the local community.

Staff extend play as children’s interests develop. Sand, water, mud and playdough invite exploration; washing up and clearing plates give children practical responsibilities.

In October 2023, children returned to selected stories throughout the term, discussing characters and bringing remembered ideas into play. Repetition gave them something familiar to draw on when talking and retelling. Children also practised finding their shoes and preparing sandwiches, making independence part of ordinary routines.

Morning and afternoon open-door periods let children choose where to play. Group time follows age and developmental stage, with stories, singing or movement before home time providing a shared ending.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School means repeated hands-on learning in a wooded or natural setting. Here, sessions take place in Sunningwell Primary School Spinney, reached through the school playing field. The weekly routine includes Wednesday morning and afternoon sessions and Thursday afternoon sessions, so outdoor learning has a specific place in the attendance week.

Children first practise getting themselves into outdoor clothing, then walk to the woodland and discuss the safety rules. Exploration follows a snack at the fire circle, with activities responding to children’s interests; the group later gathers to talk about the session and ideas for another visit. Dressing, exploring and reflecting are all part of the experience. The curriculum also includes identifying plants and wildlife, using tools and cooking over a fire.

The pond area is available for children to use, and the preschool shares the neighbouring school’s field and playground. Community experiences in the curriculum include posting letters, visiting shops and going to the park. These are useful extensions of play: children encounter the places and tasks that belong to daily life outside the setting.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a primary key person who checks on them during play, sits with them at lunch and takes responsibility for most observations. A second key person provides cover during absence. For parents, this creates an identified contact for questions about their child, alongside continuity when the primary adult is away.

Settling is agreed with the family rather than left to a single fixed introduction. A stay-and-play session allows discussion of the child’s interests, needs and developmental milestones; further settling sessions are typically two visits of one to two hours. Parents remain for the first, then leave during the second when their child is comfortable. The pace is decided together.

Tapestry, an online learning journal, shares development observations, termly learning priorities, news and closure messages. Parents can add observations from home, giving staff another perspective on their child’s development.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that key-person relationships supported children’s security, staff helped children needing additional communication support to make progress, and safeguarding arrangements were effective. These are dated findings about practice, rather than promises about an individual child’s experience.

The current team structure includes a SENDCO role and a one-to-one support assistant, alongside designated safeguarding lead roles and paediatric first-aid training. These provide identifiable responsibilities within the team. The key person remains the family’s main contact, making everyday communication part of the support arrangement.

Food arrangements are straightforward: parents supply a cold packed lunch for lunch club, while preschool snacks are charged separately unless families send their own. Food cannot be reheated, and parents should tell staff about allergies and dietary requirements.

Moving towards school includes sharing development information. Families receive their child’s observations when they leave, and can request that these are sent to the next school. That gives the receiving staff information about the child’s learning rather than relying only on a fresh introduction.

Sessions and Attendance

The preschool is on Dark Lane in Sunningwell, Abingdon, OX13 6RE. It operates Monday to Friday during term time and closes for school holidays. The main daily timetable begins at 8.45am and ends at 2.45pm.

Morning, afternoon and all-day sessions are sold separately, alongside lunch club. Lunch club runs from 11.45am to 12.30pm, and the afternoon timetable starts at 12.35pm. A prebooked extended-hours session runs from 2.45pm to 3.15pm. These distinctions matter when matching childcare to work or other commitments: lunch and the extension are separate parts of the booking structure.

Admissions enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the admissions form, with an admissions co-ordinator arranging the next steps. An application does not secure a place. Families reducing their booked sessions or leaving must give at least six weeks’ written notice, so changes need planning ahead.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and privately paid sessions are offered. The funding arrangements include 15 hours for children from the term following their third birthday, the 30 hours free entitlement, government-funded places for eligible two-year-olds receiving benefits-related support, and the two-year 15-hour entitlement for working families. The childcare is term-time; eligibility and the sessions offered remain subject to the relevant conditions.

Parents claiming code-based funding need to obtain or reconfirm eligibility before the next term begins. Current prices come in the preschool’s written quotation, and the fees and funding page sets out the charging structure. Forest School carries a separate session charge, as do snacks unless a family supplies them; packed lunches come from home. Parents also supply sunscreen during the summer months, together with the clothing needed for messy and outdoor play.

Getting There

Dark Lane is shared with residents and farm traffic, and families are asked to park elsewhere and walk up where possible; the village hall provides alternative parking. The staff car park is reserved for school staff, with blue-badge access to its two disabled spaces requiring discussion with the school.

The preschool shares school grounds and facilities, but attending does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Outdoor days and clothing. Forest School runs on Wednesday mornings and afternoons and Thursday afternoons, with waterproofs and wellies needed. At a visit, discuss how these sessions fit the attendance pattern you want.
• The next learning priorities. In October 2023, some activities were overly complicated, distracting children from their intended learning, and healthy-eating guidance was not consistently accurate. Improvement priorities included simpler activities and stronger teaching about food choices and oral hygiene; ask how these now shape the day.
• Packed lunches and allergies. Lunch comes from home and cannot be warmed. Allergy-affected families should confirm current arrangements for snacks, packed lunches and dietary requirements before starting.
• Term-time care and changes. School-holiday closures and six weeks’ written notice for reducing sessions make this a setting to assess against your wider childcare calendar. Discuss the settling sequence and your intended bookings together at the visit.

Sunningwell suits families seeking either shorter morning or afternoon sessions or an all-day term-time pattern, with lunch club and a prebooked extension adding choice. Its strongest practical character comes from woodland learning in the Spinney, everyday independence and a primary-and-secondary key-person arrangement. Packed lunches, outdoor clothing and holiday cover require family organisation. The October 2023 improvement priorities also deserve a direct conversation alongside the setting’s Good judgement.