Little Willows Pre-School Warwickshire CIO

Music, outdoor tasks and room to choose give Little Willows its character. Boogie Bug Club brings weekly singing, percussion and acted stories to the older children, while Forest School uses manageable outdoor challenges to build independence. This Whitnash pre-school concentrates on children aged two, three and four, with play and exploration shaping the day.

Ofsted rated the setting Good at its 23 January 2025 inspection. There are 60 places in total. The premises are on Franklin Road in Leamington Spa, with a large indoor play space, a sensory space and a quiet area offering different ways to take part or step back.

Morning and afternoon sessions run during school term time, with breakfast, lunch and tea clubs extending the attendance options. The practical detail matters here: funded hours have their own daily limit and cannot cover the breakfast or tea clubs.

Rooms and Ages

Curious Caterpillars serves children aged two to three, with child-led play and relationships across the staff team helping them settle into pre-school life. Blossoming Butterflies serves ages three to four, with an individual key person and preparation for the emotional and learning demands of Reception. Both groups can attend morning or afternoon sessions, so the age grouping does not dictate which part of the day a child attends.

A separate cloakroom, lobby, sensory space and quiet area surround the main indoor play space.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the common expectations for early learning, development and care: in everyday terms, children develop communication, physical skills and relationships through play, alongside early reading, mathematics and creative activity. Little Willows adds elements of Montessori, which gives children freedom to learn at their own pace, and Reggio Emilia, which values creativity, relationships and children's ideas. These approaches complement the framework rather than replace it.

In the free-flow area, children choose activities arranged and supervised by staff. The curriculum page explains the approaches and recurring activities.

Butterflies' weekly music includes singing, percussion, mime and storytelling. Weekly P.E. sessions may involve equipment, group games or racing.

Barnaby Bear goes home for weekends to connect family life with pre-school. Show and Tell lets children share toys and experiences with their key worker and peers.

In January 2025, children built with illuminated blocks, investigated insects using magnifiers and made their own creations with loose materials. Resources allowed different ideas to develop.

Outdoor and Community Life

A small group of Butterfly children attends Forest School weekly at Dobson Lane Allotments. Achievable outdoor tasks encourage independence.

In January 2025, the on-site outdoor learning area included bug hotels and a mud kitchen. Children also climbed, rode bikes and played chasing games with staff. Woodland visits followed a sequence of practical skills, eventually including work with an open fire, with safety teaching and continuing risk checks built into the activity. Library visits added experiences beyond the premises.

Parents provide named wellington boots for outdoor learning. Uniform is encouraged but optional, and clothing that children can manage themselves supports independence with toileting, changing and outdoor dressing.

Relationships and Communication

Caterpillars gets to know the staff team; each Butterfly has a key person who plans learning and tracks development. Photographs and observations form a personal file for families to keep when their child leaves.

Families can discuss home events with staff at session boundaries. Termly Open Days close normal provision: Caterpillar families have informal progress conversations, while Butterfly families have ten-minute formal key worker meetings.

In January 2025, staff helped children manage disagreements about sharing by using sand timers to make waiting for a turn easier to understand. Visual reminders in the bathroom and cloakroom supported everyday routines, while signs and face-to-face interaction helped communication. Small practical tools made expectations easier for children to grasp.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified excellent SEND support, with precise individual targets, regular family meetings, early referrals and accelerated progress for children receiving that support. A separate sensory room gave children somewhere to regulate or prepare for learning in a small group. That is a dated assessment of practice, supported by specific arrangements rather than a blanket promise about every child's experience.

Current support mechanisms include Individual Educational Plans, visual aids and timetables, multisensory learning and short periods of individual support according to a child's plan. Staff work with families and outside professionals. This gives parents useful points of discussion about how support would fit their own child's day.

Preparation for Reception includes emotional readiness as well as learning. Little Willows works with local primary schools on transition, helping children move on from familiar pre-school routines. That work supports the change of setting.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Franklin Road, Whitnash, Leamington Spa, CV31 2JH, at the corner with Whitmore Road. Term-time attendance is built around a morning session from 8.30am to 11.30am and an afternoon session from 12.30pm to 3.30pm. Families can select mornings, afternoons or both, for either age group.

Breakfast Club runs from 8am to 8.30am, Lunch Club from 11.30am to 12.30pm, and the short Tea Club from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. These are separate extensions around the core sessions. The minimum booking is two sessions, intended to help children become familiar with pre-school routines.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01926 425225, by email at info@littlewillowspreschool.co.uk or through the contact form. Fees are paid monthly in advance and remain payable for absences during term. Withdrawal requires four weeks' notice, which is a practical consideration if family plans change.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, the extended working-parent entitlement, 2Help for eligible two-year-olds and working-parent funding for two-year-olds. Delivery is term-time. The universal entitlement provides 15 hours weekly over 38 weeks; eligible working parents of three- and four-year-olds can access an additional 15 hours. Eligible working parents of two-year-olds can access up to 30 hours over 38 weeks.

No more than six funded hours can be used in one day. A funded block of six hours must begin at 8.30am, and funding excludes Breakfast Club and Tea Club. Working-parent eligibility must be reconfirmed every three months. These conditions mean the total funded entitlement and the hours of a chosen attendance pattern need to be considered separately.

Additional sessions and wraparound care can be purchased. Fee-paying places require a deposit, returned at the end of the final term if nothing remains owing, or on earlier withdrawal when the correct notice has been given. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Hot lunches are prepared by Whitnash Primary School's catering team and charged separately; alternatively, parents send a packed lunch, while healthy snacks are provided during both core sessions. Families need to notify staff of allergies or intolerances, and parents supply labelled sun cream for staff to reapply.

• Term-time pattern and funded hours. Core mornings and afternoons can be combined with clubs, but breakfast and tea fall outside funded provision. Compare the complete attendance pattern with your working day, including school holidays.
• Early number learning. In January 2025, staff sometimes introduced larger numbers before children had secured their understanding of numbers up to 10. At a visit, ask how practitioners now judge when a child is ready to move on.
• Support and settling. Caterpillars builds relationships with the team, while Butterflies has an individual key person. A visit is an opportunity to discuss how this arrangement and any individual support plan would work for your child.
• Food and personal supplies. Lunch can be bought or brought from home, and sun cream comes from parents. Families managing allergies should confirm current food handling and snack arrangements, including any charges, before agreeing attendance.

Little Willows suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon pre-school sessions, including those who want to combine both with lunch and add breakfast or tea care. Its appeal lies in concrete experiences: weekly music for Butterflies, outdoor learning at Dobson Lane Allotments and children choosing their own activity in a free-flow space.

The sensory provision and individual planning mechanisms also give families considering SEND support something substantial to discuss. The January 2025 findings provide a positive assessment, with a specific caution about the pace of early number teaching. The attendance model is equally clear: session choice is useful, but the club exclusions and daily funded-hours limit deserve careful attention.