Little Rays Daycare

Mud, growing food and learning outdoors give Little Rays Daycare its character. Based at Godalming Town Football Club, the preschool combines Forest School, where children explore nature through practical play, with individually planned learning. Dens, plant hunts and gentle use of tools make the outdoor emphasis concrete. This is a setting for families happy to make waterproofs and spare clothes part of everyday nursery life.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good, found safeguarding effective and identified suitable arrangements for children with special educational needs and disabilities. The whole setting has capacity for 35 children; the preschool offer accommodates up to 24 children aged 1–5. Those are different measures, rather than a promise about the number attending together.

A preschool day, breakfast and after-school care, and flexible additional hours give families several attendance options. The strongest reasons to consider Little Rays are its practical outdoor curriculum, individual key-person planning and recurring contact with a local care home.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage links children's learning, development and care: it covers language, movement, early number work and social development, explored through play and daily routines. Little Rays combines opportunities for children to choose their own exploration with activities introduced by adults. A key person plans each child's learning individually, giving that freedom a personal direction.

Forest School adds practical encounters with the natural world. Children build dens, look for insects and plants, make leaf pictures and explore tools gently. These are activities with something to handle, investigate or make, giving children tangible starting points for conversation and discovery. Reading for enjoyment also has an explicit place alongside the outdoor work.

In September 2024, children worked at freeing prepared fossils using different tools, joined singing activities and took part in stories brought to life by staff. Adults also used languages from around the world while counting children back indoors. The examples show how practical activity, storytelling and language could overlap within the preschool day.

Outdoor and Community Life

An allotment supplies produce for meals, connecting growing with food children encounter at the setting. Outdoor activity continues through different weather conditions, with clothing adapted to rain, cold and heat. The practical expectation is clear: children need clothes suited to getting wet or muddy, plus labelled replacements.

Every other Thursday brings a visit to a local care home, where children meet animals on its small farm and spend time with older people. That gives the outdoor emphasis a social dimension beyond the nursery itself. Wednesday Stay & Play sessions offer Forest School experiences that a parent can share with their child.

Family occasions across the year include sports day and a Christmas play, alongside Mother’s Day tea and Father’s Day fire-cooked sausage. Visiting providers also bring gymnastics and theatre. These sit alongside the regular preschool experience; the recurring care-home visits have a stated rhythm, while the visiting activities form part of the year's programme.

Relationships and Communication

Individual planning starts with the key person, while communication with parents includes daily conversation, termly meetings and reports. That combination gives families both everyday exchanges and a scheduled opportunity to discuss development. Parents can request policies, and updates are communicated to them.

In September 2024, staff gathered information about children's development and interests when they started, then shared learning achievements with families. Children drew adults into imaginative play in the sensory shed, and sand timers helped them take turns. Those details put relationships into ordinary situations: sharing resources, asking an adult to join a game and recognising what interests a particular child.

Independence also featured in September 2024. Children practised dressing for outdoor activity, preparing fruit at snack time, pouring drinks and clearing plates. These were manageable tasks within daily routines, giving children opportunities to participate in looking after themselves.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Current support arrangements include a SENCO role, autism-specific training and intensive-interaction practice, alongside an offer of one-to-one SEND support. These are concrete mechanisms for responding to individual needs. They matter more to a family's decision than a general promise that every child will settle easily.

Safeguarding responsibilities include a designated lead and deputy lead. These roles describe how responsibilities are organised; the dated safeguarding judgement belongs to the inspection position above.

Food is cooked on the premises from scratch, using local ingredients and allotment produce, with a four-week winter menu cycle. The menu can be adjusted for children with known dietary requirements or allergies, and ingredient and allergen details can be supplied on request.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Godalming Town Football Club, Wey Court, Godalming, GU7 3JE. Preschool-day bookings run from 9.30am to 2.30pm, with a preschool breakfast club and a preschool after-school session from 3pm to 6pm. Extra hours can also be added individually, offering another option alongside booking the complete after-school session.

Funded preschool hours can be used on weekdays between 8am and 6pm. There is no minimum session requirement for those hours, and families can choose how to allocate them. That funding window is broader than the preschool-day session; it should not be confused with a single fixed booking pattern.

For children from Reception to Year 6, separate breakfast and after-school clubs are offered. The school-age Breakfast Club starts at 8am. Keeping preschool and school-age club arrangements separate matters, because their charging structures differ.

The joining route is a waiting-list form. Little Rays contacts families when a place matching their preferences becomes available. A contact form and email route also support enquiries. This is a durable joining process, rather than a statement about vacancies today.

Funding and Paid Extras

Little Rays accepts FEET funding for two-year-olds, the 15-hour entitlement over 38 weeks and 30 hours for working parents, without top-up fees. It also accepts Early Years Pupil Premium, Tax-Free Childcare and families using Universal Credit. These are funding or payment arrangements, rather than a guarantee that a particular family qualifies for an entitlement.

Private preschool sessions and additional hours are offered alongside funded childcare. Hot lunch or tea is an optional, separate charge, including when families use funded hours. Choosing the attendance pattern and deciding whether to add a hot meal are therefore separate decisions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Parents supply nappies and wipes for children who need them, and sunscreen forms part of the warm-weather kit. Families also provide suitable outdoor clothing and spare clothes; children who are toilet training need additional underwear and trousers. Those practical supplies remain a home responsibility rather than an included consumables package.

• Outdoor clothing is part of the routine. Play continues in different weather, and families supply suitable kit and changes of clothes. A shared Wednesday Forest School Stay & Play session gives parents a practical way to explore whether this approach suits their child.
• Teaching has two identified development points. At the September 2024 inspection, Ofsted asked staff to improve how questions extend children's thinking and to develop children's understanding of healthy living. On a visit, ask how these priorities now shape conversations during play and learning about food.
• Funding and meals are separate decisions. Funded hours have no minimum session requirement, while hot lunch or tea is an optional extra. Families comparing attendance patterns should weigh the meal choice alongside the hours they intend to use.
• Dietary adjustments need a personal discussion. Menus can be adapted for known allergies or dietary requirements. Allergy-affected families should confirm current ingredients and arrangements for their child before joining.

Little Rays suits families seeking an outdoor preschool experience with either a preschool-day booking or breakfast and after-school additions, as well as those using flexible funded hours. Forest School activities, allotment produce and fortnightly care-home visits give that choice substance. Termly reporting and individual key-person planning add a more structured thread to a day with plenty of exploration.

The September 2024 Good judgement is a useful quality anchor, with questioning and healthy-lifestyle learning remaining the dated development priorities. For parents comfortable supplying weather-ready clothing and consumables, the appeal is clear: practical learning outdoors, recurring community contact and several ways to organise attendance.