De Havilland Pre School

Planting, insect exploration and play with real objects give De Havilland Pre School its character. This Hatfield setting combines a garden used daily with learning shaped around children’s interests, rather than a day driven entirely by adult-led activities. Nature is part of the routine.

Children aged 2 to 5 attend, and the setting has 30 places in total. Ofsted rated it Good at its inspection on 25 May 2021. Its current offer includes morning and afternoon sessions, with a lunch club, during term time.

For parents, the most useful combination is practical: time outdoors, individual adult input and opportunities to discuss development with a key worker. A resident Special Needs Coordinator and links with local support services provide specific mechanisms for children who need additional help.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, covering language, physical and social development alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. De Havilland’s approach adds outdoor learning, individual adult input and in the moment planning: staff respond to what children are doing and interested in as play develops.

Real objects and loose parts give children materials they can use in different ways. Rather than requiring one predetermined result, this approach leaves room for children to make choices and develop their own ideas. The curriculum page explains how play and individual input contribute towards the early learning goals.

The daily routine mixes indoor and outdoor play with smaller-group snacks and nursery group activities. Stories, singing, signing and yoga feature among the group-time examples. These shared moments sit alongside opportunities for individual attention, giving the day both child-led exploration and occasions to join in together.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden is an everyday learning space. Indoor and outdoor play connect, allowing children to continue an idea across both environments rather than treating outdoor time solely as a break from learning.

The Climate Action Plan gives this nature-based work a seasonal structure through gardening, wildlife exploration and reducing waste. Children plant, investigate insects and help care for small wildlife spaces; wild areas are retained too. These are tangible ways to explore living things, with watering and harvesting making care for plants part of the experience.

The National Education Nature Park Year Planner helps guide the plan through the year. Autumn activities include bulbs and collecting natural materials, while spring brings planting and listening walks. Reused craft materials and recycling extend the same approach indoors: children encounter environmental care through ordinary things they can handle and do.

Families can join planting activities, and regular parent events include walks to woods or local farms. These offer a connection between nursery experiences and family life, rather than leaving outdoor learning entirely within the setting.

Relationships and Communication

Conversation is built into the beginning and end of the day. For parents, that creates regular opportunities to share information about their child alongside the more structured discussions held each term with their key worker.

A Learning Journal brings together observations, experiences and development over time. Parents can look through it whenever they wish and keep it when their child leaves. This gives families something concrete to discuss, rather than relying solely on a brief verbal update.

Newsletters also keep parents informed about events. Open sessions let families see activities in progress, while termly consultations provide space for a fuller conversation about development. These different forms of contact serve different purposes: everyday information, a lasting account of learning and a scheduled discussion with the key worker.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Additional support has identifiable points of contact. A resident Special Needs Coordinator works alongside links with Children’s Services, the area SENCO and local health visitors. The staff structure also includes a one-to-one SEN support role, giving parents a specific support arrangement to discuss where their child needs it.

Safeguarding responsibilities are assigned within the management team. That describes the organisation of safeguarding duties; the dated overall inspection judgement remains the quality reference for this review.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8.30am to 3pm, Monday to Friday. Attendance is term-time only, following the Hertfordshire school schedule, with morning sessions, afternoon play sessions and lunch clubs. The flexible session offer gives families a choice between attending earlier or later in the day.

The routine includes play in both environments, lunch and group activities. Families comparing attendance patterns should therefore consider which parts of that routine they want their child to experience, alongside the hours their household needs.

The setting’s address is De Havilland Primary School, Travellers Lane, Hatfield, AL10 8TQ. Enquiries and applications can be made through the contact form, including a request for a callback or registration of a child.

Attendance does not guarantee a Reception place at De Havilland Primary School. Families still use the local authority admissions process for a state-school place.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded sessions are offered for children aged 2, 3 and 4, including 30 hours extended free childcare. The setting operates during term time. Private nursery provision is also offered; families should obtain current prices in a written quotation.

• Term-time coverage. Morning and afternoon attendance fit different household routines, but the setting follows school terms and closes outside them. Families needing childcare through school holidays should weigh that calendar carefully.
• Child-led learning. Real objects, loose parts and in the moment planning shape the approach. At a visit, ask how practitioners balance a child’s own interests with individual adult input and shared group activities.
• Additional support. The resident Special Needs Coordinator, external-service links and one-to-one SEN support role are concrete starting points. Discuss how those arrangements would apply to your child, alongside a settling plan and the contents of a written quotation.

De Havilland suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, with the option of a lunch club, and an emphasis on learning through play and daily outdoor experiences. The garden, seasonal planting and Learning Journal make the offer easy to understand in practical terms: children explore, adults respond, and parents have a continuing account of development.

The Good judgement dates to May 2021. For today’s decision, the strongest fit is between the child-led approach, the family communication arrangements and a household that can work with the term-time calendar.