Little Lions Pre-School & Nursery

Independence here means learning to dress, manage toileting and eat for yourself. Little Lions Pre-School & Nursery gives school preparation a practical emphasis, with confidence and friendships alongside those everyday skills. Based at Oxlease Methodist Church in Hatfield, it has capacity for 38 children aged 24 to 59 months.

At its November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. The detail behind that judgement matters: children chose how to play, practised doing things for themselves and used language while exploring outdoors. Those observations describe November 2022, rather than the present nursery day.

A consistent key person remains central to the care model. Attendance is term-time, with morning, afternoon and all-day bookings giving families different ways to organise the week.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: learning through play, conversation and activities helps them practise skills for their next stage. Little Lions builds its planning around children's interests and abilities, giving them opportunities to choose, attempt something unfamiliar and take an active part in their learning. The practical implication is a day shaped around developing children, rather than simply completing the same activity together.

School preparation has a concrete meaning here. Children work towards managing toileting, dressing for PE and feeding themselves, alongside feeling confident enough to participate in a class. Perseverance and relationships with other children also feature in the nursery's aims. For parents, that makes independence a useful measure of preparation, alongside what a child knows.

In November 2022, play included caring for dolls, fastening their clothing and settling them to sleep. Scissor work gave children practice with small hand movements, while singing combined familiar rhymes with actions. These were opportunities to practise coordination and communication through activities children could join in with.

Shared learning needed more attention. In November 2022, the management of group activities did not consistently keep children engaged. That is a specific limitation alongside the positive account of children making choices during play, and an important distinction when considering how individual interests translate into activities with others.

Outdoor and Community Life

A garden discovery area featured in November 2022. Children planted fruit and discussed what they expected to happen, linking practical exploration with conversation. Outdoors also offered physical challenges through obstacle courses and ball play; counting the equipment and taking turns brought other learning into movement.

Getting ready for outdoor play was itself part of learning in November 2022. Children changed footwear and put on outdoor clothing independently. Small routines like these connect the nursery's emphasis on self-care with something children actually do during the day.

Relationships and Communication

A consistent key person gives each child a familiar adult, while partnership with parents forms part of the current care approach. Named key groups include the Newts and the Butterfly Nursery group. These are key-person groups, rather than measures of room size, and help explain how relationships are organised within the setting.

In November 2022, settling arrangements responded to individual children's needs, and children had formed close relationships with their key persons. Parents' feedback helped staff understand children and develop communication with families. For a child beginning nursery, the significance is the attention given to their particular needs during the settling period.

Language support also had a practical form in November 2022. Families supplied words from children's home languages for staff to use, while signing and visual cues helped explain the sequence of activities. This connected communication at nursery with language familiar from home and gave children another way to understand what was happening.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The team includes a SENCO, additional SENCO support and a Designated Safeguarding Lead. The safeguarding lead's role includes supporting families involved with children's services or needing early intervention. These are identifiable responsibilities within the team, rather than a general promise about care.

At its November 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that the SENCO worked effectively with families and external professionals to develop individual support for children with identified developmental delays. That dated finding gives substance to the support roles: help was organised around the individual child and involved professionals beyond the nursery where needed.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Oxlease Methodist Church, Woods Avenue, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 8NA. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email at info@littlelionspreschool.org.uk or by telephone on 07731 399 773.

Term-time bookings run Monday to Friday. Morning sessions are 9.15am to 12.15pm, afternoons are 12.30pm to 3.30pm, and all-day sessions run from 9.15am to 3.30pm. These are separate booking patterns: a family can consider a shorter morning or afternoon alongside an all-day arrangement.

The term-time calendar is a significant practical constraint. Families needing childcare through school holidays will need to plan around that pattern, rather than treat an all-day booking as year-round provision.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both privately paid childcare and government-funded places are offered. Funding options include supported-family and working-family funding for two-year-olds, three-year funding and the 30-hour entitlement for eligible families. Provision operates during term time; entitlement and eligibility remain separate from the choice of session.

Snacks carry a separate contribution linked to the morning or afternoon session attended. Fruit and vegetables are served with carbohydrate options such as wraps, pancakes or pitta bread. Prices are subject to change.

• Group activities. In November 2022, keeping children engaged during shared activities was the improvement priority. On a visit, ask how group activities now accommodate children with different interests and attention spans.
• Term-time coverage. Morning, afternoon and all-day bookings operate during term time. This suits a school-term routine, but families needing holiday care should account for the closures in their childcare planning.
• The cost of a chosen pattern. Snacks have a separate contribution for the sessions attended. When discussing an all-day booking, ask what lunch and non-food supplies you would need to provide or pay for.

Little Lions suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those wanting an all-day booking within that calendar. Its current emphasis on a consistent key person and practical independence gives the offer a clear character. The November 2022 picture adds concrete examples of learning through conversation, movement and self-care, balanced by the need to improve engagement during group activities. That combination makes the organisation of shared learning an important point to explore alongside the attendance pattern.