St Michael's Pre-school

A hobbit house, a bark garden and child-led afternoons give St Michael's Pre-school its character. This Woolmer Green setting has its own purpose-built building beside St Michael’s Woolmer Green Primary School, with a large garden and nature area. Outdoor space shapes the day rather than simply providing a break between indoor activities.

At its July 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and found safeguarding effective, while identifying improvements needed in communication support, explanations of behaviour expectations and planning for individual learning. That dated judgement matters alongside the present play-based offer. The pre-school has capacity for 30 children; the children attending in July 2022 were aged two to four, which is an inspection-time age range.

Term-time attendance combines full days and shorter sessions. Its strongest practical appeal is the combination of outdoor exploration, a recognisable daily routine and attendance choices that can fit around a school day.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning and development: here, play, conversation, creative work and physical activity give children opportunities to practise skills. Staff observe what children can do and use those observations, together with parents' knowledge, to plan their next learning experiences. The current curriculum is play-based and child-led, with adults also introducing activities.

Playdough and crafts feature in the morning, alongside role play and space for floor-based activities. A shared story or song follows the longer outdoor period. After lunch, children meet for a group introduction before an afternoon in which they choose and lead activities, with encouragement to attempt more demanding tasks. This gives the day a useful balance: shared reference points, then room for children to pursue an interest.

In July 2022, children joined in sound-based group work, used number knowledge to calculate a sibling's age and developed imaginary party play around a mud-cake recipe card. These examples connect early literacy and mathematics with something children want to talk about or make. They also show why the planning improvement matters: knowing a child's interests needs to translate into resources and activities that extend their learning.

Outdoor and Community Life

The bark garden is accessible during the morning, while the hobbit house provides another place for staff-led small-group activities. Children can move between indoor and outdoor play again during the afternoon. The building's own garden and nature area therefore support both independent exploration and planned work with an adult.

A purpose-built forest school and sensory area adds space for investigating the natural world. The concrete attraction is the environment itself: children have outdoor resources to explore as part of a curriculum built around movement and meaningful experiences. This sits alongside the EYFS rather than replacing it.

Children's views also influence planning. Staff seek their opinions about play and activities, and use discussion to explore sharing, listening and how words or actions affect other people. Families are invited to contribute their religious and cultural experiences. That offers a way to connect the setting's activities with the different home lives children bring with them.

Relationships and Communication

A key person links a child's daily care with their learning. Registration gathers information about comforters, fears, home languages and family circumstances, helping staff start with a fuller picture of the child. Intimate care generally involves the key person, although another staff member may help; children receive an explanation before physical assistance.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, brings observations, photographs, videos and development tracking together for parents with an account. It also gives access to invoices. For children receiving SEND support, communication can be agreed around daily conversations, written updates, email or telephone contact, alongside termly progress summaries and parent meetings. The value is continuity between what happens at home and what staff plan at pre-school.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENCO and key person work with families to plan, monitor and review individual support. The SEND arrangements include settling visits and a home visit, with advice from professionals such as a speech and language therapist or educational psychologist where needed. Staff can arrange training around a child's medical needs, and additional support funding may be sought according to the level of help required.

At the July 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that communication support for children with SEND was inconsistent and that resources did not always advance individual next steps, although staff knew their key children well. Those findings make the detail of an individual support plan more important than a broad promise of inclusion.

Access has concrete strengths and limits. The building has ramp access, an accessible toilet and no stairs, but parts of the garden cannot be accessed by wheelchair. This distinction matters in a setting where outdoor activity occupies a substantial part of the day.

Staff support children while they eat their own packed lunches, and the pre-school supplies a snack with milk or water. Families provide nappy cream when needed; spare sunscreen is supplied, with the option to send a named bottle for top-ups.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is St Michael's Woolmer Green School, London Road, Woolmer Green, SG3 6JP. Opening hours are 9am to 3.10pm, Monday to Friday, during term time, following Hertfordshire County term dates. This is a school-day pattern, so families needing holiday care must account for the term-time calendar.

Bookings include a full day from 9am to 3.10pm and shorter half-day sessions from 9am to noon or 9am to 1pm. Flexible starting and finishing times are also offered, and enrolment requires at least two sessions. An 8.45am start is offered once children have settled, primarily for families with children at the neighbouring school, and is charged at the usual hourly rate.

The usual intake is in the autumn term, with a possible spring admissions window depending on space. Applications to the waiting list can be made at any stage. An administration charge must be received before a child joins that list; it covers settling sessions, a book bag and administration, and is refundable if the pre-school cannot offer a place. Completing the form does not guarantee admission.

Funding and Paid Extras

In July 2022, the setting provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. It participates in Tax-Free Childcare. Private sessions are charged by the hour and invoiced in advance for each half term; families should obtain current prices in a written quotation, with the funding and fees page setting out the charging basis.

Parents supply lunch for children staying over lunchtime and nappy cream where required. Paid-session fees are not reduced for absence, and the terms also exclude refunds for specified closures. A term's written notice is required both to end the contract and to reduce booked attendance. These conditions make the agreed pattern a financial commitment as well as a weekly routine.

With parental consent, children's records transfer to their receiving school to support continued learning and any health or educational needs. In July 2022, older children also made frequent school visits to meet teachers and see classrooms. Attendance at the pre-school does not guarantee a Reception place; families still use the local authority admissions process.

• Communication and individual planning. The July 2022 findings identified inconsistent SEND communication support and activities that did not always extend each child's learning. At a visit, ask how staff now turn a child's communication needs and next steps into daily activities, including how they explain behaviour expectations.
• Outdoor accessibility. Ramp access and an accessible toilet support access indoors, while the garden is only partly wheelchair accessible. Discuss the outdoor routes and adaptations your child would use, including participation around the hobbit house.
• Attendance commitment. A minimum of two sessions and a term's notice for reductions make the booking pattern consequential. The term-time calendar and conditions on absence and closure refunds deserve attention before accepting the contract.

St Michael's suits families seeking either shorter morning attendance or a full school-day pattern, with outdoor play woven through both. The hobbit house, bark garden and child-led afternoons give that choice substance. Its July 2022 Good judgement provides a dated quality benchmark, balanced by specific concerns about communication, behaviour explanations and individual planning. For a family choosing this setting, the most useful test is how those priorities translate into the care and activities their own child would receive.