Cold Ash Pre School

A mud kitchen, mature trees and a climbing frame that doubles as a performance stage give Cold Ash Pre School its character. Outdoor play drives the day here, rather than sitting on the edge of it. Children spend time outside whenever the weather allows, with gardening, sand and movable resources giving them different ways to explore the same space.

Based at The Acland Memorial Hall in Cold Ash, near Thatcham, the pre-school has 29 places in total and accepts children aged 24 to 60 months. Ofsted rated it Good on 24 March 2025 and found its safeguarding arrangements effective. The practical offer is term-time provision, with morning and afternoon sessions alongside longer Wednesday and Friday sessions.

Parent involvement has substance. A volunteer trustee committee manages the charity, while families can contribute to learning through Tapestry, an online journal that lets them respond to observations and add experiences from home. This is a setting for families who want an active part in their child's pre-school life.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the standards for children's learning, development and care: here, that translates into play, stories, counting, making things and learning to share. It is the common early-years foundation, rather than a special programme unique to this pre-school. The character comes from how those experiences use the garden and follow children's interests.

For older preschool children, language work includes rhymes, songs, books and recognising letters and their sounds. Early writing preparation combines drawing, cutting and painting with larger movements such as climbing and pushing. These activities give children reasons to use their hands and bodies before, and alongside, practising letters and names.

Maths is similarly practical. Children compare and sort objects, explore patterns and shapes, count and measure. Science activities use water, weather, plants and animals as starting points, with books, real objects and outdoor exploration connecting an idea to something children can investigate. Sharing resources and tidying together also form part of the learning day, bringing cooperation into ordinary routines.

In March 2025, sensory play included dough mixed with coffee and sand, while imaginative play turned twigs into birthday candles. Staff also joined children's superhero games. These examples show how an interest could become a shared activity, rather than requiring children to leave their play for a separate task.

Outdoor and Community Life

Our Lovely Garden contains a gardening area, playhouse, large sandpit, bug hotel and mud kitchen. Mature trees provide summer shade and seasonal leaves and acorns, giving children natural materials to examine alongside the equipment. The climbing frame has several uses, including a stage and a lookout point: one structure supports movement, performance and make-believe.

Water trays, resources for building dens and wheeled toys are rotated through the outdoor space. That changes what children can do there while keeping the garden familiar. In March 2025, children also practised balancing and moving between parallel ropes, returning to the activity after losing their balance.

Families can volunteer to read or contribute Topic Talks, sessions in which they share a hobby or profession. The charity structure therefore reaches beyond fundraising: parents have a route to bring their own interests into children's experiences.

Relationships and Communication

In March 2025, the key-person system connected children with a familiar practitioner, and conversations with parents kept staff informed about care needs. Disagreements between children were handled through calm discussion of their different viewpoints. The emphasis was on helping children work through a situation, rather than simply stopping the dispute.

Tapestry extends communication beyond a conversation at collection. Parents can comment on staff observations and upload their own contributions, including photographs and videos. Home milestones can therefore become part of the same learning journal as pre-school experiences. Stay-and-play sessions, meetings and informal catch-ups provide other opportunities for involvement.

School preparation includes managing personal needs, building independence and becoming accustomed to working with others. Clothing with simple fastenings is encouraged so children can take more responsibility for dressing. Uniform is optional, leaving families free to choose ordinary clothes suited to outdoor play.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO coordinates support for children with special educational needs, and an ELSA, an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant, is part of the staff team. The SEND policy uses an assess, plan, do and review cycle, involves parents in decisions and provides routes to external agencies and further assessment. These are concrete mechanisms for planning support around a child's needs.

At the March 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff supported communication through stories, singing and signs, and that key persons working with children with SEND collaborated with others to address learning gaps. The same visit identified weaker sharing of other children's learning priorities across the staff team. A familiar key person matters, but learning information also needs to reach whoever is playing with that child.

The leadership structure includes a designated safeguarding lead and a deputy. For illness, the pre-school requires children who have vomited or had diarrhoea to remain away for at least 48 hours after the final episode, helping families plan their return.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Acland Memorial Hall, Hermitage Road, Cold Ash, Thatcham, RG18 9JH. Admissions enquiries go to the Business Manager, and joining involves completing and returning a registration form.

On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, morning sessions run from 9.15am to 12.15pm and afternoon sessions from 12.15pm to 2.45pm. Wednesday and Friday sessions run from 9.15am to 1.30pm. This is term-time care, with school holidays excluded, so the timetable needs to fit the family's wider childcare arrangements.

The admissions policy normally requires three sessions spread over three different days each week, with possible two-session exceptions for the youngest children when they first start. Its entry rule offers admission from the term containing a child's third birthday, subject to a place becoming available. The recurring application deadline for the following academic year is 10 January; later applications receive individual consideration.

The hall is also a polling station. Election use can mean an additional closure, with parents given advance notice where possible. Planned closures can lead to fees being omitted or refunded; emergency closures do not receive a refund under the closure policy.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Universal 15 hours and the Working Parent Entitlement, delivered within the term-time timetable. Valid two-year-old funding codes are accepted for children turning three during their entry term. Eligibility remains a condition, and hours beyond a family's entitlement are charged privately.

Funding paperwork is needed each term, during the preceding term. Late declarations or codes can prevent a funding claim and lead to parents being invoiced directly. The fees and funding information explains this process; current prices should form part of the nursery's written quotation.

Families provide packed lunches and fresh fruit or vegetables for snacks, and the pre-school publishes a no-nuts policy. Parents also supply spare nappies and nappy sacks where needed, so these practical supplies sit with the family rather than being included in childcare fees.

A one-off registration charge applies. Separately, a termly donation is explicitly voluntary and supports garden resources, Tapestry and additional experiences and celebrations. It should be distinguished from payment for childcare hours.

• Attendance and entry. The normal commitment is three sessions on different days, and the admissions entry rule centres on the term of the third birthday. Discuss how a proposed pattern fits that rule, including any youngest-cohort exception.
• Learning continuity and online safety. March 2025 improvement priorities concerned sharing children's next learning steps across staff and bringing internet safety into the curriculum. Ask how these now work during everyday play and communication with families.
• Outdoor kit and allergies. Wellies are required throughout the year, with waterproof clothing for winter, while lunches and snacks come from home. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food-handling practice before joining.
• Registration refunds. The enrolment information ties refunds to accessing funded hours, while the fees information gives different conditions for applications after 1 April 2025. Obtain the applicable refund terms in writing before paying.

Cold Ash Pre School suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those who prefer the longer Wednesday and Friday pattern. Its garden gives play a clear physical setting, and Tapestry gives parents a practical way to contribute to learning. The volunteer committee adds another route for involvement.

The attendance commitment, packed-lunch arrangements and holiday closures need to work for the household. The March 2025 learning priorities also deserve a direct conversation. For families who value outdoor exploration and participation in pre-school life, there is a clear offer to weigh against those practical requirements.