Kings Sutton Pre-School Playgroup

A garden with a mud kitchen, short group activities woven through play, and a key person chosen with the child's natural attachments in mind give Kings Sutton Pre-School Playgroup its character. It occupies its own building within the grounds of Kings Sutton Primary Academy School, with indoor play space, a rear garden and access to a shared sensory garden. Outdoor activity belongs to the ordinary session here, rather than being reserved for an occasional outing.

Ofsted rated the setting Outstanding on 21 June 2022. In June 2022, children used sand timers themselves to settle disagreements over shared resources. A practical tool helped them take responsibility for getting along.

There are 24 places in total. Preschool care starts at 18 months, while the combined preschool and Breakfast Club provision serves children up to 11 years old. Attendance is term-time, with morning and afternoon sessions alongside full-day attendance and additional early and late options.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning and care: children build their communication, relationships and physical skills through play and practical experiences. Here, the emphasis falls on those foundations before formal learning. Adult-guided activities sit alongside opportunities for children to choose resources, follow an interest and work at their own pace.

Chattertime and Mathstastic are brief group activities supporting learning or wellbeing, including communication and social development. Each session includes one or the other, and every child receives an invitation to join.

Smaller key-person groups may share a puzzle, story or board game. At the end of a session, children gather for activities such as music, movement or acting out a story, as well as birthdays and news.

In June 2022, garden play developed into a dinosaur world using the resources children selected. Staff introduced mint into the conversation, then supported chalk marks for a sign and discussion about what visitors might pay. The episode connected imaginative play with vocabulary, early writing and thinking about money. Learning grew from the game rather than interrupting it.

Outdoor and Community Life

Children can move between indoor activities and the garden during each session, with staff nearby to support their play. Outdoor access continues in different weather. Balance bikes, trikes, water play, climbing, dancing and obstacle courses give physical activity several forms, allowing children to choose movement that catches their interest.

The rear garden includes decking and a mud kitchen. A separate Sensory Garden provides a quieter place to spend time with nature and is shared with the primary school. These spaces serve different purposes: one supports busy outdoor exploration, while the other creates an option for calm. The building has also been refurbished, with improved warmth and accessibility.

Village outings happen sometimes, including visits to the local shop, and community visitors share their experiences with the children. These are modest, practical connections with the surrounding village. In June 2022, children also investigated a spider after picking strawberries they had grown, taking a photograph to help identify it later. That example shows how an outdoor discovery could lead to observation, questions and new words.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person who works with the family, follows development and helps establish a familiar relationship. During the first sessions, staff observe which practitioner the child naturally connects with and try to make that person the key person.

Class Dojo is the online communication platform for messages about the day, reminders, home-learning ideas and care records. Toileting or nappy changes, medication and accidents are recorded there, alongside other information families need. Parents can message the key person or senior staff and add photographs from home to the child's portfolio, giving staff another route to understand interests beyond preschool.

In June 2022, new children were paired with a friend to help them understand expectations. Children also practised everyday independence by choosing fruit, pouring drinks and dealing with their own rubbish. Those examples put social learning and self-care into ordinary routines, rather than treating them as separate lessons.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that staff adapted learning for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, supported rapid developmental progress and maintained effective safeguarding arrangements. Current support mechanisms include an Enhanced Special Educational Needs Coordinator role, communication aids used across the setting and sensory resources within everyday provision. The mechanisms matter because support can be part of an ordinary activity, rather than requiring a child to leave it.

Staff undertake regular training covering safeguarding, first aid and food hygiene, with further professional development supported. Designated safeguarding lead responsibilities sit with the manager and deputy manager.

Seasonal vegetables and fruit are provided at a self-service snack station, where children also choose milk or water; families supply lunch in a labelled box with a cooling block, following guidance that excludes fizzy drinks. Breakfast is included with both early options and follows a six-day menu cycle.

After lunch, children brush their own teeth with supervision. Annual healthy me packs include toothpaste, a toothbrush and information for families. The daily routine gives oral health a concrete place in the preschool day, with the packs extending that practical emphasis into home life.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Annexe, Kings Sutton Primary School, Richmond Street, Banbury, OX17 3RT. Term-time opening runs from 7.45am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.

The morning session runs from 8.50am to 11.50am, and the afternoon from 12.20pm to 3.20pm. Full-day attendance is also offered. Lunch occupies the interval from 11.50am to 12.20pm and can accompany morning, afternoon or full-day attendance.

Early Birds runs from 7.45am to 8.50am, while Breakfast Club starts at 8am and also ends at 8.50am. Late Pick up covers 3.20pm to 4pm. Breakfast Club serves children attending preschool or the primary school, with indoor activities and access to the school playground and preschool garden.

Applications and enquiries go through the contact form, telephone 01295 816006 or kingssuttonpre-school@outlook.com. Breakfast Club bookings are paid for in advance; additional ad hoc attendance requires staff confirmation on the preceding school day. Termly invoices are issued at the start of term.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded hours are offered alongside paid childcare in this term-time setting. The preschool asks all families, including those using funded hours, for a voluntary contribution towards craft materials, toiletries and ingredients for cooking or sensory activities. That contribution is separate from session charges and can be made through a collection pot or added to the termly invoice.

Breakfast is included in the early sessions, while parents provide packed lunches and snacks are supplied by preschool. Lunch attendance has its own charge, separate from the food brought from home. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation, with the attendance options and contribution arrangements set out on its session times and fees page.

Sharing the primary school site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Term-time rhythm. Care follows school terms, with morning, afternoon and full-day attendance. Families needing holiday care should factor that calendar into their choice.
• Settling from 18 months. The key-person allocation takes account of the attachment a child forms during early sessions. At a visit, ask how the day's group activities and outdoor choices are adapted for the youngest children.
• Lunch and funded hours. Families bring lunch, lunch attendance is charged separately, and consumables attract a voluntary contribution that includes funded families. A written quotation should distinguish the chosen sessions from these arrangements.
• A shared school site. The preschool has its own premises within the primary grounds, but attendance does not secure a Reception place. The school application remains a separate family decision.

Kings Sutton Pre-School Playgroup suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those combining sessions into a full day with an early start or later collection. Its strongest practical combination is outdoor choice, brief shared learning activities and a key-person system responsive to the child's relationships.

The Outstanding judgement belongs to June 2022. Today's decision also rests on tangible arrangements: Chattertime or Mathstastic each session, Class Dojo communication, the mud kitchen and Sensory Garden, and supervised tooth brushing. Families comfortable with the term-time calendar and packed-lunch model have a clear, specific offer to assess.