Stepping Stones, Bracken Leas School

Forest School activities and weekly STEM sessions give this Brackley preschool a character beyond its school-site address. Stepping Stones, Bracken Leas School operates from Bracken Leas Primary School, with its preschool provision known as the Yellow Room. Learning through play sits alongside preparation for greater independence, conversation and friendships before children move on to primary school.

Ofsted rated the setting Good on 7 September 2022, with effective safeguarding, while identifying inconsistent conversations between adults and children as the improvement priority. That distinction matters. The judgement gives families a positive assessment at that date, but the detail beneath it makes speech and language support an important point to explore.

There are 24 places in total. The preschool serves three- and four-year-olds; morning and afternoon sessions, with a later session ending at 5pm, make this a setting to consider for several different term-time routines.

Rooms and Ages

The Yellow Room is the preschool room at Bracken Leas, with play supporting independence, friendships and children's developing ability to manage their feelings. It works closely with the provider's other preschool room. That relationship gives the Bracken Leas provision a connection beyond its own room while retaining its separate school-site identity.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the shared framework for children's learning, development and care: here, children learn through play, with opportunities to practise independence and conversation. The practical emphasis is on becoming more confident in talking with an adult or a group, building friendships and understanding boundaries. These are useful foundations for participating in a classroom, rather than a promise about school attainment.

Forest School adds outdoor exploration and learning about the natural world. An external company delivers weekly STEM sessions as part of the preschool programme. The regularity of STEM is a concrete part of the offer; Forest School activities are also part of the preschool experience, but should not be mistaken for a separately specified weekly timetable.

In September 2022, children used a pretend vegetable shop in the garden, and an adult extended the activity into making a cake recipe. This connected imaginative play with new vocabulary and recording an idea on paper. It also illustrates the central teaching challenge from that visit: some conversations moved on before children had enough time to answer, reducing opportunities to express their own thinking.

Outdoor and Community Life

In September 2022, outdoor play included running, climbing and balancing, with children devising their own obstacle courses. The physical environment gave them opportunities to plan as well as move. Regular forest-school activities also brought children into contact with peers from the provider's other setting, creating another opportunity for familiar relationships to continue.

The school grounds were part of the setting's everyday context at that date. Children already at the school recognised preschool staff across the grounds. That is a concrete example of familiarity between the preschool and school environments, rather than an admissions advantage.

Relationships and Communication

Settling can be gradual. The admissions arrangements allow a child to begin with shorter periods and build towards a complete session, with a parent staying for the first sessions when needed. This gives families a practical alternative to expecting immediate separation and a full session from the outset.

In September 2022, adults who had worked with children at the provider's other setting could visit to help with the move. More reserved children stayed near an adult until ready to explore. Both examples show how familiarity supported the transition at that time; they should be read as dated practice rather than a promise about today's staffing arrangements.

Parents received updates about development and ideas for helping at home in September 2022. Staff also discussed when additional help might be needed. That makes communication useful beyond a description of what a child has done: it connects preschool experiences with support outside the setting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that teaching and additional support helped children with SEND make progress, and that safeguarding arrangements worked effectively through staff supervision, clear reporting procedures and careful management of risks. Those are inspection judgements about practice at that date.

The admissions arrangements set out concrete steps for children with additional needs. The manager assesses needs when a place is confirmed and applies for inclusion funding if the setting's core budget cannot meet them. Where adjustments are required, preparations can include a health care plan, staff training and risk assessment, with a timeframe communicated to the family. For a child with more complex needs, the start date depends on those preparations being made.

These mechanisms matter more than a broad assurance of inclusion. They identify what must happen before a child starts and make preparation part of the admissions process, rather than leaving it until the first session.

Sessions and Attendance

The preschool is at Bracken Leas Primary School, Magdalen Meadows, Brackley, NN13 6LF. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon and afternoon sessions from noon to 3pm; the Yellow Room's later session runs from 3pm to 5pm. Its opening time is 8.45am. The provider's separate main-site afternoon club has different hours, so the Yellow Room's 5pm finish is the relevant boundary for care here.

Children must attend at least two sessions each week, with each preschool session lasting three hours. This minimum gives families a clear starting point when planning attendance. A provisional registration form starts the joining process, and at least one month's notice is required when leaving or changing the number of sessions.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal funding provides 15 funded hours from the term after a child turns three, while families meeting the working criteria can access up to 30 hours term time only. Funding applies to morning and afternoon sessions and is delivered over 38 weeks. Entitlement and the sessions a family books remain separate: additional funded sessions depend on availability and should not be treated as an automatic extension of an existing booking.

Paid preschool sessions are also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and there is currently no registration fee. Working-parent funding codes must be renewed every three months; missing renewal means parents must pay for the affected sessions. That administrative responsibility is worth building into a family's childcare planning.

Moving on to School

The preschool shares the Bracken Leas Primary School site. In September 2022, links with the school helped support children's move onwards, while the current preschool programme emphasises independence and speaking with others. Attending the preschool does not guarantee a Reception place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Time to talk. In September 2022, some adult conversations left children too little time to respond, especially those with speech and language difficulties. During a visit, ask how staff now give children time to explain ideas and how that support is adapted to your child.
• The Yellow Room timetable. Preschool attendance has a two-session weekly minimum, and the later session ends at 5pm. Compare that finish with your working day; show-arounds can be booked in term time, with children welcome to accompany their parents.
• Day-to-day care costs. Funded preschool sessions and privately paid sessions are separate parts of the booking. How are lunch and personal care arranged, and how are any food or consumables charges treated on funded and paid sessions?
• Preparation for additional needs. A child with more complex SEND may start once the necessary adjustments are ready. Discuss the preparation timetable early so that health care planning, training and accessibility arrangements fit the intended start.

Stepping Stones, Bracken Leas School suits families seeking morning preschool, afternoon attendance or preschool followed by the Yellow Room's later session. Forest School and weekly STEM provide concrete additions to play-based learning, while the school-site setting gives preparation for the next stage a practical context.

The Good judgement from September 2022 is encouraging, but its conversation-related improvement priority deserves attention when choosing care for a child who needs help expressing themselves. The clearest decision is whether the preschool's session pattern, gradual settling arrangements and 5pm finish fit the child and the family.