Welford Pre-School

A garden reserved for preschool children and shared school play spaces give Welford Pre-School a recognisable character. Its current offer centres on children aged two to four, with capacity for 24 children in total. At its June 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good, describing learning that developed from children's existing interests and experiences.

The setting occupies the Mobile Unit within the grounds of Welford, Sibbertoft and Sulby Endowed School. That relationship has practical substance: preschool children join play sessions with the Reception class, becoming familiar with the classroom and teacher. School admission remains a separate decision.

Term-time preschool care sits alongside early drop-off and the Kids Aloud Club's breakfast and after-school provision. The school connection, outdoor space and scope to change bookings are the strongest practical reasons to consider it.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, learning through play includes following children's interests and exploring real-life experiences.

In June 2023, Welford Airlines turned children's accounts of travelling abroad into pretend holiday play. Numbered tickets helped children find their seats, while a trolley supplied pretend passengers with drinks and snacks. The activity connected something familiar to imaginative play and number recognition. It was an example of learning growing from children's own experiences, rather than a separate travel programme.

The Gruffalo connected storytelling with outdoor exploration that June. After sharing the story, children searched outside and remembered parts of the narrative with their friends. Books became a starting point for active play. During train-track construction, staff also introduced the meanings of attract and repel as children joined magnetic components; mathematical play brought in words including cylinder and balancing.

These examples show how vocabulary, storytelling and practical investigation could sit within the same day. They also make the teaching priorities easier for parents to understand than a list of activities alone.

Outdoor and Community Life

The preschool has its own small garden and also uses the school's playground and outdoor facilities. Outdoor play continues in different weather, giving children access to fresh air beyond a fair-weather timetable.

In June 2023, children rode bikes and negotiated the available space. Some talked about progressing from balance bikes to pedalling. Another activity involved working out how to cross a log between tyres, using outstretched arms to balance. These were opportunities to judge movement and manageable risk through doing.

Social learning was visible in small actions too. That June, older children helped younger children reach a seashell in a water tray, and staff encouraged courteous language. Shared play gave children reasons to cooperate, alongside the physical challenge of outdoor activities.

Relationships and Communication

In June 2023, parents described regular discussions with their child's key person and practical ideas for supporting learning at home. Stay-and-play sessions gave families another way to take part. Those arrangements made communication about the child part of everyday contact, rather than something reserved for a formal meeting.

Committee meetings also lead to updates for parents and carers. The setting's feedback questionnaire provides a further route for families to comment on their experience, with responses treated confidentially and used to shape its work.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with staff working with other agencies and settings around individual needs. The current team includes a Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo), providing a specific role for inclusion rather than leaving it as a general aspiration.

The staff structure includes a manager at Level 7 and a deputy manager at Level 3. These are descriptions of the team, rather than a promise about who will work with an individual child each day.

In June 2023, snack activities introduced children to different healthy foods. For school-age children, the Kids Aloud Club provides breakfast and an after-school meal; those meals belong to the club's offer, rather than establishing a preschool lunch arrangement.

Sessions and Attendance

Welford Pre-School runs during term time and follows the term dates of its neighbouring school. The contact timetable gives preschool hours of 9.15am to 3.15pm, Monday to Friday, with early drop-off from 8.45am to 9.15am.

Breakfast Club runs from 7.45am to 8.45am, and After School Club from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. The Kids Aloud Club serves children attending Welford, Sibbertoft and Sulby Endowed School, up to age 12. Its school-age remit should be kept separate from the preschool's two-to-four offer.

Parents can request extra sessions or swap existing sessions at short notice. That flexibility can help with changing plans, although it should not be read as a promise that a particular additional booking can be accommodated.

Getting There

The address is The Mobile Unit, West Street, Welford, NN6 6HU, within the school grounds. General enquiries can be made by telephone on 01858 575134 or by email to WelfordPreschool@gmail.com.

Funding and Moving On

In June 2023, the preschool provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. This is a dated account of its funding participation.

Joint play with Reception offers familiarity with a classroom, teacher and school grounds before children move on. Attending the preschool does not guarantee a Reception place; families still apply through the local authority admissions process. Familiarity can support the transition, but it does not decide admission.

• Timetable differences. The contact timetable gives preschool hours of 9.15am to 3.15pm, while the home page gives 9am to 3pm; after-school timings also differ between the contact timetable and the feedback questionnaire. Resolve the intended booking times before arranging work or collection around them.
• Time to think and change activities. In June 2023, questions sometimes followed too quickly for children to formulate an answer, and changes of activity could leave some unsure what to do. During a visit, ask how staff now allow thinking time and guide children between activities.
• Funding and everyday costs. For the preschool pattern you want, what funded entitlement can be used, and how are meals and non-food consumables handled in the written quotation?
• School familiarity. Joint Reception play is a useful introduction to school life. Keep the preschool booking and the application for a school place as separate decisions.

Welford Pre-School suits families seeking term-time preschool care with an early drop-off option, and families at the neighbouring school who need breakfast or after-school sessions. Its small garden, access to school outdoor spaces and shared Reception play give the setting a clear practical identity.

The June 2023 examples add substance: stories led outdoors, children's travel experiences became imaginative play, and everyday construction introduced new vocabulary. Balance those strengths against the dated concerns about question pacing and transitions, and settle the timetable before committing to an attendance pattern.