Hanborough Pre-School

Woodland exploration, an allotment and a parent-run committee give Hanborough Pre-School a character that reaches well beyond its Pavilion base. Forest Explorers takes children into practical outdoor learning, while growing produce gives them something to tend, harvest and eat. These are recurring parts of preschool life, rather than occasional treats.

Ofsted rated the preschool Outstanding at its May 2023 inspection, including education, behaviour, personal development and leadership.

There are 23 places in total. The setting uses the Greenway Room within Hanborough Pavilion building, using a pack-away arrangement and changing the layout around children's interests. Families seeking a preschool with a community role will find a charity run by a committee of parent volunteers, with opportunities to help shape its work.

Attendance is term-time only, with morning, afternoon and full-day bookings, plus an early extension to the full day.

Rooms and Ages

The Greenway Room is the main preschool space. Its pack-away arrangement means resources and the layout can change with a topic, celebration or children's developing interests. A book corner brings together puppets, stories and a CD player; elsewhere, children can explore numbers, build structures and choose materials for their own creations. The room is organised around different kinds of play, rather than one activity dominating the session.

Outside, a water table and sand pit sit alongside a mud kitchen and gardening area. Bikes and scooters add opportunities for movement, while the chill out shed provides somewhere for stories and conversations about feelings. The preschool acknowledges that its immediate outdoor space is relatively small, then makes use of the allotment and other local spaces to extend children's experiences.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the educational framework: children learn through play, conversation, movement and creative activity across its seven areas of learning. At Hanborough, that translates into daily opportunities to share books, experiment with writing, play energetically indoors and outdoors, and explore numbers through routines and activities. Learning is woven through the session.

Conversation and listening games support language; imaginative play and music give children ways to express ideas. A computer, digital cameras and tape recorders support exploration.

Rising fours sessions develop key skills for school. Fundraising supports an almost-weekly programme of additional experiences, with examples including Hanborough Bus museum, Farmer Gows and visits from emergency-service workers.

In May 2023, books, songs and storytelling shaped the day. Children practised introductions through imaginative play and compared insects in the mud kitchen. Beams and crates provided balancing and jumping challenges.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest Explorers combines manageable practical tasks with identifying wildlife and trees, climbing and learning to judge risks. Sessions run on Wednesday afternoons from 1pm to 3pm, with changes possible when cold or wind makes conditions unsuitable. Trips to Pinsley Woods connect this outdoor work to a named local place.

Weekly allotment visits let children plant, tend and eat their produce, returning to see what has changed. An enclosed reading area, mud kitchen and pond extend the activities there.

Families can also join annual Easter Egg Rolling, Sports Day and the Christmas Show and party. The parent committee helps organise these events as well as fundraising, so involvement can extend beyond a child's booked sessions.

Relationships and Communication

A key person gives each family a consistent contact and learns about the child's interests, strengths and personal-care needs. Matching takes account of which practitioner would suit the child, as well as staff availability. A buddy provides continuity when the key person is away. For a child still learning to use the toilet, that familiar relationship also supports personal care.

Free settling sessions include short visits with parents, adapted to the child. A pre-arranged home visit usually brings the future key person to share a story, discuss forms and learn about the child's needs.

An All about me questionnaire, parental conversations and observations inform individual planning. Three yearly assessments bring defined opportunities to discuss development: a Christmas telephone conversation about settling and assessment, an Easter-term parent event and a summer written report.

WELLCOMMs assessment checks communication and understanding at the beginning of each term. This Oxfordshire County Council initiative helps identify gaps and guide targeted interventions. It gives language support a specific mechanism, rather than relying only on informal impressions.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its May 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified early recognition of additional needs, targeted support and changes to the environment for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Those findings belong to that inspection date.

A Special Educational Needs Coordinator, plans and risk assessments where needed provide a route to support. Parents and the child's key worker discuss needs before outside agencies become involved.

An on-duty designated safeguarding lead is present during each session, and staff undertake annual training in safeguarding and other relevant areas. These are arrangements families can understand alongside the dated safeguarding judgement.

Children staying for lunch bring a healthy packed lunch and their own water bottle; the snack café operates twice daily, offering fruit or vegetables and other healthy snacks, with milk and water. The preschool has a nut-free policy, including chocolate spread, and asks families to communicate allergies or intolerances through registration and directly to staff.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Pavilion, Roosevelt Road, Long Hanborough, Witney, OX29 8JG. Morning sessions run from 8.30am to 11.30am, afternoons from 12.15pm to 3.15pm, and full days from 9.15am to 3.15pm. An extended-hours booking from 8.30am to 9.15am can be added to a full day and is charged separately. The same morning, afternoon and full-day times apply to funded sessions.

The setting operates during term time. Registration packs are requested by email at longhanborough.preschool@gmail.com; places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to the child's age and availability. A term's notice is required when leaving or changing sessions. That notice period deserves attention when a family's working arrangements may change during the year.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government funding is accepted for children aged two, three and four. Families must provide an up-to-date funding code beforehand so eligibility can be checked, and reconfirm it when required. Privately paid sessions are also offered. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation, with the attendance and contribution structure set out on its fees and funding page.

Parents supply lunch, nappies and wipes when needed, and seasonal sun cream. A voluntary contribution supports snacks, shared consumables including spare nappies and wipes, baking materials, allotment tools and seeds, dance sessions and music workshops. Budget for supplies from home alongside this contribution and the separately charged early extension.

Moving on to School

The preschool describes strong links with Hanborough Manor School, including visits to seasonal productions and the grounds. Once school places have been decided, key workers communicate with the child's new teacher and transition sessions are arranged. Attending the preschool does not guarantee a school place; families seeking a state-school place still use the local authority admissions process.

• Term-time attendance. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings serve different weekly routines, but provision follows term time. Consider how school holidays fit your childcare arrangements before choosing sessions.
• Wednesday outdoor learning. Forest Explorers runs from 1pm to 3pm on Wednesdays. Children need long sleeves, long trousers and wellies; waterproof coats and trousers are provided. At a visit, discuss how woodland activities are adapted to your child's confidence and needs.
• Food and everyday supplies. Packed lunches, water bottles and required nappies or wipes come from home, alongside a voluntary contribution towards shared supplies and extras. Families affected by allergies should confirm current practice under the nut-free policy.
• Notice and parent involvement. Leaving or changing sessions requires a term's notice, while parent committee meetings take place each term. Consider both the commitment of the booking and whether you would enjoy contributing to a parent-run setting.

Hanborough Pre-School suits families wanting morning or afternoon preschool sessions, as well as those building a fuller term-time day with the optional early extension. Its appeal lies in specific routines: weekly allotment visits, Wednesday Forest Explorers, key-person home visits and scheduled conversations about development.

The May 2023 Outstanding judgement provides a strong dated inspection position. Today's practical offer has its own clear identity: a pack-away Pavilion setting with local outdoor experiences and meaningful parent participation. Families comfortable with term-time provision, packed lunches and bringing everyday supplies will find those arrangements integral to how this preschool works.