Leafield Pre-school

A capacity of 16 children, an outdoor classroom and weekly Forest School give Leafield Pre-school a clear village identity. Based behind the village hall in Leafield, near Witney, it caters for children aged two to five. The scale is an important practical detail: 16 is the whole-setting capacity, rather than a promise about the number attending any particular session.

Ofsted rated the pre-school Good at its inspection on 28 June 2021. That is a dated judgement. The present offer centres on learning through play, a shared classroom and outdoor activities that include growing, cooking and exploring the natural environment.

Paid staff run the provision alongside a voluntary management committee. Families can choose morning or afternoon sessions during term time, with government-funded hours accepted and additional hours charged separately. This is a village pre-school with a substantial outdoor element and a sessional timetable.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) shapes the learning: children encounter its areas of learning through daily activities, with play planned around their interests and stage of development. Staff also include STEM, meaning science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities are adapted for different ages and stages, so the shared setting does not require every child to tackle the same task in the same way.

Observations and conversations with parents inform children's individual targets. Knowing what interests a child, as well as what they can currently do, gives staff a starting point for planning. For families, the useful connection is between the child's interests at home and the activities offered at pre-school.

Cooking Sessions take place on Monday mornings. Children prepare something different each week, linked where possible to the current theme, and take their creations home. At Christmas they help make a dinner to share. These sessions carry no extra charge, making practical food preparation part of the ordinary week rather than a paid addition.

Weekly Forest School sessions dedicate time to investigating the natural environment. A trained leader runs the activity across the academic year, with children exploring natural materials, weather and local creatures. There is no extra charge. Its value here is concrete: outdoor exploration has its own planned place in the timetable.

PE Sessions are also weekly, using the outdoor space and adjoining Village Hall. Their content includes obstacle courses, yoga, games played in teams, and movement with music. Families choosing sessions can therefore weigh the activities attached to the week, rather than looking only at the clock times.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden has a mud kitchen, sand pit, mature trees and a grassed area. A green house supports growing vegetables and flowers, while fruit trees and a compost bin give children further ways to engage with growing and recycling. These are usable resources for play and exploration, rather than simply outdoor space around the building.

A canopy shelters the soft-surfaced area, supporting outdoor play in different weather. The pre-school also sits beside the village playing field, with access to its open space and enclosed play area. That extends the physical opportunities beyond the garden itself.

Indoors, the purpose-built annexe contains an open-plan classroom with a carpeted area; outside, there is an outdoor classroom space. The layout brings the children into a shared environment. For a family choosing this setting, that is a different arrangement from separate age-band rooms, with activities adapted to children's development within the common space.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who looks after their needs and keeps in touch with their family. With parental permission, that person can also liaise with another setting the child attends. This gives families using more than one childcare arrangement a specific route for sharing information.

Settling allows room for observation. A new child can watch the routine with support from their key person, rather than being pressed to join an activity immediately. Staff use positive language and respond sensitively to behaviour, following the Achieving Positive Behaviour policy. The practical emphasis is on helping children participate at their own pace.

Tapestry online learning journal connects parents with daily memos and individual observations. Written reports are completed twice a year, alongside regular conversations with key people. The combination gives families both everyday updates and a more periodic account of their child's development.

Termly newsletters add setting-wide information, while an annual parents and carers questionnaire provides a route for feedback. Christmas Sing and Social and sports day are occasions when families are invited into the setting. Parent involvement also extends to the voluntary committee and fundraising for equipment and activities.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staff team includes a SENDco and a communication and language lead. All staff use the WellComm toolkit, and all staff members hold level 3 qualifications. These are specific elements of the team structure; they do not, by themselves, establish an inspection judgement about support or outcomes.

Staff undertake continuing training, with safeguarding training and paediatric first aid kept up to date. The pre-school also follows an Early Help approach, offering conversations with families when difficulties arise. Concerns about a child's enjoyment or wellbeing can be discussed privately with staff, giving parents a clear way to raise sensitive matters.

School preparation includes liaison with local primary schools. The pre-school describes close links with Leafield Primary school and work with its reception class throughout the year. This is transition work, rather than an admissions entitlement: attendance does not guarantee a school place, and families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon; afternoons run from noon to 3pm. Provision is term time only. Parents choose the sessions they want, subject to availability, and there are no set booking requirements for funded places. The choice between mornings and afternoons matters for both family routines and the activities a child will encounter.

The pre-school follows Leafield Primary School's term dates and opening days. It closes during school holidays, so the attendance pattern suits families organising childcare around the school calendar. The enquiry route is the office, by email at office@leafieldpreschool.org.uk or telephone on 01993 878667.

Getting There

The setting occupies the Pre-School Room at New Village Hall, Lower End, Leafield, Witney, OX29 9QJ. Its annexe is behind Leafield Village Hall, with the playing field adjoining the site.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government funding for two- and three-year-olds is accepted, including the 15 and 30 hour entitlements. Funded hours are delivered over 38 weeks during term time; hours beyond a child's entitlement are charged at the hourly rate. Funding participation is separate from an individual family's eligibility, and current private prices come in the pre-school's written quotation.

A healthy fruit snack is free in the morning, with water accessible throughout the session and milk offered at snack time; children attending the afternoon bring a healthy packed lunch under the Food and Drink policy. Parents supply nappies and wipes, including when using funded hours.

Cooking and Forest School have no extra activity charge. The session times and prices page sets out the attendance and funding arrangements. Fundraising supports equipment, Forest School sessions and trips, with families able to participate through the committee or fundraising activities.

• A shared setting. Capacity is 16 children in total, with an open-plan classroom and outdoor classroom space. During a visit, ask how activities are organised for a newly two-year-old alongside children preparing for school.
• The weekly timetable. Cooking takes place on Monday mornings, while Forest School and PE run weekly. Discuss how your chosen morning or afternoon pattern connects with those activities.
• Term-time routines. Sessions finish at 3pm and provision closes for school holidays. Families needing holiday care will need an arrangement that fits those closures.
• Later regulatory record. Ofsted's records list a concern dated 26 May 2022; its outcome is not published, so families may want to ask the pre-school about it.

Leafield Pre-school suits families seeking morning or afternoon attendance within the school-term calendar, especially those who value a shared village setting and planned outdoor exploration. The garden, growing resources, cooking and weekly physical activities give its play-based offer substance.

The Good judgement dates from June 2021, and the later listed concern belongs in a family's decision. Balance those points with the practical fit: the session times, school-holiday closures and opportunities for parents to stay involved.