All Saints Under Fives Pre-School

Pretend cement, real kitchen utensils and a garden give All Saints Under Fives Pre-School a practical, play-led character. In February 2024, children recreated building work they had seen at home, experimented with materials and practised working together during everyday tasks. The appeal is straightforward: familiar experiences become opportunities to talk, create and become more independent.

At its February 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Good and judged safeguarding effective. There was also a clear improvement point: individual learning plans needed more consistent delivery and sharper direction. That distinction matters. An engaging activity should also help a child take the next step in their learning.

The pre-school has 32 places in total and caters for children aged two to four. It occupies premises in the grounds of All Saints CE Primary School in Newmarket and is a community charity with opportunities for parents to participate in its management. Morning and afternoon sessions, with a lunchtime period between them, fit a term-time routine.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the shared framework for learning and care: children develop communication, movement and relationships alongside early mathematics, literacy, creative expression and understanding of the world. Here, sessions combine activities chosen by children with experiences organised by practitioners. That gives children both room to pursue an idea and opportunities to learn alongside an adult.

Children are encouraged to complete their chosen activities, while adult-led groups practise cooperation. Assessment combines observations during play with parents' accounts of their child's interests at home.

In February 2024, building play included tools, bricks and imitation cement, responding to children's interest in construction at home. Elsewhere, children cut paper and herbs with scissors, explored sand and water, and used everyday pots and pans in imaginative play. These are concrete ways to practise hand control, try out ideas and find words for familiar experiences.

Group routines also supplied learning opportunities that February. Children worked out how to move a container of bricks together at tidying time, while a ball game involved waiting and passing a turn to someone else. Cooperation was practised through the task itself, rather than discussed only as an abstract rule.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play continues in wet weather, with families supplying coats and wellington boots. Children can choose activities outside as well as join adult-led experiences; in February 2024, the garden also carried activities beyond the indoor space. Families should expect outdoor clothing to be part of the everyday kit.

In Autumn 2024, the kindness tree celebrated kind acts at home and pre-school on a shared display. Library books went home with children too, extending conversations and reading beyond sessions.

The Friends of All Saints Under Fives brings parents together socially and helps with occasional fundraising. Parents can share interests with children, help during sessions and contribute activity ideas.

Relationships and Communication

A key person is allocated before settling begins, and staff agree a settling plan with parents. Where possible, early settling time is matched to that practitioner's working hours. A backup key person can provide continuity during absence, with the relationship introduced gradually after the child starts forming an attachment to their main practitioner.

The key person is the first contact for questions about a child and maintains their developmental records. Parents contribute to assessments, including the progress check at age two, and staff share information verbally. This creates a clear route for discussing a change at home or a concern about development with someone who knows the child.

Parents take part in the annual policy review, while a questionnaire invites feedback and children's ideas. Both give families a voice in how the pre-school operates.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff supported children learning English as an additional language effectively, using training and patient conversation to help them communicate. In that month, adults also responded gently when children needed help with behaviour and encouraged independence through choices and familiar routines.

The current staff structure includes a SENCo, a safeguarding lead and a deputy safeguarding lead. SEND procedures involve the key person, SENCo or manager and parents in assessing concerns and deciding support. Action plans identify the help required, who will provide it and the resources involved, with reviews agreed at least termly. Where appropriate, medical support is brought into a health care plan.

When adjustments are needed before starting, admissions procedures require a realistic timetable for training, risk assessment or a health care plan. Parents and relevant agencies receive updates during preparations.

Behaviour procedures emphasise understanding emotions and helping children resolve disagreements. Persistent concerns lead to discussion with parents and a stepped response involving the key person and SENCo. At the February 2024 visit, the pre-school employed six staff, four with level-three early years qualifications; those figures describe the team at that time.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is All Saints Primary School, Vicarage Road, Newmarket, CB8 8JE. Opening hours are 8.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, across 38 weeks each year, with closure during school holidays. The premises are shared with Breakfast and After School Care; this does not establish that those services form part of a pre-school booking.

Morning sessions run from 8.30am to 11.30am and afternoon sessions from 12.30pm to 3.30pm. The separately booked lunchtime period runs from 11.30am to 12.30pm. Funding can be used across the day, so the lunch period is relevant to families combining the two sessions.

The waiting list is organised by birth order and may also consider funded-entitlement eligibility, time waiting, proximity to home, siblings and the setting's ability to meet a child's needs. These are admission factors, rather than a promise of a place. Parents complete the childcare paperwork before their child starts.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds, subject to eligibility, alongside privately paid hours. The stated 15-hour weekly entitlement starts in the term after a child's third birthday. Eligible families seeking 30-hour funding must apply in the preceding term and obtain their code before the relevant start date. Funding is delivered within the term-time offer. Current prices come in the pre-school's written quotation.

Children staying at lunchtime bring a packed lunch, and the lunchbox policy excludes foods containing nuts; allergy procedures use individual risk assessments and acknowledge that cross-contamination cannot be ruled out. Families also supply sun protection cream for summer outdoor play.

Paid sessions are charged in advance each week, and fees remain payable during absence through illness or holidays. The terms also provide for charges following repeated late collection. Those arrangements make reliable collection and a clear understanding of payment commitments important.

Moving on to School

With parental consent, children's records are passed to their receiving school, including information relevant to additional educational, health or medical needs. Sharing that information can help the next setting understand a child's development and support. Being on the primary school site does not guarantee a Reception place; families still use the local authority admissions process.

• Individual learning steps. February 2024's improvement point concerned how consistently and precisely learning plans were put into practice. During a visit, ask to see how an observed interest becomes a specific next step and how progress is reviewed.
• Toileting arrangements. The application terms prefer children to be toilet trained and explain that there are no private changing facilities, while allowing for accidents. Discuss the practical arrangements for your child's stage of toileting before agreeing a start.
• Lunch and allergies. Lunch is brought from home, the lunchbox policy excludes nut-containing food and allergy risk assessments recognise possible cross-contamination. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice and their child's individual plan.
• Term-time fit. The 38-week calendar includes school-holiday closures, and paid fees continue during illness or holidays. Weigh the morning, afternoon and lunchtime choices against your family's holiday cover and collection arrangements.

All Saints Under Fives suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, connected through lunch if needed. Practical play, key-person care and parent participation are its appeal. Balance the February 2024 Good judgement against the weakness in delivering individual learning steps, the toileting arrangements and school-holiday closures.