Little Teapots Pre School

Dinosaur Feet give frustrated children somewhere to stamp; FAMLY gives parents a window into their learning. Those two details capture Little Teapots Pre School’s priorities: helping children understand themselves and keeping families involved. Based at the Erskine Centre in Chedburgh, this preschool uses play, conversation and emotional development to shape its approach.

At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Little Teapots Outstanding, judged its education outstanding and found safeguarding effective. Children attending then were aged two to four. The strongest practical distinction is the combination of emotional tools children can use themselves and learning records parents can follow beyond the setting.

Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside lunch, breakfast and extended-hours provision, giving families several ways to organise attendance.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the areas of children’s learning and development, from communication and physical development to early mathematics and creative expression. Here, children’s interests and staff observations help shape the activities within that framework. Children and adults plan together, so a child’s curiosity can influence what happens next rather than simply fit a fixed activity list.

Language has concrete resources behind it. A language board and talking tree sit alongside opportunities to introduce vocabulary and use imagination. These give conversation a place in the day, while staff meetings bring together observations about children’s development. Planning and assessment are connected to what children actually do.

In September 2025, younger children’s play was accompanied by staff commentary, while older children explored questions with more than one possible answer. Shared stories prompted predictions and discussion of unfamiliar vocabulary. Matching animal toys with story characters gave children another way to connect objects, words and sounds. The emphasis was on using language, rather than merely hearing it.

Early writing also had a physical side that September. Old typewriters, chalk and paint brushes gave children different ways to make marks, linking hand movements with the idea that writing communicates something. Physical phonics sessions paired letters with actions and practice making sounds; afterwards, older children chose to try writing letters themselves. Movement, speech and mark-making were connected in one learning sequence.

Outdoor and Community Life

Community contact brought unfamiliar roles into children’s experience in September 2025. Visitors included dentists, police and people from a local care home, giving children opportunities to learn about people beyond their families and preschool. During group activities, children also practised greetings and counting in different languages. Sign language offered another means of expressing needs.

These experiences complemented everyday social learning. That September, a ball game grew as children invited others to participate, with turn-taking happening through shared play. The useful distinction is between an adult explaining cooperation and children having a reason to practise it.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key worker who maintains an interactive learning journey through FAMLY, combining observations with photographs of learning through play. Parents can view it whenever they wish, and a parents evening each term creates time for fuller discussion. The record gives families specific experiences to talk about with their child, rather than relying solely on a brief account of the day.

Assessment includes a written progress check after a child turns two, alongside three-monthly assessments and end-of-year reports. These are different opportunities to consider development, rather than a single judgement made at the end of preschool.

In September 2025, staff gathered children’s interests, preferences and developmental information from parents when they started. Observations then informed individual teaching and small-group work. Coffee mornings and shared craft activities also brought parents into preschool life, while assessments were shared to help families continue learning at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A special educational needs coordinator works with parents and, where appropriate, other professionals. Activities are adapted for individual needs. This gives families a defined role to work with and a mechanism for discussing adjustments, rather than leaving support as a general promise.

Emotional learning is unusually tangible. Children place their name card against an emotion on an emotions board and can change it as their feelings change. Emotions stones can travel with them during a session, while Dinosaur Feet provide a place to jump when anger or frustration builds. These tools give children ways to express feelings before they can always explain them fluently.

In September 2025, children could discuss emotions and strategies for responding to them, with staff reminding them about the stomping activity when needed. The current emotional tools therefore connect with a specific example of how they were used during that visit.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning pre-school sessions run from 9am to noon; afternoon pre-school sessions run from 1pm to 3pm. Lunch club occupies noon to 1pm. Breakfast Club runs from 8am to 9am, and Extended hours from 3pm to 4pm, with both charged separately. These are separate parts of the attendance offer, so the choice is broader than a single all-day booking.

Getting There

The address is Erskine Centre, Chevington Road, Chedburgh, Bury St Edmunds, IP29 4UL. Families can make an enquiry using the contact form, telephone or email.

Funding and Paid Extras

The 15 and 30 hours funded childcare offers operate between 9am and 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Hours beyond the funding are charged separately; current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation. The distinction matters when combining a funded morning or afternoon with breakfast or later attendance.

Snack and resources carry a voluntary monthly charge, including alongside the funded offer. This is a separate contribution rather than an inclusion in funded hours. The sessions and fees page sets out the attendance blocks and charge structure.

• Term-time funding. Funded hours sit within the 9am to 3pm weekday window during term time. Families needing breakfast or later attendance should factor those separately charged blocks into their arrangements.
• Emotional support in practice. Dinosaur Feet, the emotions board and portable emotions stones give children several ways to express feelings. On a visit, discuss how staff introduce these tools to a child who is still developing spoken language.
• Food and personal-care arrangements. Snack has a voluntary charge, and lunch has its own attendance block. What should your child bring for lunch and personal care during their chosen sessions?

Little Teapots suits families choosing morning or afternoon preschool sessions, with lunch and additional attendance blocks offering further combinations. Its character comes from concrete emotional tools, child-led planning and FAMLY communication, supported by the Outstanding September 2025 judgement.

The strongest fit is for parents who want to take part in discussions about development and use shared observations at home. Term-time funding and separately charged attendance beyond its window are the practical considerations to weigh alongside that educational offer.