Pitton Pre-School

Open countryside, a large outdoor play space and a spacious village-hall interior give Pitton Pre-School a clear identity: children’s play can move between indoors and outdoors, with equal importance given to both. Forest School, combining children’s own outdoor explorations with adult-led activities, adds another dimension to that arrangement.

Ofsted rated Pitton Pre-School Outstanding on 26 March 2024, finding that ambitious teaching through play sustained children’s attention and encouraged reading, writing and counting. The useful detail sits beneath the grade: shopping games became opportunities to write lists, identify initial sounds and handle money. Familiar play gave children a reason to use emerging skills.

Based at Pitton Village Hall in Salisbury’s surrounding countryside, the pre-school accepts children from two years old and has 26 places in total. Attendance runs during Wiltshire term times, with flexibility over collection and drop-off within its opening hours.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children’s learning and care, with play helping them develop communication, physical skills, relationships and early understanding of words and numbers. Pitton’s child-centred curriculum gives children’s interests a role in what they explore. Forest School sits alongside that framework, adding outdoor activities that balance children’s choices with an adult’s direction.

In March 2024, staff extended a pretend shop by helping children make shopping lists and think about the sounds at the beginning of words. Counting money belonged to the same game. These were connected experiences rather than isolated exercises: a child could move between conversation, marks on paper and numbers while pursuing an idea that mattered to them.

Paint mixing offered a different kind of challenge that month. Adults encouraged children to anticipate what might happen, then children described the colours they created. The emphasis was on thinking as well as doing. Predicting, experimenting and explaining gave staff opportunities to extend children’s language while leaving room for their ideas.

Reading also had a comfortable physical setting in March 2024, with cushions supporting shared book time. Adults discussed illustrations and connected stories with children’s existing experiences. Recognising names developed through everyday routines, beginning with names beside photographs and moving towards identifying a lunch place by its written name alone. Early literacy was woven into ordinary parts of the day.

Outdoor and Community Life

Activities transfer between the large outdoor play space and the spacious interior. Forest School combines child-led exploration with adult-led activities, giving children opportunities to practise independence outdoors.

Relationships and Communication

A child’s key person is a point of contact for discussing interests and ideas for learning at home. The pre-school also supports parents through informal conversations and a monthly gathering where families can exchange advice and discuss parenting difficulties. That gives parents a route to conversation with staff as well as contact with other families.

In March 2024, communication included written updates about children’s development, discussions of their next learning steps and suggestions to try at home. This made the exchange more useful than a simple account of what a child had done that day: parents could connect activities at home with the learning taking place at pre-school.

Children also took practical responsibility during that month’s sessions. They helped prepare fruit for snacks and put resources away for others. Snack conversations gave them practice in addressing one another and making requests politely. Independence and social interaction were part of the routine, rather than separate lessons.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The designated Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator advises parents and staff and liaises with other professionals supporting a child. This gives families a specific role through which to discuss additional needs and coordinate conversations with outside services.

At its March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children made exceptional progress, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), that weighted blankets and fidget tools helped children participate in stories, and that safeguarding arrangements were effective. These are dated findings about the support in practice, alongside the current SENCo mechanism.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 3pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and 8am to 1pm on Friday, during Wiltshire term times. Drop-off and collection can vary within those hours. The earlier Friday finish matters when matching childcare with work or other family commitments.

Enquiries and requests for an application form can be made by telephone on 07785 933966 or by email at admin@pittonpreschool.com.

Getting There

The address is Pitton Village Hall, White Hill, Pitton, Salisbury, SP5 1DU.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered during term time. Funding options include Wiltshire’s Better 2gether Funding for eligible two-year-olds, Free Entitlement Funding for three- and four-year-olds from the term following their third birthday, and the eligibility-dependent 30 hour Offer for that older age group. The pre-school handles the administration and claim for Free Entitlement Funding.

Tax Free Childcare and workplace childcare vouchers are accepted. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; families should distinguish the funded entitlement from any privately paid attendance when agreeing their pattern.

Children move on to Pitton Primary School, Winterslow Primary School and St Andrew’s Primary in Laverstock, as well as schools further afield. These destinations describe where children go, rather than an admissions advantage. Attendance does not guarantee a school place, and families apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Term-time calendar and Friday finish. Attendance follows Wiltshire term times, with Friday closing at 1pm. Families needing holiday care or later Friday cover should weigh that against the flexibility within the other opening windows.
• Outdoor learning in practice. Forest School is integral to the activities, and outdoor play receives equal importance to indoor play. During a visit, ask how staff organise outdoor experiences for a child who is initially hesitant about joining in.
• Agreeing the attendance package. Drop-off and collection times can vary within opening hours. When discussing a place, ask how your proposed attendance hours fit the opening window and how meals and non-food consumables are handled alongside funded hours.

Pitton suits families seeking term-time pre-school from age two, with flexible attendance within a daytime opening window and substantial space for outdoor play. Forest School and countryside access give that offer a clear character. The March 2024 Outstanding judgement adds weight, supported by concrete examples of learning through shopping games, paint exploration and everyday responsibilities.