Step Up Pre-School At Dilton Marsh

A mobile classroom on primary-school grounds, a Nativity at The Holy Trinity and a school-leavers’ outing to Fairfield Animal Centre give Step Up Pre-School At Dilton Marsh a clear village identity. Its community connections extend beyond children’s activities: Fairfield College provides a work-experience link with young people who have additional needs.

Ofsted rated the setting Good at its 5 July 2021 inspection. That is a dated judgement, and the newer Glow Worm baby-room building was completed in August 2024. Families considering baby care are therefore looking at provision that has changed since that judgement.

Children from birth to five have separate age-based rooms: Glow Worm, Bumblebee and Dragonfly. Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside breakfast and later-afternoon care, with the main opening pattern following school terms.

Rooms and Ages

Glow Worm Room serves babies from birth to two, with space indoors and outside and furniture and resources intended to encourage exploration; Bumblebee Room takes children aged two to three, emphasising communication, emotional and social development, and physical skills; Dragonfly Room serves children aged three to five, covering the full learning framework and concentrating on preparation for primary school in the final term.

The separation gives families a useful way to understand the progression through the setting. Baby provision centres on exploration, the toddler room concentrates on foundational development, and the oldest children have an explicit school-transition emphasis. These are different stages within the same preschool, rather than one undifferentiated age group.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS, or Early Years Foundation Stage, provides the statutory learning framework: children develop through play and exploration, with learning encompassing language, relationships, movement and the wider world. Step Up uses Development Matters alongside it, a non-statutory guide to children’s development that supports practitioners’ judgement rather than replacing it.

Indoors and outside, children can choose resources and take part in planned activities. That combination makes room for their own interests as well as adult planning. Personal, social and emotional development is an explicit priority across the preschool, with independence and confidence among its stated aims.

Outdoor and Community Life

The annual Christmas Nativity takes place at The Holy Trinity. It gives a recurring preschool event a setting beyond the classroom and connects it with a named local church. At the end of the school year, preschool leavers have an outing to Fairfield Animal Centre in Southwick, marking their move towards school with a shared experience.

Fairfield College supplies a different community connection. Step Up takes a student for work experience during their final college year, supporting experience of teamwork, timekeeping and workplace tasks. This is a practical partnership with a specialist college, rather than a claim about the support offered to children attending the preschool.

A SENCO role sits within the staff structure. For families whose child needs additional support, that provides an identifiable role around which to discuss their child’s needs. Staff also undertake further professional development in behaviour management, special educational needs and safeguarding.

All staff hold current paediatric first-aid certificates and safeguarding certificates, and the setting uses annual renewal through the DBS Update Service. These are concrete arrangements; they should not be read as a new inspection judgement on safeguarding effectiveness.

Preparation for school is built into Dragonfly’s final term. The emphasis is on developing the skills children need for the change to primary education, so transition is part of the room’s work rather than simply an end-of-year event.

Sessions and Attendance

The preschool opens Monday to Friday during term time, from 7.30am to 5.30pm. Its booking form separates the day into Breakfast session, 7.30am to 9am; Morning session, 9am to noon; Afternoon Session, noon to 3pm; and Tea Time Session, 3pm to 5.30pm. Parents select the sessions and days they want their child to attend.

A Holiday Club also runs during school holidays, with days and times booked half a term ahead. After-school care serves both preschool children and children attending Dilton Marsh C of E Primary School. Families planning care across the school year therefore need to distinguish their regular term-time sessions from holiday bookings.

Getting There

The address is The Mobile, High Street, Dilton Marsh, Westbury, BA13 4DY, within the grounds of Dilton Marsh C of E Primary School. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email or by telephone, and an online registration form starts the application process.

Sharing the school site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Step Up accepts all government childcare funding, with funded hours used Monday to Friday during term time between 9am and 3pm. Its funding links include Working Parent Entitlement funding from nine months, 30 hour Extended Funding and Better 2Gether Funding. Hours outside the funded window are privately charged; current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

For children using government-funded hours, there is a voluntary monthly consumables charge. Parents can opt out and instead pay individually for services or resources outside government funding. This choice matters when comparing the total cost of a morning or afternoon booking with care extending into breakfast or the later afternoon.

• Later regulatory record. Ofsted’s records list a concern dated 18 February 2026; its outcome is not published, so families may want to ask the preschool about it.
• Baby-room routines. Glow Worm’s new building was completed in August 2024. During a visit, ask how settling, sleep and the daily group size work for babies in this room.
• Funding boundaries. Funded attendance falls between 9am and 3pm during term time. Request a written quotation separating private hours and the voluntary consumables option for your chosen sessions.
• School-site expectations. Step Up occupies grounds shared with Dilton Marsh C of E Primary School. Keep the preschool booking and the Reception application separate when planning the move to school.

Step Up suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions, including those adding breakfast or later-afternoon care around them. Its age-based rooms, school-transition work and named community links give the offer a recognisable shape, while the holiday booking rule rewards advance planning.

The Good judgement dates to July 2021. The later concern belongs in the decision, alongside the practical appeal of term-time funded sessions and care extending beyond the funded window.