Thames Pre-School

A garden mound for sliding, vegetables to plant and songs shared with older neighbours at Open Door give Thames Pre-School a character rooted in outdoor play and Cricklade life. Children's interests shape activities, while outings take learning beyond the pre-school. This is a setting with a clear sense of its local community.

At its 9 December 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Thames Pre-School Good and found safeguarding effective. That judgement belongs to the inspection date; the current offer combines child-led play, a key-person settling arrangement and regular communication with families. Thames has 30 places in total and accepts children from age two until they start school.

Attendance is term-time, with full-day, morning and afternoon patterns alongside an early-start option. The choice matters: families can select a shorter session rather than organise their week around a full day.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play and tracking children's development across areas of learning. At Thames, practitioners listen to children's conversations and watch their play before developing activities around their interests. The framework is the baseline; the child-led planning gives the day its shape.

Adult-led activities are planned each week, but plans can respond to what children bring with them. A child's account of a family wedding might prompt pretend celebrations, a cake made from reused materials and cupcake baking. Rain might lead to puddle play. These are examples of how familiar experiences become starting points for making, talking and exploring, rather than a fixed timetable of identical activities.

In December 2022, children transformed a cardboard box into a theatre for puppets and worked together in their play. Practitioners used songs, simple signing and commentary during activities to develop language. Those concrete techniques gave children different ways to join in, including through gesture and familiar rhymes.

Questioning needed more care. In December 2022, some adults moved too quickly from asking a question to answering it themselves, leaving children too little thinking time. That matters in a child-led setting: listening includes allowing a child time to form an answer.

Outdoor and Community Life

The gardens support den building, vegetable growing and sliding on a mound. Children go outdoors whatever the weather, wearing suitable clothing and wellies, so changes in temperature and season become part of their experience. Outdoor play has room for both energetic movement and slower exploration.

Forest School activities add practical outdoor learning through participation and exploration of the natural world. In December 2022, garden sessions included children learning to judge how far to climb trees and managing their own outdoor clothing. The emphasis was on practising independence alongside supported risk-taking, rather than simply spending time outside.

Regular outings include the library, fire station, parks and shops. Open Door, a Cricklade lunch club for older people, brings a different kind of encounter: children share songs and join in with puzzles. The nursery describes links with St Sampson's School, whose classrooms and hall children visit often. These experiences introduce children to people, places and routines beyond their immediate group.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is allocated a key person to help them settle, with families involved where a child needs additional support. That gives parents a clear relationship through which to discuss the transition into pre-school. Settling is treated as an individual process rather than expecting every child to adjust in the same way.

An online learning journey, informal conversations and parent evenings keep families involved in children's learning. These offer different opportunities to follow development: everyday exchanges can address something immediate, while parent evenings allow a fuller discussion. The combination suits parents who want both regular contact and a more structured conversation.

In December 2022, children used stones showing emotions to help them talk about their feelings, and selected books from an outdoor library to share at home. These were practical links between emotional expression, reading and family life. Small steps also helped younger children reach resources such as the easel independently.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children made good progress and that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received additional help through coordination with practitioners and other professionals, including small-group activities. These findings concern support and progress in December 2022.

The current team structure includes a SENCo role. Practitioners hold recognised qualifications or are pursuing them through apprenticeships, and staff have safeguarding and paediatric first aid training. Recruitment follows safer-recruitment principles. These are arrangements families can understand, rather than a substitute for the dated safeguarding judgement.

A parent committee manages the pre-school as a charity, with fundraising supporting improvements to outdoor equipment, furniture and literacy areas. Parents therefore have a route into the setting's organisation as well as their own child's learning.

Sessions and Attendance

Thames Pre-School is on Bath Road, Cricklade, Swindon, SN6 6AX. It opens on weekdays during term time, from 9am to 3pm, with an Early Start session from 8.45am to 9am.

The full day runs from 9am to 3pm. Morning only is 9am to noon; afternoons can run from noon to 3pm with lunch, or from 1pm to 3pm. Sessions are flexible, and the suggested attendance of at least two sessions each week is intended to support settling. It is a recommendation, rather than a stated compulsory minimum.

Application and session-request forms are returned by email to the administration team.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded attendance is delivered during term time. Thames accepts Universal Entitlement: 15 Hours Free, Working Families Entitlement: 30 Hours Free and funded two-year-old places, including Wiltshire's Better2gether funding. Universal funding begins in the term following a child's third birthday; the working-families entitlement is for eligible parents of children from age two.

Both named weekly entitlements operate over 38 weeks. Children can attend using funded hours alone, without buying additional private hours; extra sessions and attendance outside funding entitlement are charged separately. Early Start can use funded entitlement or be paid for privately, and current prices should be obtained in a written quotation from the nursery. The fees and funding page explains the charge structure.

Toast is free during Early Start, while morning and afternoon snacks are provided with voluntary contributions of food or money welcomed from families who can help. Optional hot meals come from Dolce via St Sampson's Primary School: families choose and pay through their own account, with the lunch VAT element invoiced separately each full term.

Moving on to School

In December 2022, Thames operated in the grounds of St Sampson's Primary School. Its current school visits provide opportunities to become familiar with classrooms and a hall, but attending the pre-school does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority's admissions process.

• Term-time rhythm. The offer combines full days with shorter morning and afternoon sessions, during term time. Families needing care through school holidays should weigh that calendar alongside the session choice.
• Time to answer. In December 2022, some questioning moved on before children could respond. During a visit, ask how practitioners now allow children time to think and explain their ideas.
• School transition. Strengthening school partnerships was an improvement priority in December 2022. Ask how current classroom visits connect with preparation for the child's next setting; attendance does not guarantee admission.

Thames suits families seeking term-time pre-school with a choice between full days and shorter morning or afternoon sessions. The garden, Open Door visits and interest-led activities give that offer substance, while the key-person arrangement and online learning journey provide clear ways for families to stay involved.

The December 2022 Good judgement is a positive dated assessment, with two practical priorities concerning thinking time and school transition. Families who value community outings and outdoor learning have concrete reasons to consider Thames, provided its term-time calendar fits their childcare needs.