The Willows Preschool

A parent-built mud kitchen, a willow dome and a quieter sensory garden give The Willows Preschool a clear outdoor identity. Based within the grounds of North Bradley Primary School, this North Bradley setting combines space for messy exploration with close contact between families and their child's key person. It has capacity for 24 children and welcomes children from two years until school age.

At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated The Willows Good and found safeguarding effective. That judgement provides a dated assessment of care and education, rather than a promise about every aspect of today's provision. The practical offer is term-time childcare, with whole-day attendance and an afternoon routine accommodating children joining or leaving partway through the day.

Parent involvement reaches beyond progress meetings. A voluntary committee, mainly consisting of parents, oversees the preschool, while families can also contribute gardening, maintenance or fundraising help. This gives parents opportunities to participate in the setting's everyday development as well as their own child's learning.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) shapes the day: play, conversation, movement and creative activities support children's learning and development. Staff use observations to plan next steps for individual children, so the framework translates into what a child does rather than simply a checklist of activities.

Small language groups can use Toddler Talk, BLAST or Letters and Sounds, presented here as playful language activities. Counting and comparing also enter group time, while children choose between indoor and outdoor activities. The balance matters: there is a familiar routine, but children have room to pursue an interest and decide where to play.

Inside, a writing table, messy area and role play area sit alongside spaces for construction, mathematics, books and puzzles. These give children different ways to approach an idea: they might build something, act out a situation or make marks. Staff review the layout and resources each term, changing the arrangement or replacing materials when needed.

Mini Musicians brings singing and instrument play, including drums and chime bars. Tropical Discovery Workshops introduces animals, with children deciding whether to handle them and asking questions about what they encounter. Neither needs an invented weekly timetable to explain its value: these are concrete opportunities for music-making and first-hand investigation.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor use is a substantial part of the offer. The garden includes a vegetable patch and compost area, while a soil pit gives children somewhere to dig. A covered sand pit and water trays support play through the year. The parent-built mud kitchen adds another space for mixing and imaginative cooking.

Large-scale construction uses planks, tyres, guttering and hoses. Children can take toys outside, and the outdoor area opens after registration, allowing them to move between activities. This makes outdoor play part of the learning routine rather than a separate break from it.

The sensory garden has a different purpose. Reached through the school playground, it provides a quieter place for smaller groups to explore textures, plants and natural sounds. Lavender and rosemary offer scent; gravel, bark and paving provide contrasting surfaces. Tending plants and the bird table brings practical responsibilities into that exploration.

Community activity also extends beyond the grounds. In June 2025, children helped create a scarecrow for the North Bradley Scarecrow Hunt, and a trip took families to Cholderton Rare Breeds Farm. These examples connect preschool life with a village event and a shared outing, rather than leaving community involvement as an abstract ambition.

In January 2023, children explored sand and water moving through pipes, tackled outdoor obstacle courses and used pretend doctor and firefighter play. The same dated account described village and town outings involving letters, the library and conversations with older residents. Those examples show how physical investigation and everyday encounters fed into learning at that time.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is negotiated with each family. A parent may stay alongside their child over several weeks before gradually leaving for longer, or attendance may build through increasing sessions. The useful point is the flexibility of the process: staff and parents agree the arrangements at each stage rather than imposing one timetable on every child.

Each child has a key person responsible for their relationship with the family and developmental records. The ILD (Interactive Learning Diary) gives parents access to an online account of learning and activities, making it possible to follow experiences that happen during preschool hours. Parents' evenings take place three times a year, and additional meetings can be arranged.

In January 2023, key people tracked children's achievements and staff exchanged ideas with parents for supporting learning at home. Children also practised everyday independence, including changing footwear, pouring drinks and clearing away snack items. These were practical tasks with a purpose: children had opportunities to do more for themselves.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO role and designated safeguarding lead role form part of the staff structure. These provide identifiable responsibilities for additional needs and safeguarding arrangements; the January 2023 safeguarding judgement remains the relevant dated assessment of effectiveness.

Rest can be accommodated within the afternoon routine. A child requesting a break can have a cushion, blanket and quieter place to sit or lie down. Afternoon activities also allow for quieter choices, recognising that children staying through the day may need a different pace later on.

School preparation has included direct experience of the neighbouring school. In January 2023, older children spent morning time in classrooms and took part in physical education there. That dated practice offered familiarity with a school setting, but it should be read separately from any admissions decision.

Sessions and Attendance

The Willows is on Church Lane, North Bradley, Trowbridge, BA14 0TA, within the primary school's grounds. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm during term time; an 8.30am start is offered subject to demand. The earlier start is therefore a conditional arrangement, not an unconditional extension to the day.

Whole-day bookings are supported, and the afternoon routine accommodates children arriving then as well as children who leave after lunch. Activities change between morning and afternoon, while familiar areas remain in use. This helps a child attending for part of the day join the routine rather than merely repeat the morning's activities.

General enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01225 769489 or by email to staffwillows@googlemail.com. The voluntary committee oversees the preschool's operation, with committee meetings open to parents.

Funding and Paid Extras

Free Entitlement Funding includes fifteen hours a week from the term after a child's third birthday, with at least 2.5 funded hours claimed on each attendance day. Better 2gether Funding is accepted for eligible two-year-olds, and families entitled to extended funding up to thirty hours must register their code with the preschool. The provision operates during term time.

Additional hours are paid for privately. Snacks carry a suggested donation per session, separate from those hours. A non-refundable booking fee applies when sessions are booked, and invoices are issued in advance each term; families should obtain a current written quotation for their intended pattern.

Parents supply packed lunches for whole-day attendance, with ice packs where needed because the small fridge cannot hold them; alternatively, hot meals supplied by the local primary school can be ordered monthly. The lunch policy excludes nuts and nut butters, and grapes must be halved lengthways.

Leaving normally requires a month's written notice or payment for that period, except when a child leaves at the summer term's end. Fees remain due for term-time sickness and holiday absences, with statutory bank holidays excepted. These conditions matter when calculating the cost of a booking across a term.

The preschool describes strong links with North Bradley Primary School. Attending The Willows does not guarantee a Reception place: families still use the local authority admissions process.

• Adapting group activities. In January 2023, planned small-group work sometimes continued without enough adjustment to children's engagement, limiting how far learning developed. On a visit, ask how staff now change an activity when a child loses interest or needs a different challenge.
• Term-time hours. The normal opening window ends at 3pm, and the earlier 8.30am start depends on demand. Discuss the intended attendance pattern and early-start arrangement before committing to a booking.
• Lunch and allergies. Packed lunches need appropriate cooling, and the lunch policy excludes nuts and nut butters. Families managing allergies should confirm current practice, including arrangements for ordered school meals.
• Paid extras and leaving. Privately paid hours, the booking fee and suggested snack donation sit alongside funded entitlement. Review the written quotation and the notice exception for summer-term leavers together, and ask which non-food consumables families should supply.

The Willows suits families seeking term-time preschool with whole-day attendance or an afternoon pattern, outdoor play built into the routine and a key person relationship that includes parents. The garden's contrasting spaces, online learning diary and opportunities for parent involvement give that offer substance.

Its school setting is useful for familiarity, while Reception admission remains a separate application. The January 2023 Good judgement is a positive dated assessment; the activity-adaptation concern deserves a practical conversation during a visit. For families whose schedules fit the term-time opening window, this is a preschool with a clear combination of outdoor exploration, family contact and village participation.