Lilypad Preschool

Bikes, trikes and a generous tarmacked play space give Lilypad Preschool's school-site setting a clear physical character. Based within Bishop's Waltham Infant School on Oak Road, it takes children from age two until they are ready for school and has 24 places in total. This is the school branch, also known as Lilypad at the School.

At its February 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Lilypad Good overall, found safeguarding effective and highlighted carefully adapted activities for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). There were also clear teaching priorities: extending mathematical understanding and making better use of opportunities to introduce vocabulary. The useful distinction for parents is between an encouraging account of care and inclusion and specific work still needed in teaching.

Morning and afternoon sessions provide separate attendance options, with full-day attendance also catered for.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS shapes the day around children's development through play, including movement, communication, relationships and early learning in numbers and literacy. Activities combine children's own choices with experiences guided by adults. Planning draws on children's interests, so what captures a child's attention can become the starting point for further learning.

Indoor and outdoor areas are organised around these areas of learning. Resources are positioned for children to reach independently, and free movement between inside and outside gives them some control over their play. The practical value is simple: children can choose an activity and take part rather than depend on an adult to fetch everything.

In February 2025, children used tweezers to lift small toy bugs from a light box, practising the hand movements needed before writing. Another memorable participant was Tony, the giant African land snail: children watched him and took turns offering cucumber. Caring for an animal made responsibility tangible. These were specific experiences at that time, rather than promises about today's activities.

Number learning also arose through ordinary routines in February 2025, including counting blueberries at snack time. The next teaching step was to move beyond counting into ideas such as volume, weight and sequences. Conversation presented a similar opportunity: children readily answered questions, but adults sometimes missed chances to add unfamiliar words. Parents should weigh those precise limitations alongside the positive overall judgement.

Outdoor and Community Life

At Lilypad at the School, the tarmacked outdoor space accommodates bikes and trikes alongside equipment for climbing and balancing. It gives energetic play a substantial place in the day, with opportunities to practise movement as well as quieter learning indoors.

In February 2025, activities about litter and plastic in the ocean helped children connect their own choices with protecting marine life. Children discussed using bins at the beach. Environmental learning therefore had a concrete action attached to it, rather than remaining an abstract message about looking after the planet.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person responsible for their care and learning. The role includes observing development and planning what comes next, giving families an identified practitioner with whom to build a relationship. Settling is adjusted to the child's individual needs, rather than treated as an identical process for everyone.

The registration form asks about home languages, dietary needs, allergies, comfort items and anything that worries a child. Where English is unfamiliar, settling support is agreed with the key person. Those details give staff practical starting points: how a child communicates, what helps them feel comfortable and which care needs require attention.

In February 2025, staff and families exchanged photographs of activities and new achievements, linking learning at home with learning at preschool. Current communication arrangements also include written, spoken and translated information according to families' needs. Parents can access their own child's records, except where relevant professionals decide this would not be in the child's best interest; confidential information is restricted to those who need it.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that pictures and signing helped children with SEND participate and sustain attention. Current SEND arrangements include a SENCO role, Individual Education Plans and reviews with parents, with outside professionals involved where further support is needed. The mechanism matters more than a broad promise of inclusion: support is planned, discussed and reconsidered as the child's needs develop.

Emotional understanding had a practical place in February 2025. Children matched their names to feelings on a display and considered how taking a toy could affect another child. The current behaviour policy distinguishes an unwelcome action from the child themselves, uses redirection and involves parents when concerns arise. It also recognises that children sometimes need their own space and should not invariably be expected to share.

For moving on, SEND arrangements include discussions with the next school or care setting and a transition form. This supports continuity of information about a child's needs; it does not confer an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

The school branch offers a Morning Session from 8.45am to 11.45am and an Afternoon Session from 12.15pm to 3.15pm. Full-day attendance is also catered for. Parents provide packed lunches. Early starts and later finishes carry an additional charge, as does lunchtime attendance outside a full day.

In February 2025, opening was on weekdays during school terms, from 8.45am to 3.15pm. That dated operating pattern is relevant to families comparing preschool with care across the year. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email or using the school branch's telephone number, 07808 146785; registration and waiting-list forms are also used.

Getting There

The address is Bishop's Waltham Infant School, Oak Road, Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire, SO32 1EP. Attending a preschool on the school site does not guarantee a Reception place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Lilypad accepts 2-Year-Old Funding, 3-Year-Old Funding,(15 Hours per week) and 30 Hour Funding, alongside privately paid sessions. Tax Free Childcare is accepted too. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the funding and session information explains the charge structure.

Parents supply packed lunches; staff help with containers while encouraging children to serve themselves, and lunchtime attendance is charged separately when a child is not attending for the full day. Lunchbox guidance requests that families avoid nut products and halve grapes and cherry tomatoes.

Parents provide sun cream from home. A separate voluntary sundries contribution applies per session to funded and privately paying children, excluding children receiving 2 Year Old Funding; an additional required session includes sundries in its charge. Invoices are payable by BACS within two weeks, with a late-payment charge applying afterwards.

• Teaching beyond the basics. February 2025 priorities concerned broader mathematical concepts and new vocabulary. On a visit, ask for examples of how staff now extend counting and conversation during play.
• School-term routine. In February 2025, attendance followed school terms. Establish how your proposed morning, afternoon or full-day pattern fits the current calendar before committing.
• Lunch and care costs. Parents provide packed lunches. Staying over lunch outside full-day attendance carries an additional attendance charge. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food practice, and families should include the applicable sundries terms when discussing their quotation.
• School-site expectations. Sharing a site with Bishop's Waltham Infant School does not secure a Reception place. Plan the preschool choice and the school application as separate decisions.

Lilypad suits families seeking morning sessions, afternoon sessions or full-day attendance in a school-site preschool, with accessible play resources and substantial space for active outdoor play. Its key-person arrangements and planned SEND support give parents concrete mechanisms to discuss, rather than just reassuring language.

The February 2025 judgement supports the choice, while the identified gaps in vocabulary teaching and mathematical extension deserve attention. Families who value independent play, an individual settling process and a clear link between home and preschool learning have useful reasons to consider this branch.