Foundations Community Pre-School, Westfield

A clock rhyme, melting garden ice and children washing their own cups give Foundations Community Pre-School, Westfield its character: learning grows out of ordinary things children can investigate and do for themselves. Based at Westfield Primary School in Woking, it has 28 places in total for children aged 24 to 60 months.

At its January 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged all six assessed areas to be Strong standard and safeguarding standards to be met. These are area judgements, rather than a single overall grade. The practical detail beneath them matters: children explored mathematical ideas through play, discussed changes outdoors and took responsibility for shared equipment.

Term-time attendance includes morning sessions, afternoons and a full day connected by Lunch Club, a midday arrangement that joins the shorter sessions together.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the framework for children's learning and care, bringing play, conversation, physical activity and growing independence into their day. At Westfield, the January 2026 examples show how these elements can work together rather than becoming separate exercises.

Hickory Dickory Dock became an opportunity to explore counting alongside rhythm and sounds. In January 2026, children contributed ideas during a retelling of the rhyme, counted and identified clock numerals. A familiar story gave them something concrete to respond to. Numbers had a purpose within the activity.

Another January 2026 example involved children completing a jigsaw together. They compared pieces with the picture, exchanged suggestions and negotiated where each piece belonged, with staff offering prompts. This combined persistence with the social demands of a shared task: listening, waiting and making room for another child's idea.

Teaching also used conversation, songs and stories to extend children's language in January 2026. Staff adjusted their questions and demonstrations as children's interests developed, using observations to decide what should come next. For a parent, the useful distinction is the connection between what a child is doing now and the next opportunity offered to them.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden supplied a practical science question in January 2026. Children noticed that ice exposed to sunshine was changing differently from ice in shade, discussed the reason and considered what would happen next. Outdoor play became a chance to explain an observation, rather than simply name it.

Children also participated in checking their surroundings for safety that January. With adult guidance, they examined resources and play equipment, identified hazards and discussed how to protect other children. The physical environment was something they helped care for. That gives responsibility a concrete meaning.

Relationships and Communication

In January 2026, staff used parents' knowledge of their children to agree approaches to care and settling. This connected home experience with daily routines, allowing support to be shaped around the individual child rather than a single settling formula.

Predictability was another part of the day that January. A bell signalled a change of activity, helping children stop, listen and prepare for what followed. Children needing help with feelings had individual time with an adult, using pictures and stories to talk through an emotion. These are useful details for families whose child finds transitions or expressing distress difficult.

The group-wide EY Log is an online learning journal offering photographs and daily updates, included within the optional enhanced-provision charge. It gives families a connection with the nursery day, while remaining part of the separately charged extras rather than the funded entitlement itself.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that children, including those with SEND, made substantial progress from their starting points, and that support coordinated with parents and specialist services was effective; its next steps asked leaders to sustain high standards and make a transformational difference to outcomes and experiences for disadvantaged children, children with SEND, children with current or past involvement with children's social care, alongside those facing other barriers to learning or wellbeing.

The care routines also gave children practical responsibilities in January 2026. After snack, they sorted rubbish for recycling and washed their plates and cups, with support where needed. Independence here meant completing manageable tasks, including clearing up after themselves, rather than merely choosing an activity.

Sessions and Attendance

Westfield operates during term time and closes for school holidays. Morning sessions run from 8.45am to noon, Monday to Friday. Afternoons run from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, Monday to Thursday; Friday has no afternoon session.

Lunch Club runs between noon and 12.30pm and is open to all children, joining the morning and afternoon into a full day from 8.45am to 3.30pm. An earlier 8.30am start can be requested each day. This gives families genuinely different attendance patterns, with a shorter Friday to account for when arranging care around work.

The address is Westfield Primary School, Bonsey Lane, Old Woking, Woking, Surrey, GU22 9PR. General enquiries go through the office, and an enquiry form provides the route onto the waiting list.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible families can use funded early education of 15 or 30 hours per week, with funding accepted throughout the day. Delivery is term-time, and additional private hours are charged separately. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Healthy snacks carry a separate optional contribution, including on funded places. Non-food consumables also have a separate optional contribution, covering items such as emergency nappies, nappy disposal and emergency sun cream.

Enhanced provision is separately charged and optional too: examples include cookery, gardening resources and activities such as music, drama or sport, which change by term, alongside celebrations and EY Log. These contributions are not a condition of taking a funded place. Families can opt out by writing to the office; children retain their funded entitlement and EYFS curriculum, with alternatives supplied where needed.

Attending this preschool on the Westfield Primary School site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority's school admissions process.

• Friday coverage. Friday offers a morning session only, while afternoon sessions run Monday to Thursday. Families needing care later on Friday must account for that difference.
• Funded hours and optional extras. Snacks, consumables and enhanced provision have separate optional contributions. Compare the written quotation with the attendance pattern you need; opting out requires a written request to the office.
• Settling into the day. January 2026 practice included a bell for transitions and individual conversations about feelings. On a visit, ask how a key person and settling plan would support your child's particular needs.

Westfield suits families seeking term-time morning sessions, afternoon sessions or a full day linked by Lunch Club. Its January 2026 examples give a clear picture of learning through shared tasks, language, number play and practical independence. The strongest reason to consider it is that everyday routines became opportunities for children to think, contribute and take responsibility. A morning-only Friday and the separate optional contributions are the practical points to weigh alongside that educational picture.