St Thomas More Preschool

An allotment, a spacious parish hall and a close link between home and preschool give St Thomas More Preschool its character. Based at Our Lady Parish Centre on Madeira Road in West Byfleet, it has 50 places in total for children aged 24 to 59 months. Its appeal lies in practical learning and personal relationships rather than a collection of branded programmes.

At its 25 February 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged achievement, inclusion, and behaviour, attitudes and routines to be Strong standard; curriculum and teaching, welfare and wellbeing, and leadership and governance were Expected standard, with safeguarding standards met. That is a mixed but useful picture: clear strengths alongside aspects of everyday practice needing greater consistency.

Term-time attendance can combine morning or afternoon sessions with Breakfast club, Lunch club and Twilight club.

Learning and Activities

The spacious main hall provides the indoor setting. Adult-planned activities sit alongside play chosen by children, giving them opportunities both to follow an interest and to try something introduced by a practitioner. Literacy, number work and increasing independence are woven into play.

EYFS is the framework for learning, development and care: here, it means planning around children's interests, relationships and progress, with activities adjusted as they develop. Observations and assessment inform what comes next.

In February 2026, staff introduced vocabulary during play and used questions to extend conversations. Books and storytelling featured in children's learning, while fruit at snack time became an opportunity to count and think about quantities. Children helped themselves and counted pieces onto their plates. Everyday routines were doing educational work too.

The same February 2026 account included group conversations in which children practised listening and waiting to speak. Planned activities supported sharing and taking turns, while adults helped children work through disagreements. These are concrete experiences for a child preparing to join a larger group at school: expressing an idea matters, but so does hearing someone else's.

Outdoor and Community Life

Allotment activities and Forest School activities form part of the additional-services contribution. The former includes visits and resources for growing; the latter supports outdoor learning through activities and resources. These additions sit alongside the EYFS rather than replacing it.

In February 2026, children regularly visited the allotment to care for fruit and vegetables. Growing gave them something to return to and look after, connecting an outing with an ongoing task. Visits to shops, parks and the library also expanded learning beyond the preschool, including opportunities to practise road safety.

Physical play had tangible variety in February 2026: children searched the mud for worms, balanced on beams and practised climbing. A climbing frame also provided a setting for learning to wait and understanding why pushing could hurt someone. Outdoor experiences combined movement, curiosity and learning to share space.

Relationships and Communication

Small key family groups organise the preschool's personal approach. A key person shares information about care and development, and families can discuss the child's day with staff. That gives parents a continuing relationship through which to explain changes at home, rather than relying solely on occasional formal updates.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, records observations and progress. Parents receive access to their child's account and can add activities from home, helping staff connect preschool experiences with interests outside it. Newsletters, events and feedback questionnaires provide other ways to stay involved. Communication works in both directions.

In February 2026, staff used information about home routines when helping children settle. They also gathered parents' knowledge and observed children when they started, using that combination to plan subsequent learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that children made strong progress and received effective support for barriers to learning, including SEND and English as an additional language, but staff sometimes missed a need for extra help, interactions varied in quality, and leaders had yet to address minor inconsistencies. Those concerns deserve attention alongside the strengths.

In February 2026, practical communication support included pictures, simple signing and familiar words from children's home languages. Staff adjusted the amount of language they used, building from shorter expressions to longer ones. Observations helped identify learning needs, with plans and work alongside other agencies used where appropriate.

Preparation for school includes supporting transition and following children's progress. The emphasis is on developing the child: independence, communication and participation in shared routines.

Care Catering supplies a hot lunch each day, which families can choose for a separate charge. Fruit and cracker snacks sit within the additional-services contribution for funded attendance; opting out means bringing the daily items specified by the preschool.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Our Lady Parish Centre, Madeira Road, West Byfleet, KT14 6DE. Preschool operates in term time, broadly following Surrey County Council's term dates, and closes for school holidays. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm from Monday to Thursday and 8am to 5pm on Friday.

Morning session runs from 9am to noon, with Afternoon session from 1pm to 4pm. Breakfast club covers 8am to 9am, Lunch club noon to 1pm, and Twilight club is listed from 4pm to 6pm, subject to Friday's earlier closing time. These components let families organise attendance around a morning, an afternoon or a longer combination.

Bookings run from a chosen start point, 8am, 8.30am, 9am or 1pm, to a session endpoint of noon, 1pm, 4pm, 5pm or 6pm, within the day's opening hours. Collecting earlier does not reduce the session charge. The booking unit therefore matters as much as the time a child actually spends there.

Enquiries can be made by telephone or through the contact form, which requests the child's date of birth, preferred attendance and proposed start date. Visits can be arranged by appointment.

Funding and Paid Extras

The preschool accepts two year old FEET funding and 15 and 30 hours working parent entitlement, alongside Tax Free Childcare payments and some childcare vouchers. Funded attendance falls between 9am and 4pm within the term-time offer. Breakfast club is separately charged, and private session fees apply to paid attendance.

For a funded day or half day, an additional-services contribution covers snacks, personal-care supplies, access to Tapestry, family events, external visits, and allotment and Forest School resources. It can be declined, with families instead bringing the preschool's specified daily items. Personal-care supplies covered by the contribution include toiletries, tissues and wipes; these are charged through that contribution rather than included automatically with funded hours.

The contribution is invoiced at the start of each half term. Families wishing to opt out must notify the team before the current half term ends, with the change beginning next half term. Hot lunches are a separate choice, and changes to lunch arrangements follow the same half-term timetable.

Fees are calculated half-termly, invoices arrive by email and payment is by online banking. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation; the fees and funding page explains the charging structure. Families using working-parent funding must refresh their details every three months when prompted by HMRC, because a lapse can lead to full fees being charged.

• Consistency of adult support. February 2026 improvement actions concerned staff deployment and monitoring interactions. During a visit, ask how adults now recognise a child needing extra help while other activities are underway.
• Funded attendance and extras. Funded hours sit between 9am and 4pm, with an additional-services contribution that families may decline. Discuss the daily items required if opting out and the half-term deadline for changing that choice.
• Friday and holiday cover. Friday closes at 5pm, earlier than the other weekdays, and preschool attendance is term-time. A morning or afternoon arrangement can fit well, but working families need a care plan that also covers those boundaries.

St Thomas More Preschool suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, including those who want to combine them with breakfast, lunch or later care. The parish-hall setting, allotment activities and Tapestry give its offer a clear shape: practical experiences for children and an ongoing channel for parents. The February 2026 findings also leave a concrete point to examine, consistency in adult support. Families can weigh that against the strengths in achievement and inclusion, with the funded-hours contribution and Friday finish factored into their plans.