Earleybird Pre-School

A parent-run pre-school with a school-ground setting and a carefully staged start: Earleybird Pre-School combines family involvement with a clear emphasis on language and independence. Its home is within Hawkedon Primary School’s grounds in Lower Earley, Reading. Parents have a role beyond receiving updates, with opportunities to join the committee, help with fundraising and contribute to their child’s learning.

Ofsted rated Earleybird Good at its 17 November 2021 inspection. Today, individual key workers, planned assessment weeks and parent contributions to online learning journeys keep families involved in learning.

There are 45 places in total, with entry from the beginning of the term in which a child turns three and care continuing to age five. Morning, afternoon and all-day attendance operate during term time. The school setting is an important part of Earleybird’s character, but nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place at Hawkedon Primary School.

Rooms and Ages

Willow Room is the current named room; Maple Room is planned to open in 2027.

Children’s toilets, food preparation areas and outdoor space support the daily routine. Indoor and outdoor resources encourage children to choose activities and sustain their own play.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care, with play supporting children’s communication, physical development and growing independence. Earleybird’s current curriculum builds its daily teaching around exploration and relationships. Language receives concrete attention through songs, stories, repeated vocabulary, signs and visual prompts, alongside small-group and individual interactions.

Focus Weeks: Targeted Teaching gives each child planned periods of closer observation, assessment and activities shaped around their next steps. The key worker examines learning across seven areas and uses those observations to decide what to teach next. Parents receive the outcomes and can contribute information from home, making this more useful than a collection of photographs alone.

Teaching in the Moment extends children’s play through questions, vocabulary and encouragement to persevere, connecting new ideas with their immediate interests. Multi-lingual buttons provide core words for language work.

Outdoor and Everyday Learning

In November 2021, garden activities developed balance as children crossed wooden planks with staff assistance when needed. Weekly football coaching also supported physical activity then.

In November 2021, a koala discussion led to exploring Australia with a globe and magnifying glass. Practising toothbrushing on toy animals made oral-health learning tangible too.

Relationships and Communication

Settling proceeds through stay-and-play with a parent, an individual key-person home visit and a two-hour first independent session. Full sessions follow, giving children a gradual introduction to attending alone.

Each child has a key worker who observes their play, considers their development and works with parents on next steps. Famly App holds the child’s online learning journey, where parents can view achievements and add photographs or comments from home. A new skill shown away from pre-school can therefore become part of planning there too.

Family participation also extends to running the organisation. The voluntary parent committee deals with budgets, fundraising and staff employment, with meetings usually held once each half term. An administrator and finance assistant support continuity between committees. This is a setting where parental involvement has an organisational role as well as a role in learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2021 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support good. Additional funding enabled individual staff time, while families and professionals helped develop targeted plans.

Current arrangements include SENCO and assistant SENCO roles, professional liaison, safeguarding training and paediatric first-aid certificates. Adults collecting children need parental authorisation and the child’s password.

There were also improvement points in November 2021. Quieter children did not consistently receive timely help to join conversations and learning, and staff training needed further development. For a child who tends to watch before joining in, that first point is especially relevant to understanding how adults recognise and respond to their needs.

Lunch for afternoon and all-day attendance is either a packed lunch from home or a separately paid cooked meal supplied by Hawkedon School; vegetarian snacks and drinks are provided during both sessions. The pre-school requests allergy information at enrolment and prohibits nut products, sweets and fizzy drinks, including nuts in lunchboxes.

Sessions and Attendance

Earleybird’s address is The Terrapin, Hawkedon School Grounds, Hawkedon Way, Lower Earley, Reading, RG6 3AP. It opens Monday to Friday, from 9am to 3pm, for 38 weeks each year and closes during school holidays. Telephone and email enquiries go through the administrator.

The booking options are morning, 9am to noon; afternoon, noon to 3pm; and all-day, 9am to 3pm. The shorter patterns give families a choice of which part of the day their child attends, while the all-day option combines both. This is term-time provision, so school-holiday childcare needs a separate arrangement.

Once sessions are agreed, an increase or swap during the academic year is not guaranteed. Extra paid sessions cannot be booked as individual, occasional additions. Changes to hours require at least half a term’s reasonable notice, and accepted sessions that are not taken may still be invoiced if that notice is not given. The booking therefore suits a predictable weekly routine better than changing requirements from week to week.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the universal 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds and working-parent funding, with 15 or 30 hours offered according to eligibility and availability. Delivery is term-time. Funded places take priority, so additional private hours beyond a child’s entitlement are not guaranteed; agreed unfunded hours are invoiced in advance each half term. Families should obtain current prices in a written quotation.

Lunch arrangements also apply to funded sessions: parents supply a lunchbox or pay separately for the cooked school meal. Nappies and pull-ups must come from home. Joining the waiting list carries no registration charge, and families can add a child from any age. Allocation takes account of the waiting-list registration date, with priority for the Hawkedon School designated area and for children with siblings attending that school.

Moving on to School

Earleybird describes its relationship with Hawkedon Primary School as a Foundation Partnership. Attending the pre-school does not guarantee admission to the primary school: families still apply through the local authority admissions process, with school places allocated by Wokingham Borough Council. The two admissions decisions are separate, even though the pre-school occupies the school grounds.

Children wear uniform, including a red jumper or cardigan with a red or white polo shirt and black or grey bottoms, or a red-and-white summer dress. Families can use supermarket clothing rather than buying items with a logo. Spare clothes and shoes are requested for toilet accidents and wet or muddy play.

• A fixed term-time pattern. Morning, afternoon and all-day sessions provide choice, but occasional extra paid sessions are excluded and changes require at least half a term’s notice. Discuss the intended weekly pattern before accepting it.
• Support for quieter children. The November 2021 improvement point concerned children who needed more help to participate. During a visit, ask how key workers now identify a child who is watching silently and help them join conversations.
• School-ground setting, separate admissions. The Foundation Partnership does not guarantee a Hawkedon Primary School place. Plan the Reception application through the local authority independently of the pre-school booking.
• Food and family participation. Lunch needs supplying or ordering for afternoon and all-day attendance, and the committee relies on parent volunteers. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food practice; other families should consider how they could contribute to the committee or practical jobs.

Earleybird suits families seeking morning or afternoon pre-school sessions as well as an all-day term-time pattern, especially those who want an active role in learning and the organisation itself. Planned focus weeks, a staged settling process and parent contributions through Famly App give that involvement substance.

Its school-ground home and Foundation Partnership add context, but no admissions guarantee. The clearest reservations are the fixed booking rules and the dated improvement point about quieter children. For families whose routines fit the sessions, the combination of play, language work and a consistent key worker offers a clear, practical proposition.