Puffins Preschool
Good★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Bournemouth for children from birth to 5, open 08:00 to 16:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in July 2024. Open since 2003, with 26 places.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
BH6 3QJWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
Ofsted inspector, 1 July 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children arrive happy and keen to attend the pre-school. Staff provide them with a warm welcome to help settle them in quickly. Children move freely between the safe and secure garden and indoor playrooms, making their own choices. They enjoy creative play and using their imaginations. For example, children engage for long periods making pretend meals in the mud kitchen and explore many different materials, such as cornflower mixtures. They develop positive attitudes and good behaviour. Children make friends, help kindly and benefit from good staff role models who treat them with respect. There is a strong focus on getting involved in the local community to help children learn more about the world, such as joining elderly residents in memory-lane activities.
Staff provide a good balance of planned and child-led play in which staff encourage children's learning and help them to achieve. This includes activities to support children's experiences at home, such as helping to prepare children for trips to the dentist. They organise the environment well to provide a good balance of lively environments with calm spaces for children who prefer to play more quietly. This nurtures children's well-being and engagement. Children develop healthy lifestyles.
They enjoy sociable and healthy mealtimes, practise good personal hygiene routines and join in lots of physical activity, such as games, yoga and music and movement.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- develop staff interactions to encourage quieter children's communication and language skills even further.
- 1 July 2024Good
- 8 February 2024Inadequate
- 26 April 2018Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Puffins Preschool
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Is there a place for my child's age? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.