We offer the following sessions in term time:

  • Monday 8.30am – 1pm
  • Tuesday 8.30am –  3pm
  • Wednesday 8.30am – 3pm
  • Friday 8.30am – 12pm

Children can be dropped off at 8.30am or 9am and collected at 12pm or at 1pm if they would like to stay for lunch on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  We also offer an afternoon session until 3pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  The Friday session finishes at 12pm for all children. 

We accept the Early Years government funding for 3 year olds (and for 2 year olds if they are eligible for the 2 year funding). All children are eligible for 15 hours of funded childcare per week the term after they turn 3 (so a child born in June will receive funding from September of that year).  We also accept the 30 hour funding for which you will need to provide the following information – your 30 hour code, your child’s date of birth and your national insurance number.  You can check if you are eligible for and to apply for the 30 hour funding using the following link.

We charge £6 per hour for non-funded sessions.

Invoices are sent out by the treasurer 2 or 3 weeks into each term and payment should be made by online bank transfer.

Playgroup is for children aged 2.5 to 5 years old.  To register your interest please get in touch.  

We were pleased to be rated ‘good’ at our last inspection by Ofsted with children’s behaviour assessed as outstanding.  This inspection took place in April 2023 and you can read the report here: 2023 Ofsted Report.  

We have strong links to the local primary schools in Bathampton and Batheaston.

In the summer term, the reception teachers from each school will come to visit the preschool children at Playgroup so that they can get to know each other. Our preschool teachers will provide detailed moving onto school forms about each child to ease the transition when they start school in September.

Bathampton Primary School also allow us to attend forest school sessions at the school during the summer term. This helps the children to become familiar with the school grounds and setting.

Children start receiving 15 hours of Early Years Entitlement funding from the term following their third birthday.  Currently, we receive £4.30 per hour per child from the Local Authority and, like many other Early Years settings, we find this is not enough to cover our essential expenditure on staff salaries, hall hire, insurance, staff training and basic consumables. 

We therefore ask parents in receipt of funded hours for a ‘Voluntary Contribution’ which is a suggested donation of £1.00 for each funded hour that a child attends Playgroup.  Whilst this is a voluntary payment to be made entirely at parents’ discretion, we simply could not continue to run without these continued donations. The £1 per hour is a suggested amount; if parents would like to donate more than this, or are unable to pay the full amount, we are very grateful for whatever people can contribute. 

Making a complaint

At Playgroup we are committed to providing the highest standards of early years education and care for all our children. We hope that you and your child have a positive experience during your time here. If you are unhappy about any aspect of Playgroup please talk to the Playgroup Leader in the first instance. We welcome your feedback and want to make sure that we can correct any issues as quickly as possible.

If there are any issues that you feel unable to discuss or resolve with the Playgroup Leader then you can make a complaint in writing to the Committee Chairperson by completing a Complaints form. Any parent who makes a complaint is entitled to a written response within 28 days.

Legislation requires settings to keep a record of complaints and disclose these to Ofsted at inspection, or if requested by Ofsted at any other time. This written summary is available to parents on request. 

Complaints Policy

Complaints Form