My Under 5

Full of hope

After a turbulent 2025 in which the setting’s Ofsted rating fell from ‘good’ to ‘inadequate’, before rising back to ‘good’ again, The Hope Centre in Bromyard, Herefordshire, is now thriving.

Together with the wider team, the new management are proudly creating enhanced learning spaces for the children, as well as introducing a focus on learning and development. The setting has recently invested in newly-decorated rooms, updated resources and a change in delivery to expand its funded hours.

There are also already two fundraising events on the horizon – and that’s not counting their upcoming Cake Sale!

CEO Sarah Eardley praised the team for “pulling together” and said it was “fantastic to see” how the changes have been benefitting children and parents. She also gave a “huge shout out to everyone involved for being so positive and embracing change”.

A boost for local grandparents

Local community group Nana Made Me is celebrating after being awarded £19,200 in National Lottery funding. The group, based at West Heath Community Centre, will use the money to run more sessions for local grandparents who look after children aged six months to five years old.

Nana Made Me was founded in 2022 by Tess Allen and Linda Fletcher who noticed there were no community groups or other provisions tailored to grandparents and their grandchildren.

The group runs weekly stay-and-play sessions where attendees join in with activities such as crafts, singing and playing games.

The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund will see the service expand to three sessions a week from April 2026, with a fourth session added later in the year.

Rising from the ashes

When Crofton Early Learners suddenly closed last year, it was a devastating blow for local families and educators. However, with the support of Ofsted and the Charity Commission, the team at Crofton, including manager Ginia Brown and deputy manager Andrea Dugay, were able to set up Phoenix Early Learners in Petts Wood just two months later.

The children were only without early years provision for three weeks and most of the original educators moved over to the new setting.

The opening of Phoenix Early Learners was celebrated by the Mayor of Bromley, local councillor Simon Fawthrop and MP Gareth Bacon, who provided well-deserved recognition in parliament for the setting’s "phenomenal team".

Today, Phoenix Early Learners is a proud pillar of the community, guided by five core virtues: kindness, respect, confidence, curiosity and inclusion, proving that strong virtues truly do shape bright futures.

Introducing a new ethos overseas

Inspirations Nurseries and Forest School in Leeds is working with Class Bridge, an intermediary firm that connects UK nurseries with international schools, to bring specialist pedagogy to preschools in Turkey.

A partnership with Meltem Ayhan in Ankara, Turkey, was formed with the aim of transforming their current provision and pedagogy with the ‘Inspirations ethos’ in mind. After an initial diagnostic visit by the Class Bridge team, a series of interactive teaching webinars were used to introduce the Inspirations pedagogy and help the school put it into practice.

Later, a three-day visit by Inspirations to the pre-school proved transformative for both parties. It was evident how much the pre-school had already undertaken to implement more natural materials, loose parts and child-led activities.

Following the visit, several tailored webinars filled in any knowledge gaps identified by Inspirations, and educators at Meltem Ahyan were able to go forward with the skills and knowledge they had gained.

Building engagement through music

Babies and toddlers at Nina's Nursery in Davenport have engaged in some wonderful Boogie Babes sessions delivered by its toddler room leader Esther.

Through singing and signing, Nina's Nursery has enhanced the children’s communication and language, as well as supporting their physical development by encouraging them to express themselves with confidence.

By offering a variety of musical instruments, the children experimented with creating their own sounds. As the music continued, the children began dancing, waving their sensory scarves and moving their bodies with enthusiasm.

A truly engaging session full of music, movement and fun!

Kate Goddard, nursery manager, said: “These extra-curricular sessions are such a treat and are so loved by all our children.”

Sharing books with pre school parents

Discovery Pre-school in Walton has developed strong link with children and families through a range of reading initiatives.

Each week, the setting introduces a ‘book of the week’ and shares a link with parents so they can listen to the story together at home. Alternatively, the parents can borrow a copy from their local library or purchase it at a bookshop. Audio, animated and dual language options ensure all parents can participate, regardless of language or literacy level.

The setting also offers a selection of dual language books and runs a library scheme, where children and parents can select a book from its collection to take home, while Discovery’s ‘Book Tombola’ offers the opportunity to win books, raising some money for the setting.

These initiatives have a positive effect on children’s learning and home engagement, enhancing language and literacy skills, and removing barriers such as time, cost or availability of books.

Embracing nature and sustainability

Wind in the Willows Preschool has been incorporating sustainability into everyday practice through activities such as recycling, reusing, switching off lights, gardening, creating birdfeeders and reading stories.

Children explore their environment in all weathers, which supports their physical development, emotional wellbeing and cognitive growth. The setting highlights the importance of recycling and encourages children to independently place resources in the correct recycling bins.

The children have been learning about biodiversity by collecting natural resources from the garden and using magnifying glasses to look at leaves, branches, grass and insects.

Owner and director Karen Potter said: “Children found this activity very interesting and described all the resources and features they could see”.

What have you been up to?
Under 5 wants to know! To share your own stories, please email editor.u5@eyalliance.org.uk with the subject line ‘My Under 5’.