Welcome

Welcome to Innsworth Preschool, a beautiful, family run early years setting in Gloucester with over 30 years of experience supporting children and families. We are an independent preschool that takes pride in creating a calm, welcoming environment where children feel secure, valued, and confident as they grow.

Families choose Innsworth Preschool because they want more than childcare. They want a setting that feels organised, caring, and well thought through. They want a place where their child is known, supported, and prepared for school, without paying unnecessary costs or navigating complicated childcare arrangements. Our setting is carefully maintained and continually improved, both indoors and outdoors, so that children learn in a space that feels safe, purposeful, and inspiring. We are not part of a chain or franchise. This allows us to make decisions locally, invest directly into our setting, and focus entirely on what benefits children and families rather than meeting external targets.

A Term Time Preschool Designed Around Real Family Life

Innsworth Preschool operates as a term time only setting, which means families only pay for childcare during school terms rather than across the full year. This is an important difference for many families. Full year nurseries often operate and charge families for 50 or more weeks, which can significantly increase overall childcare costs even when funded hours are applied. Our term time model allows families to access high quality early education while avoiding the expense of paying for childcare during weeks they may not need.

We regularly review local childcare settings to ensure our fees remain fair and competitive. By keeping our structure simple and aligned with the school calendar, we are able to offer excellent value while maintaining high standards of care and education. For many families, this approach feels more manageable, more affordable, and more closely aligned with how life works once children move on to school.

A School Ready Day That Supports Children Properly

We are open from 8am – 6pm, Monday to Friday. From April 2026, our funded preschool session runs from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

This structure has been carefully chosen to reflect the school day and to support children as they develop the routines, confidence, and independence they will need when they move into Reception. The day has a clear beginning, middle and end, allowing children to settle calmly, take part in learning and play, enjoy shared mealtimes, and finish the day feeling secure rather than overtired.

We have found that very long nursery days can be demanding for young children and do not always support their wellbeing or learning. Our approach focuses on providing meaningful, high quality time rather than long hours. This helps children stay engaged, build resilience, and feel confident within a predictable routine. Parents often tell us that this structure makes the transition to school far smoother, as children are already used to the rhythm and expectations of a school style day.

Open from 8:00am to 6:00pm with Flexible Wraparound Care

While our funded session runs from 10:00am to 4:00pm, we understand that families need flexibility around working hours. Innsworth Preschool is open from 8:00am to 6:00pm, with optional wraparound care available before and after the funded session. Early drop off runs from 8:00am to 10:00am and late collection runs from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

Wraparound care is charged at four pounds per hour. This allows families to use only the hours they need, rather than paying for long full day sessions. It also ensures we can staff safely and consistently, with enough adults present to support children properly throughout the day. This structure gives families flexibility while keeping the core day focused on learning, routine and wellbeing.

Independent, Community Focused and Continuously Improving

As an independent preschool, we are able to make meaningful investments into our setting that directly benefit children. One of the areas we are most proud of is our outdoor learning environment, which has been carefully developed to offer something very few settings in Gloucestershire can provide.

Over time, we have invested more than ten thousand pounds into creating a sustainable outdoor learning space that goes far beyond a standard play area. Our outdoor environment is designed as a working, hands-on space where children can explore, learn, and take part in real experiences that support their development in a natural and engaging way. Our outdoor area includes a purpose built farm-style environment where children can take part in activities such as growing, planting, caring for plants, exploring nature, and learning how things grow and change. This is not occasional outdoor play. It is a core part of our day and a key part of how children learn at Innsworth Preschool.

We believe children benefit enormously from being outdoors as much as possible. Fresh air, movement, hands-on tasks and real-life experiences all support physical development, confidence, communication and emotional wellbeing. Outdoor learning also helps children develop responsibility, independence and resilience in a way that indoor learning alone cannot always achieve. Because we are independent, we are able to continually invest in this space.

We are not limited by corporate budgets or fixed layouts. We improve, build and develop our outdoor environment year on year so that children always have access to a rich and stimulating space that grows with them. Very few settings locally are able to offer this type of outdoor learning on a daily basis. For many families, it is one of the main reasons they choose Innsworth Preschool. Children are encouraged to explore, get involved, and learn through doing, while still being supported by experienced staff who understand how to balance freedom with safety.

This commitment to continuous improvement, outdoor learning and real experiences is central to who we are. It reflects our belief that early years education should be active, engaging and rooted in the real world, not limited to a classroom.

Meals, Nutrition and Daily Routine

Because our funded session runs from 10:00am to 4:00pm, children are with us across key points in the day when they need to eat, refuel and settle. We believe that children learn best when they are comfortable, well fed and not distracted by hunger or disruption, which is why mealtimes are an important part of our daily routine.

At Innsworth Preschool, we offer a meal service that is designed to make life easier for families while also allowing us to manage food safety properly across the whole setting. Meals are optional, but they are very strongly encouraged because they provide consistency, reduce daily stress for parents, and allow us to maintain clear and safe allergen controls.

Our meals are planned to be suitable for young children, served at appropriate times during the day, and prepared in a way that supports concentration, energy levels and wellbeing. Children eat together in a calm, supervised environment, which also supports social development, independence and good routines around food. Food safety is a significant consideration in any early years setting, particularly where there are children and staff with serious allergies, including allergies that require emergency medication. We have a legal responsibility to protect everyone in our care, and this means we must apply consistent and practical food safety controls across the whole setting.

Families who choose to provide food from home are required to follow clear guidelines. Meals must be prepared safely, must not contain allergens that we are required to protect against, and must be brought in an insulated bag with an ice pack each day. All food is checked on arrival to ensure it meets safety requirements, and families are asked to sign a declaration confirming that food has been prepared correctly. Where food does not meet safety requirements, or where a child arrives without suitable food, we will provide an alternative meal to ensure the child is able to eat safely and comfortably. In these cases, a charge applies to cover the cost of providing food at short notice.

Many families choose our meal service because it removes the daily pressure of planning, preparing and packing food, and avoids the risk of mistakes or forgotten items. It also ensures children are eating consistently and safely as part of their normal routine, rather than having different arrangements each day. Our aim is not to make things complicated, but to make them easier for families while keeping children safe, settled and ready to learn.

Enhancements and Enriched Learning

At Innsworth Preschool, we believe children learn best through real experiences, hands on activity, and meaningful involvement in the world around them. For this reason, we offer a carefully designed enrichment programme that adds depth and richness to the children’s day without overwhelming them or placing unnecessary pressure on families.

Our enhancements are optional, but they are a key part of what makes our setting different. They allow us to offer experiences and resources that go beyond the standard early years curriculum, while keeping the core day calm, structured and focused on children’s wellbeing. The centre of our enrichment offer is our outdoor learning and farm environment. Over time, we have invested more than ten thousand pounds into developing a sustainable outdoor space that very few settings locally are able to offer. This is not a standard outdoor play area. It is a working, practical environment where children can explore, grow, care for living things and learn through real experience.

Children take part in activities such as planting, growing, harvesting, caring for plants, exploring nature, and learning how food and the natural world connect to everyday life. These experiences support confidence, independence, physical development and problem solving, while also encouraging responsibility and respect for the environment. Outdoor learning is a core part of our day, not an occasional extra. We believe children benefit enormously from being outside as much as possible, moving their bodies, using their hands, and learning through doing. It supports emotional wellbeing, concentration and resilience in a way that indoor learning alone cannot always achieve.

Alongside this, we offer a wellbeing element that focuses on supporting children’s health and development in a simple, practical way. This includes age appropriate, allergen aware supplements that are suitable for children with common dietary needs. This is designed to support families, not replace good nutrition at home, and forms part of a wider approach to keeping children well, settled and ready to learn. Enhancements are offered as an optional addition because we believe families should have choice. However, many parents choose to opt in because it removes daily preparation, provides consistency for their child, and gives access to experiences that would otherwise be difficult to replicate on a daily basis.

By structuring enhancements in this way, we are able to keep the core preschool offer affordable while still providing a richer, more varied experience for children who take part. It also allows us to continue investing in resources, equipment and environments that benefit all children in the setting.

Our aim is simple. We want children to enjoy their time with us, to be active and curious, and to leave us confident, capable and ready for school, having experienced far more than a basic childcare day.

Places, Availability and Visiting Us

Innsworth Preschool is a popular choice for families in the local area, particularly for those looking for a term time setting that offers strong preparation for school, a calm and structured day, and good overall value. Because of the way our day is structured and the level of care we provide, places are limited.

From April 2026, daily numbers are carefully managed to ensure children receive the attention, support and consistency they need, and to allow us to maintain safe staffing levels throughout the day. For this reason, availability can be limited and we encourage families to get in touch early if they are considering a place.

Choosing a preschool is an important decision, and we understand that parents want to feel confident and informed before making that choice. The best way to understand what makes Innsworth Preschool different is to visit us in person. A visit allows you to see our environment, meet the team, and get a real sense of how our day runs and how children are supported.

During a visit, we are happy to talk through session times, funding, wraparound care, meals and enhancements, and to answer any questions you may have about how our setting works in practice. We aim to be open and clear, so families know exactly what to expect and can decide whether our approach is the right fit for them.

Ready to become part of our preschool family? Contact us today to arrange a visit, meet our team, and discover why Innsworth Preschool is the first choice for families who want high-quality early education, delivered with heart.

Ages and Stages

Welcome

A Term Time Preschool Designed Around Real Family Life

A School Ready Day That Supports Children Properly

Open from 8:00am to 6:00pm with Flexible Wraparound Care