Little Pippins Pre-School (established in 1970), is based in a purpose built pre-school building securely set within the idyllic Freeman Orchard of Harwell village. We work in partnership with Harwell Primary School to provide a curriculum for the Foundation Stage and seamless transition into primary school.

We were inspected by Ofsted on 29th November 2011 and we were found to be Good in all 17 areas that were inspected. Please see the latest Ofsted report (pdf) or visit the Ofsted website for previous reports.

Little Pippins is a voluntary managed charity and company limited by guarantee, registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Childcare Register (URN 133726), and an accredited member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

Little Pippins pre-school and breakfast club are open Monday to Friday, 38 weeks each year, providing  pre-school care and education for children between the ages of 2½ & 5 yrs and before school childcare facilities for children 3 - 11years old.

Little Pippins also operates a daily walking bus daily to Harwell Primary School for primary school children in the morning and for pre-school children in the afternoon, to the to the voluntary managed after-school childcare based at Harwell Primary school . Working in partnership with Harwell after-school club, Little Pippins is able to support working parents by offering access to childcare from 8 am through to 6pm.

 Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by Little Pippins Pre-school helps children to continue to do this by providing all children with interesting activities that are right for their age and stage of development.

For children between the ages of 3 and 5 years, the pre-school provides a curriculum for the Early Years Foundation Stage of education. The qualified, caring and enthusiastic staff, led by Sally Begley, who has been working at Little Pippins for 11 years, work to provide a stimulating and varied programme of play activities for children from the age of two and a half which supports their development and learning within the Early Years Framework. All the staff are encouraged (and are keen) to continue their professional development through training for nationally recognised childcare qualifications as well as their own personal development.

We know that children are competent learners and therefore our activities are thoughtfully planned and our individual learning plans are created to offer learning opportunities within both the fantastic new purpose built preschool building  and our exciting and secure
external play area.

At Little Pippins, we recognise the importance of working in partnership with parents and we are committed to meeting the needs of the children by consulting with parents and carers on a regular basis.


If you would like further information, please don't hesitate to contact us.