Pied Piper Pre School

Cooking, construction toys and an outdoor play area give Pied Piper Pre School a practical, play-led character. Based at St James' Church Hall in Silsden, it has 24 places in total. At its July 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good and safeguarding effective, highlighting confident communication, growing independence and good progress alongside two areas for improvement.

Children can join between nine months and five years old. That makes the current age offer broader than the two-to-four age range attending in July 2024, an important distinction for parents considering care for a younger child. Morning, afternoon, core full-day and extended all-day bookings give families several ways to organise attendance.

The strongest detail is the connection between play and everyday independence. Learning involves making, talking and choosing, while the key person system gives parents a particular practitioner with whom to discuss their child's development.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through play, social interaction and practical experiences. Here, those experiences include cooking, dough, painting and collage, alongside books and listening games. Children can explore materials such as shells, fabric, clay and wood, giving them different textures and objects to investigate rather than relying on one kind of toy.

Physical play includes bikes, tunnels, balls and climbing frames. For quieter concentration, there are jigsaws, threading activities and construction toys. These are useful contrasts within the day: children have opportunities to move energetically, then handle smaller objects and practise more controlled movements.

In July 2024, mathematics emerged through construction play. Children made rockets from blocks, counted their pieces and compared quantities with adults; other activities involved recognising flat and solid shapes. Numbers had a purpose within something children were making. Language was similarly woven into play, with adults supplying words, correcting pronunciation through modelling and helping children describe the weather more precisely.

That learning was not confined to adult-led tasks. In July 2024, children chose play activities and contributed ideas, including selecting pictures to indicate their snack preferences for the following week. Those small decisions gave them a part in shaping their day.

Outdoor and Community Life

An outdoor play area is used daily when the weather allows. That provides a regular change of space and opportunities for physical play, rather than making outdoor time depend on an occasional outing.

Pied Piper works with The Early Years Alliance and Bradford Childcare and Early Education. It also participates in the Silsden Early Years Partnership, which connects local early-years providers and helps families access information and advice. These links add a local support network around the setting.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has an assigned key person who assesses development and keeps progress records. Parents can see those records whenever they wish and discuss concerns with the practitioner responsible for their child. The practical benefit is continuity: there is a particular person following development and a clear route for conversations about it.

In July 2024, staff used their knowledge of children's families and experiences to sustain detailed conversations. They shared the next stages of learning with parents and supported younger children during activities and group time. Everyday care also included opportunities to practise independence, such as pouring drinks, handwashing and managing tissues.

Parents can contribute through volunteering and the management committee. Sharing a skill, helping with a trip or supporting fundraising offers a more active role for families who want involvement beyond conversations about their own child.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staff structure includes a SENCO lead and cover for that role during the manager's absence, alongside a safeguarding lead. Recruitment follows a structured selection process, and all staff have paediatric first aid training. These are practical arrangements for support and safety; the dated safeguarding judgement belongs to the July 2024 assessment.

Snack time combines eating with social interaction, and food is intended to accommodate individual dietary needs. Staff request information about each child's dietary needs.

Health procedures are concrete. Children recovering from sickness or diarrhoea must remain at home for 48 hours after recovery, and administering medicine requires a signed parental form with dosage and instructions. Families need to account for those requirements when planning attendance and care during illness.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon and afternoons from noon to 3pm; a core full day runs from 9am to 3pm, while the all-day booking extends from 8am to 4pm.

Breakfast Club covers 8am to 9am, and After School Club runs from 3pm to 4pm. Each includes a snack and drink in its charge, adding care before or after the main preschool sessions. Families can combine mornings, afternoons and days; booking at least two sessions is recommended to help establish continuity, rather than presented as a compulsory minimum.

Applications use a completed form, which can be returned by email or post. A parent pack supplies the setting's terms and practical information when a child joins. Fees remain payable during absences, so the financial commitment continues even when a booked session is missed.

Getting There

The address is St James' Church Hall, Kirkgate, Silsden, Keighley, BD20 9JS. Parents can use the small car park beside the hall, and a pay-and-display car park is opposite the church; care around people using the adjacent car park is specifically requested.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Universal 15 Hours and two-year-old funding for eligible families, and Pied Piper offers the full 30 hours of funded childcare. Private sessions are also offered; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and eligibility should not be assumed from a child's age alone.

Food arrangements differ by booking: Breakfast Club and After School Club charges include their snack and drink, while the committee requests a contribution towards other snack and baking activities.

• Protecting time for play. In July 2024, children were sometimes moved away from chosen activities for snacks or nappy changes. The balance between care routines and sustained play matters for children absorbed in an activity.
• Internet safety. Extending children's understanding of safe device use was a July 2024 improvement priority. Ask what age-appropriate activities now address it.
• Care for younger children. The current joining age starts at nine months, whereas children attending in July 2024 were aged two to four. During a visit, ask how the space, sleep arrangements and daily routines work for babies.
• Food and funded bookings. Club snacks are included in their charges, and other snack and baking contributions are requested. Ask for a written breakdown for your chosen funded or private pattern, including dietary arrangements and any non-food supplies needed from home.

Pied Piper suits families looking for morning or afternoon preschool sessions, a core full day, or an extended day with care on either side. Practical play, daily outdoor use when weather permits and an assigned key person give the offer a clear shape. Its July 2024 strengths were communication and independence; protecting uninterrupted play and developing internet-safety learning remain useful points to explore. For parents of babies, the joining age of nine months makes younger children's routines an important consideration.