Charnock Richard Pre-School

A mud kitchen, visits to the Orchard gardens and a building shared with village groups give Charnock Richard Pre-School a clear community character. Based in the Parish Rooms in Charnock Richard, it combines indoor play with access to a large outdoor area. This is a preschool whose surroundings form part of children's experience, rather than simply providing an address.

At its 20 January 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good overall and safeguarding effective. That is a dated assessment: the strongest practical reasons to consider the setting now are its outdoor resources, parent involvement and detailed arrangements for identifying additional learning needs. There are 34 places in total, and children can attend from their second birthday until they start school.

Attendance is term-time, with morning sessions and longer days. For families choosing preschool rather than year-round childcare, the combination of community outings, shared play spaces and several session lengths gives this setting a recognisable shape.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS guides play-based learning in language, movement, relationships, words and numbers. Activities follow children's interests, including spontaneous play; observations inform weekly adjustments and termly progress reviews.

Children move freely between two large indoor areas and a large outdoor space, choosing accessible resources. Outside, a mud kitchen, toys and water play add different materials to explore.

Learning Journey books and Group Learning books record experiences and welcome parents' comments. The younger children's learning co-ordinator plans around their interests and sensory exploration.

A weekly dance session comes from Lancashire Dance Academy and lasts 30 minutes. Contributions support its cost, but children are not excluded if their family makes no contribution. Parent volunteers also lead activities such as singing and rugby. These are concrete additions to the play-based day, with participation from people beyond the regular staff team.

In January 2023, Lunar New Year takeaway play combined food choices and pretend payments with number learning. Noodles lifted with tongs and small card decorations exercised careful hand movements.

Outdoor and Community Life

Area walks include visits to the Orchard gardens, a church and the woodland garden belonging to the local primary school. The preschool also joins village occasions including the scarecrow festival, harvest festival and walking day. The Parish Rooms are used by other community groups in the evenings, so the preschool occupies a building with a wider village role.

Books have another community connection: the mobile library visits regularly, giving children access to books beyond their immediate play resources. In February 2024, Book of the Week linked a changing story with activities and words for families to practise at home, while Show & Tell invited children to find and share an item. These dated examples illustrate ways that reading and talk have connected preschool with home.

Relationships and Communication

First and second key workers give families established contacts. Individual settling incorporates parents' advice about interests, personal care and comfort. Home visits are offered on request, alongside three free taster sessions.

Stay and Play gives parents or grandparents an hour to share their child's play, on days changing between terms. The dojo app supports daily communication, complemented by half-termly newsletters and longer discussions by appointment.

Busy Day sheets record activities for children aged two to three and support information-sharing when a child cannot communicate verbally, alongside learning books and key-worker conversations.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO and deputy SENCO support the additional-needs arrangements. Where extra help is needed, a Targeted Learning Plan sets out support agreed with parents, with reviews approximately every six weeks. If concerns continue, referrals are made with parental permission. The Wellcomm toolkit helps staff establish children's current level of development; it sits within a process of observation, discussion and planned support.

Picture communication is used when needed, with Signalong sign-language support throughout. The single-level building has an entrance ramp and wheelchair-accessible outdoor space; low toilets, potties and a changing station support personal care.

In January 2023, staff coordinated needs reviews and activities with parents, speech therapists and specialist teachers. Current professional links also include occupational therapists and educational psychologists.

Operation Encompass is the scheme through which police share information about children's experience of domestic abuse with educational settings. A trained safeguarding staff member acts as the preschool's Key Adult, allowing confidential information to inform support for the child. This describes an arrangement in place; the dated safeguarding judgement belongs to January 2023.

Sessions and Attendance

The preschool operates Monday to Friday during term time, across 38 weeks, with opening hours of 9am to 3.30pm. Morning bookings run from 9am to noon or 12.30pm; longer bookings run from 9am to 3pm or 3.30pm. These are different attendance patterns, allowing families to choose between a morning and a day extending into the afternoon.

Funded attendance can run from 9am to noon, 12.30pm or 3pm, Monday to Friday. Finishing at 3.30pm carries an additional charge. Four weeks' notice is requested for changes, so alterations to the pattern need some planning. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email or by telephone on 07944 217699.

The address is Parish Rooms, Church Lane, Charnock Richard, Chorley, PR7 5NA; contact directions use Charter Lane. The preschool is in the village centre, in a semi-rural setting. Its daytime use of the Parish Rooms is separate from the building's evening community activities.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15 hours a week for children aged three and four and eligible two-year-olds, alongside 30 hours for working families. Delivery is term-time rather than stretched across the year, and eligibility conditions still apply. Private additional hours are charged separately. Current prices should come in the preschool's written quotation, with the selected pattern and any extra time made clear.

Children bring a packed lunch, while morning and afternoon snacks are supplied with a voluntary contribution requested; families may instead supply a snack that meets the healthy-eating policy. Parents supply their child's nappies and wipes, with backup stock available if these are missing and the voluntary contribution also helping cover consumables.

The dance contribution is voluntary too, and non-payment does not exclude a child from the session. Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit Childcare are accepted, with invoices raised each half term. These payment arrangements are separate from entitlement to funded hours.

Moving On

The preschool describes a close transition link with Charnock Richard CE Primary School, where most children move on, while also working with other schools. Teachers are invited to observe children, and transition summaries are shared with parents before being passed to the receiving school. Attendance does not guarantee a school place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Teaching precision. At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted asked staff to make learning intentions clearer within activities and give children longer to consider questions before answering. On a visit, ask how these changes work during shared play and group conversations.
• The term-time pattern. Care runs across 38 weeks, and the funded day ends by 3pm, with a charge for the 3.30pm finish. Families needing holiday care or the later finish should account for those requirements when weighing a morning against a longer day.
• Settling and additional support. Three free taster sessions, individual settling arrangements and a second key worker provide useful starting points. Use the visit to discuss how these would work for your child, including any communication or access adjustments.
• Shared community space. The Parish Rooms accommodate preschool by day and village groups in the evenings. Two large indoor areas and an outdoor area are central to the offer; ask to see how activities are arranged across these spaces for younger and older children.

Charnock Richard Pre-School suits families seeking either morning preschool sessions or longer term-time days, with outdoor play and village connections woven into the experience. The mud kitchen, Orchard gardens visits and regular mobile-library contact give those connections practical substance.

Its key-worker structure and planned additional-needs support are useful reasons to look closely. The January 2023 teaching recommendations remain relevant questions for a visit, while the term-time calendar and separately charged later finish are the main practical considerations. This is a community preschool with specific strengths to weigh against the family's attendance needs.