Anlaby Park Methodist Pre-School

Take-home mascots, a lending library and Monday conversations in the Tree House give Anlaby Park Methodist Pre-School a character built around family involvement. This charity pre-school occupies Anlaby Park Methodist Church on Hull Road, Anlaby Common, and is overseen by a committee. Parents have practical ways to join in, from sharing a story bag at home to contributing photographs to their child's learning diary.

At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and judged safeguarding effective, while identifying a need for children to use and celebrate their home languages more often. That is the material qualification to the positive judgement. It matters especially to families whose children speak another language at home.

There are 45 places in total. The current joining arrangement allows children to start in the term after turning nine months, with care extending to four-year-olds; morning, afternoon, all-day and flexible attendance sit alongside breakfast and later collection options.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the required basis for learning and care. Children learn through play across its areas of learning, with staff planning activities around their interests and adding challenges.

In January 2023, staff used toy cars for colour and counting activities. Children identified shapes in everyday objects, then searched at home and shared their discoveries, bringing families into the learning.

Story sharing has several current routes. Literacy bags go home, while the pre-school's library lets families borrow, exchange or donate books. Children can take the mascots home: monkeys named Charlie and Harper, a dragon named Sparkey and a dinosaur named Barney. Each brings a diary for family contributions. A familiar character gives a child something concrete to talk about, and the diary connects experiences at home with those at pre-school.

Home Learning suggestions include kneading dough, spotting numbers, growing cress and creating pictures with leaves or dry pasta. These family activities extend learning through everyday materials.

Outdoor and Community Life

Children garden and investigate insects in log piles, with outdoor play on most days. Weatherproof clothing matters; the large indoor rooms can also be cool, so the pre-school recommends layers covering arms and legs.

In January 2023, children took part in music and movement every day and practised dental care using an oversized model of teeth. Independence was equally concrete: children attempted to manage coats, pour drinks and tackle cutting dough before adults stepped in. Those examples show the small tasks that can help children become more capable in daily routines.

Christmas brings an annual family performance and an invitation to a local primary school's Foundation Stage Nativity Play. Visitors also introduce unusual animals, including a snake and giant snail. These experiences add subjects for conversation and discovery beyond the familiar toys and activities of the session.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person. Parents contribute information at induction, and the practitioner observes the first sessions before making a starting assessment and planning around the child's interests. That gives settling and learning a shared starting point: what the family knows about the child informs what staff do next.

Baby's Days is the online learning-diary system, carrying observations and photographs that parents can view. Families can contribute comments, pictures and videos themselves. Alongside it, newsletters arrive each half term with forthcoming themes and activity ideas, while older children can take home optional holiday activity sheets. Communication is designed to work in both directions.

The Tree House provides a physical place for longer conversations. On Monday mornings, from 9am to noon, a member of staff is there for parents, and meetings with a child's key person can be arranged. Parents may use the space even when their child does not attend that morning. Weekly or monthly volunteering and stay-and-play participation offer other ways to become involved.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

When a key person identifies a possible need for extra developmental support, they consult the Special Educational Needs Coordinator, or SENCO, and plan activities with parents. The SENCO can also help families access specialists such as a Speech and Language Therapist. The East Riding Early Years Team SENCO works with the pre-school too. These are specific support routes rather than a blanket promise about individual outcomes.

The twelve-person team includes a manager with a master's degree in education, special educational needs and inclusion, and a deputy with an early childhood education degree. All staff have current paediatric first aid certificates and undertake further training.

In January 2023, bilingual resources were available, but opportunities to use home languages were inconsistent. Staff explained English vocabulary through discussions, including hibernation when talking about bears.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Anlaby Park Methodist Church, 256 Hull Road, Anlaby Common, Hull, HU4 7RR. General enquiries can be made by telephone on 01482 569404 or by email at apmpre-school@hotmail.co.uk.

Opening hours are 7.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Breakfast runs from 7.30am to 9am, the morning session from 9am to noon and the afternoon from noon to 3pm, with later collection possible until 5pm. Children can attend mornings or all-day sessions, and flexible sessions are also offered. For children aged three and above, the minimum booking is two mornings each week.

The main year runs for 38 weeks, September to July. Holiday care is subject to demand and excludes funded hours. Coordination with Acre Heads holiday club helps families with children at both settings.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the 15-hour entitlement for eligible two-year-olds in families receiving income benefits, 15 hours for all three- and four-year-olds, and 30 hours for eligible working parents of children aged nine months and above. Funding operates over 38 weeks, is claimed each term and cannot be saved for later use. Private sessions are offered for children outside funding entitlement and for additional attendance beyond it; current prices come in the pre-school's written quotation.

Morning snacks are charged separately, while the tea-time session includes a snack; children staying all day bring a healthy packed lunch, and milk or water is offered with food. Families must tell staff about food allergies, and birthday cakes or buns are excluded under the allergy and healthy-eating policy.

Parents supply nappies, wipes and disposal bags, together with spare clothes. Sun cream needs to be applied by families because staff do not apply it; the pre-school also makes some available in the waiting room for parents to use. Paid-session charges continue during sickness or family holidays, while missed funded sessions are not reimbursed.

Moving on to School

The pre-school describes close links with Acre Heads Primary and Anlaby Primary, including invitations to activities such as science, music and sports events. During the early summer term, teachers from these and other local primary schools are invited to meet children who will join their classes, and staff pass on developmental information. These links help children become familiar with the next stage, but attendance does not guarantee a school place: families still use the local authority admissions process.

• Starting young. Children can join in the term after turning nine months. During a visit, ask how settling, rest and the daily routine are organised for your child's age, alongside any allergy arrangements they need.
• Home languages. The January 2023 improvement point concerned opportunities to use languages spoken at home. Multilingual families should discuss how their child's words and family language will be included in play.
• Training-day planning. The funding terms give both two and three annual staff-training closures, while the term calendar specifies two. Establish which closure arrangement applies to your booked days and how replacement funded sessions are handled.
• Holiday care costs. Holiday care is subject to demand and cannot use funded entitlement here. Families needing cover beyond the 38-week pre-school year should budget for it separately.

Anlaby Park Methodist Pre-School suits families wanting morning or afternoon sessions, all-day attendance or flexible hours, with breakfast and later collection extending the options. Its strongest practical appeal is the connection between home and pre-school: Baby's Days, story bags, travelling mascots and the Tree House give parents several ways to participate.

The January 2023 Good judgement came with a home-language improvement point. Committee oversight and hands-on play add appeal, provided term-time funding, paid holiday care and the minimum morning booking fit the family week.