Yorkley Playgroup

Pretend bricks became a lesson in shapes, balance and problem-solving at Yorkley Playgroup in January 2023. Children rebuilt a broken bridge, compared squares with rectangles and worked out which bricks they needed next. That small example captures the appeal: practical play with adults who know when to add a challenge.

Ofsted rated the playgroup Outstanding on 26 January 2023. Yorkley has 24 places in total and accepts children from 21 months to four years, giving families an option that begins before the usual preschool years. Its address is Lydney Road, Yorkley, Lydney, GL15 4RR.

Community connections extend beyond the playgroup. Family support includes a link with the Forest of Dean Baby Bank, while school links and care for school-age children give the setting a role across different stages of family life. Breakfast and afterschool care sit alongside its early-years provision.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care here: play, communication and growing independence belong together in the nursery day. Yorkley's own curriculum adds an emphasis on exploring religions and beliefs, developing independence and preparing children for school. Those are concrete priorities for families who want preparation to include understanding other people as well as managing everyday tasks.

In January 2023, children chose their own resources, played together and practised dressing dolls, including doing up buttons. Adults added challenges to activities already under way, encouraging children to remember earlier learning, solve a problem or try a new task. The bridge-building activity brought counting and shape into a physical game, rather than keeping mathematics separate from play.

Daily routines also had an educational purpose in January 2023. A sand timer signalled that tidying would soon begin, giving children time to finish before putting resources away. Matching toys to their boxes and helping one another made clearing up part of learning to care for a shared space. For a young child, predictable signals can make a change of activity easier to understand.

Outdoor and Community Life

In January 2023, the daily mile involved walking around the playground and trying exercises while discussing fitness. A climbing frame, chosen to match one in the local park, gave children another way to practise physical skills. Health learning reached beyond exercise: a board game linked food choices with caring for teeth.

Community visitors bring practical topics into playgroup life. Police Visit 2026 covered how the police help keep people safe and how to contact them. It gave a practical subject a recognisable community connection.

Past celebrations show the place families have in playgroup life. Graduation 2024 took place at Lydney Rugby Club, with a disco and gifts for children leaving. These are dated examples of shared celebrations, rather than a promise that the same event or venue returns each year.

Relationships and Communication

In January 2023, children took books home with prompts that helped parents ask questions and try activities connected to the story. That gave families something specific to do together, rather than a general instruction to practise reading. Staff also used parental feedback when reviewing the play spaces, linking communication with changes to children's day.

Support for families extends into practical help. The Forest of Dean Baby Bank is a close partner, and the playgroup can connect families with Gloucestershire Bundles, Family Information Service and other support organisations. This matters when a family's needs reach beyond a child's activities at nursery: there is an established route into wider help.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, alongside those learning English as an additional language, made excellent progress. That is a dated judgement about the care and teaching at that visit.

Current responsibilities include a designated safeguarding lead and SENCO at manager level, with deputy roles also identified. Those roles give safeguarding concerns and additional learning needs a clear place within the management structure. These roles identify who families can approach about concerns.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening begins at 7.45am on weekdays. Closing is 5pm on Monday, 5.30pm from Tuesday to Thursday and 4pm on Friday, so the end of the working week needs a different collection plan.

Breakfast Club starts at 7.45am each day; nursery children attend in the nursery, while school children use the school hall. Afterschool Care serves both groups and runs to the weekday closing times above. Booking wraparound care is essential, a useful rule for families coordinating nursery and school routines.

Holiday Clubs run from 8.30am to 3pm for children aged two through to the end of primary school, including children who normally attend elsewhere. The holiday pattern covers October and February half terms, Easter and summer provision. For the 2026–27 cycle, clubs run Monday to Thursday, excluding bank holidays, with summer weeks to be confirmed.

To arrange a visit and begin registration, telephone 01594 564918 or email yorkleyplaygroup@eygloucestershire.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Yorkley accepts Achieving 2 year old funding, universal 15 hours funding and 30 hours funding. Funded hours can be used without a fixed funding-only time slot, which gives families flexibility within their agreed attendance arrangement. Additional private childcare is offered; current prices come in the playgroup's written quotation.

Hot meals and snacks are charged separately, with the alternative of bringing a packed lunch and snack from home. The funding and fees page explains these choices, so food needs to be considered alongside childcare when planning the overall arrangement.

Moving on to School

The playgroup describes links with Yorkley Primary School and Parkend Primary School, and its Yorkley setting is on school grounds. Attendance does not guarantee a Reception place: families still apply through the local authority's admissions process. The school connection is useful context, but the nursery decision and school application remain separate decisions.

• Starting before two. Children can join from 21 months, while Holiday Clubs start at two. During a visit, ask how settling and the daily routine work for the youngest children, including their key-person relationship.
• Different finishing times. Friday closes at 4pm, earlier than the other weekdays. Consider that collection time alongside your working pattern, and remember that wraparound care requires booking.
• Holiday coverage. Clubs cover selected holidays and operate Monday to Thursday in the 2026–27 cycle, excluding bank holidays. They provide an additional attendance option rather than continuous care through every school closure.
• Food and everyday supplies. Hot meals and snacks are charged separately. When agreeing your child's arrangement, ask how allergies are handled and which everyday consumables you should supply.

Yorkley suits families seeking a community playgroup with an Outstanding January 2023 judgement, practical learning and links to family support. Its attendance options also suit families using Breakfast Club, Afterschool Care or Holiday Clubs.

The strongest teaching examples are from January 2023: adults turned construction, stories and routines into opportunities to think and practise independence. Current decisions are more practical. Friday's earlier finish, the youngest joining age and the separate holiday-club age threshold all deserve attention when choosing a pattern that works for your child.