Barns Green Playgroup

Village exploration shaped Barns Green Playgroup's July 2024 inspection account: outdoor learning extended beyond the village hall into the surrounding community. At its July 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Outstanding, finding exceptional teaching and progress, with children well prepared for school.

Based at Village Hall in Barns Green, the playgroup has capacity for 30 children aged two to five. Its term-time calendar makes it a practical option for families whose childcare needs follow the school year.

In July 2024, children helped shape their own activities, while practitioners chose when to join in and extend the learning. A game involving hidden toy animals became an opportunity to practise language describing position. The important detail is the connection: staff built learning around an idea children already wanted to pursue.

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, the July 2024 examples show how play could bring language, independent decisions and exploration together, rather than treating them as separate exercises.

Outdoor learning reached into the village. In July 2024, staff used the village green, took children on regular walks and organised simple village surveys and visits to places of interest. These experiences connected learning with the community children knew. Activities were adapted so children could participate and tackle a further challenge from their own starting point.

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding and key-person support, alongside outstanding progress for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those receiving additional funding.

In July 2024, staff gathered detailed information as children started, involving parents in assessments and seeking specialist advice promptly when extra support was needed. Training addressed children's language and emotional needs. These were specific support mechanisms, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

Relationships also mattered in everyday play. In July 2024, older children helped younger ones join activities, while staff modelled kindness and recognised children's achievements. Regular yoga sessions gave children opportunities to practise calming themselves. Children were encouraged to choose, request help and keep trying when an activity became difficult: useful habits for moving on to school.

The address is Village Hall, Muntham Drive, Barns Green, Horsham, RH13 0PT. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time; the playgroup closes for school holidays.

In July 2024, the playgroup accepted early-education funding for children aged two, three and four. That dated participation is separate from the detail of a family's funded attendance arrangement.

• The school-holiday break. This is term-time provision, closing during school holidays. Families needing childcare throughout the year will need arrangements that cover those breaks.
• Putting the key-person approach into practice. Individual support and parent involvement were strengths in July 2024. During a visit, ask how the key person would organise settling and share information about your child's learning now.

Barns Green Playgroup suits families seeking term-time care for children aged two to five, with a village setting and an inspection account centred on thoughtful adult involvement in children's play. The strongest examples are small but revealing: extending a hiding game into language learning, supporting younger friends and using the village as a place to explore. Its 9am-to-3pm opening window and school-holiday closures are equally important to the decision.