Heather Playgroup

Mixed-age play and a garden used throughout the day give Heather Playgroup its character. Set within the grounds of North Heath Community Primary School in Horsham, this committee-run charity combines children's own choices with practical routines: choosing indoor or outdoor play and following familiar routines. It has capacity for 24 children in total. That is a whole-setting figure, rather than the size of a separate age-group room.

At its 23 February 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Heather Playgroup Good and found safeguarding effective. The important qualification concerns its youngest children: in February 2024, teaching and the learning environment were not consistently adjusted to help them benefit fully from activities. For a family considering an early start, that deserves as much attention as the overall grade.

Children can start in selected mornings from the term following their second birthday, with afternoons potentially added from the term after they turn two and a half. Morning, afternoon and combined full-day sessions run during term time. This is a playgroup organised around shorter sessions and school-day hours, with parents actively involved in its life.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, including communication, physical development, relationships, reading and maths. Activities respond to children's interests and developmental needs. Children choose indoor or outdoor play, with familiar routines helping them understand expectations.

Under-threes join older children in the activity programme, which can be tailored to their abilities. From age three, local outings, visitors and celebrations broaden children's experiences alongside painting, crafts and messy play.

In February 2024, pretend medical play connected conversation with physical experience: children explored what a thermometer did, then noticed their heartbeats after exercise outdoors. Older children recognised letters from their names and began forming letters themselves. Familiar stories prompted children to supply words and phrases. These examples show how talk, books and imaginative play can connect, rather than literacy being confined to a separate writing task.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden is used daily, and children can move between indoors and outdoors for much of the day. Bikes, a climbing frame and a slide provide physical play; wellies can remain in a box beneath each child's peg. Suitable shoes and clothes matter here. Families should expect active, messy play and dress children accordingly.

In February 2024, children built an obstacle course and practised balancing on beams with adult encouragement. Attendance at the nearby church's Harvest Festival introduced them to a local celebration.

Relationships and Communication

Each child's key worker maintains a Learning Journal, an individual account of learning and development, and builds a closer relationship with the family. Children also work with other staff, giving them relationships across the team.

The key worker discusses individual settling needs with parents. In February 2024, familiar objects and photographs of family pets connected children with home, while adults comforted them when upset.

Famly supports communication, including collection messages. Parents can join play, share interests and participate in celebrations. The charity's fundraising committee also gives families a practical role in organising events.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children learning English as an additional language, were included and making good progress. Current support arrangements include a SENCO/Inco role, individual plans developed by the key worker with parents, and regular reviews. Where progress remains a concern, the SENCO can seek support from the West Sussex Early Years Advisor with parental permission. This sets out a sequence for identifying needs, planning support and reviewing what happens next.

Physical access needs careful consideration. A rear ramp leads to double patio doors, and the bathroom has a changing table, but it lacks an accessible toilet. The distinction matters: access into the building does not settle whether its toileting arrangements suit an individual child.

Safeguarding arrangements include a designated lead and deputy; all practitioners hold paediatric first-aid certificates. Toilet-training support follows home strategies, and spare clothes can stay on children's pegs. Medicines for acute conditions, such as inhalers, require signed parental instructions and consent.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is North Heath Community Primary School, Erica Way, Horsham, RH12 5XL. Heather operates Monday to Friday during term time. Mornings run from 8.45am to 11.45am; afternoons begin with Lunch Club at 11.45am and finish at 2.45pm. Combining the two creates a full day from 8.45am to 2.45pm.

Bookings cover complete sessions for a whole term, rather than individual hours. The youngest entrants start with selected mornings; afternoons can be added from the term after their second-and-a-half birthday, subject to the admission arrangements. From age three, children can attend any session pattern, subject to availability.

An after-pre-school session runs from 2.45pm to 3.15pm. It is a paid service for enrolled children on days when they already attend an afternoon session, booked for a whole or half term rather than occasionally. Funding cannot pay for it. This modest extension may help bridge the end of the core day, but it does not create an evening-care offer.

Term dates follow the West Sussex funding agreement and do not always match school dates. The enquiry form and telephone number, 01403 262320, provide contact routes. The waiting list is ordered by the date a child joins it, and returning a waiting-list form does not secure a place.

Funding and Paid Extras

Heather accepts West Sussex Funded Entitlement, including the 15-hour entitlement for eligible children, Early Learning for two-year-olds with local-authority-issued funding, and Working Families 30-hour funding from age two. Funding is delivered during term time and can cover core morning and afternoon sessions. Eligibility does not automatically secure the full number of funded hours: allocation remains subject to availability.

Funded sessions carry no extra charge at delivery. Additional private hours are charged, with current prices supplied in the nursery's written quotation; invoiced fees are paid monthly in advance. Snacks carry no charge, although families are invited to contribute fruit, vegetables or crackers if they can. Parents supply nappies or pull-ups and wipes, and donations are sometimes requested for extra outings or activities.

Lunch Club is a shared eating session using packed lunches supplied by families; the playgroup has no refrigerated lunch storage and recommends an ice pack. Its lunch policy asks for no nuts and prohibits food sharing to accommodate allergies and individual diets.

Withdrawal requires written notice covering four term-time weeks; changes to invoiced sessions require at least half a term's notice. Funded-hour changes normally take effect at the next term's start, so alterations need planning rather than an assumption that sessions can be swapped after an absence.

Attending Heather does not secure a Reception place at North Heath Community Primary School. School applications go through the West Sussex local-authority admissions process. Sharing the school grounds should therefore be understood as a location advantage, rather than an admissions advantage.

• Starting at two. Younger children join a mixed-age setting, and February 2024 brought a specific concern about adapting teaching for them. During settling visits, ask how activities and the environment now meet the needs of a newly two-year-old.
• Term-time organisation. Whole-session, whole-term bookings and funding dates that can differ from school dates shape the family calendar. Families choosing mornings, afternoons or combined days need childcare arrangements that fit Heather's term dates.
• Access and personal care. The ramp and double doors help with entry, but the bathroom has no accessible toilet. A visit should establish whether the toileting and changing arrangements meet your child's needs.
• Packed-lunch responsibilities. Families provide lunch, and the lunch policy excludes nuts and food sharing. If allergies affect your child, confirm current practice and the arrangements for their individual requirements.

Heather suits families seeking term-time mornings, afternoons or a combination of both, with mixed-age play and regular garden use. Its key-worker arrangement, individual support plans and opportunities for parent participation make the family relationship a concrete part of the offer.

The Good judgement from February 2024 provides a positive inspection position, tempered by the need to adapt learning more consistently for the youngest children. For an older preschool child, the choice of activities and outdoor play are useful strengths; for a child starting at two, the response to that teaching concern should carry greater weight in the decision.