Jack

Twelve places give Jack a small overall scale, while its June 2025 day centred on young children exploring, communicating and learning to manage everyday tasks. The setting occupies its own premises on the Northolmes Junior School site in Horsham. That school-site address belongs to a separate childcare setting.

At the 16 June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Jack Good overall and judged its safeguarding effective. Children attending at that time were aged one to two. The strongest practical examples involved relationships: children sought help when needed, staff adapted activities to individual interests, and families contributed information about their lives at home.

The improvement priorities were equally concrete. Children needed more opportunities to attempt tasks independently, and quieter children needed more help to stay involved in activities.

In June 2025, play involved exploration with ordinary materials. Children filled containers with sand, giving them a practical activity in which to experiment. Staff followed children's interests and used gentle encouragement when an activity changed or something unfamiliar began. For a young child, that links the learning experience with help to handle changes during the day.

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: exploration, communication and everyday routines all contribute to learning. In June 2025, staff planned activities around individual needs and circumstances, rather than treating children's different starting points as interchangeable. The sand activity was one example of that approach in action.

Physical surroundings also formed part of learning about safety. In June 2025, children waited for an adult's assistance at the outdoor steps. This was a small but useful example of recognising when help was needed, rather than simply following an instruction during a planned activity.

Choice and independence were less consistent. Children selected activities and practised washing their hands, but adults sometimes helped before a child had the opportunity to try. Putting on shoes and walking independently were examples. The decision for parents is whether staff now give these everyday attempts enough time: practical independence develops through doing, as well as encouragement.

In June 2025, staff used children's interests to help them recover when emotions became difficult to manage. A walk around the school was one example; other activities were chosen to suit the individual child. This made the response personal, with something familiar to help a child settle.

Communication with families went beyond a general update. In June 2025, parents shared which cultural celebrations mattered to them, and staff incorporated that information into planning. Updates about development were accompanied by help with continuing learning at home. Families therefore had a role in both the content of activities and the conversations about their child's next steps.

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children, including those receiving additional support, made good progress, with staff exchanging developmental information with specialists to plan targeted help. Language and suspected developmental delays were among the reasons for that collaboration. It gave adults supporting the same child information they could use together.

Daily interactions supplied concrete examples of change in June 2025: children who had initially communicated without words were using speech and actions, while children who had found eating difficult were trying more foods. Staff used patience and encouragement. These examples concern those children's development at that time, rather than a promise about any new child's experience.

Jack's address is Northolmes Junior School, Leith View Road, Horsham, RH12 4ET. It has 12 places in total; that is the whole setting's capacity, rather than the size of a particular activity group.

In June 2025, opening hours were 8am to 4pm on weekdays during term time. For parents matching childcare to work, both the afternoon finishing time and the term-time calendar are relevant practical boundaries.

Funded early education was provided in June 2025 for children from nine months to two and a half years. This describes the provision at that date and does not establish an individual family's eligibility. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

The school-site location does not guarantee a Reception place. Families seeking a state-school place still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Time to try independently. In June 2025, adults sometimes put on children's shoes or carried children who could walk. During a visit, ask how staff now balance helping with allowing children to attempt these tasks themselves.
• Quieter children's participation. The June 2025 improvement priorities included giving quieter children more encouragement and time to contribute. Ask how staff recognise a child who has stopped joining in and draw them back into an activity.
• The term-time timetable. Opening hours in June 2025 ended at 4pm and followed school terms. How would your proposed attendance pattern, funded hours and any meal or consumable arrangements fit together in a written quotation?

Jack merits consideration by Horsham families who value a small setting and individual attention to children's interests. Its June 2025 strengths were clearest in everyday relationships, emotional support and communication with families. The same account gives parents two useful tests: whether adults allow enough time for independence, and whether quieter children remain involved. For families whose childcare needs fit a term-time timetable, those are worthwhile points on which to judge the setting.