Jack & Jill Preschool

Small acts of independence give Jack & Jill Preschool its character: children setting out snack tables, choosing resources and helping care for rabbits were part of daily life in April 2022. These are useful early experiences of responsibility, with a purpose children can understand.

At its 4 April 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the preschool Good overall. Based at Littlehaven Infant School in Horsham, it has capacity for 34 children. That whole-setting figure should not be read as the number sharing an activity or attending together in a particular group.

The strongest examples from April 2022 combine practical learning with attention to individual needs. A ball game could involve word sounds for older children and colour recognition for younger ones; a quieter outing offered an alternative when the busy preschool became too much. The detail matters more than a general promise of personal attention.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning, development and care: children learn through play, conversation, movement and everyday routines. Adults help by demonstrating, explaining and extending children's ideas. This is the shared early-years foundation, rather than a separate branded curriculum. Jack & Jill's curriculum page explains this play-based understanding of teaching.

In April 2022, stories supplied a thread through the term, with activities built around a selected book. Children returned to familiar language and discussed what might happen next. Conversations also accompanied creative activities, including exploring colour mixing. Books therefore connected listening with opportunities to predict, remember and explain.

A ball-catching activity that month showed how one game could serve different stages of development. Older children explored the sounds within words, while younger children worked on colours and parts of the body. The shared activity gave children different tasks rather than expecting identical responses from everyone.

There was an important limitation. In April 2022, adults sometimes moved conversations along before children had sufficient thinking time. Giving a child space to form an answer matters as much as asking the question; this was one of the improvement priorities.

Outdoor and Community Life

During April 2022, children collected dandelions on a walk to feed the rabbits, then helped refresh their drinking water. Animal care made responsibility tangible. Children could see the result of completing a small task rather than treating independence as an abstract lesson.

Physical play included making a bridge from soft shapes and balancing across it. A recently created activity space also accommodated movement and smaller gatherings that month. These examples show different uses of space: energetic play, practising balance and time with fewer children together.

Across Jack and Jill provision, the Early Years Pupil Premium plan includes access to workshop sessions such as Music Bus and Happily Ever After. These are workshops within a funded-support plan, rather than a promise that every child attends either session. The plan places emphasis on social development and communication, alongside individual monitoring and partnership with families.

At the April 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support inclusive, with staff adapting activities, involving other professionals and using smaller outings for children who found larger gatherings overwhelming. For families whose child needs additional support, the useful detail is the adjustment to the experience itself.

Relationships also had practical expression in April 2022. Staff helped children work through disagreements about toys and turns, using calm guidance rather than simply ending the dispute. Children had opportunities to practise asking, sharing and waiting. A spontaneous walk for a smaller group was another example of changing the routine in response to children's needs.

Communication with families that month included updates on development and daily routines, together with ideas for learning at home. Before children started, staff collected information about home experiences to help them settle. However, the April 2022 improvement priorities included gathering a fuller picture of children's existing abilities, so learning could be planned more promptly from the beginning.

Oral care has a straightforward arrangement. Families who want their child to brush after meals provide a labelled toothbrush and toothpaste in a labelled washbag each day and notify staff. Those oral-care consumables come from home.

Sessions and Attendance

In April 2022, opening hours were 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. The provision then combined preschool sessions with care before and after school. Those hours describe the opening window at that date, rather than the clock times of an individual booking.

The address is Littlehaven Infant School, Hawkesbourne Road, Horsham, RH12 4EH. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01403 258994 or by email to office@jackandjillchildcarefacilities.com.

Being based at Littlehaven Infant School does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process; childcare attendance and school admission are separate decisions.

Funding and Paid Extras

Free Entitlement allocations can be used towards sessions during term time. This gives funded attendance a term-time basis. Families should obtain a current written quotation for their chosen arrangement.

The Early Years Pupil Premium supports eligible three- and four-year-olds through additional funding, with eligibility checked by West Sussex County Council after parents complete the declaration. Jack & Jill's plan includes monitoring individual needs, support within the setting and collaboration with families. It is additional support funding, distinct from a family's session booking.

• Thinking time and starting points. The April 2022 improvement priorities concerned allowing children longer to answer and learning more about their existing abilities before they started. On a visit, ask how initial information now shapes activities and how staff allow space for children's responses.
• Term-time planning. Free Entitlement is used during term time. Ask how your intended preschool or wraparound pattern fits the calendar, including the arrangements for meals and other consumables within the written quotation.
• A school-site setting. The Littlehaven Infant School address may suit families organising childcare alongside school routines. It does not confer a Reception place, so the school application needs its own attention.

Jack & Jill will appeal to families interested in practical, play-based preschool learning and to those seeking care around the school day. Preschool sessions and before- and after-school care were both part of its April 2022 offer; funded allocations are used during term time.

The most persuasive examples are modest and concrete: caring for rabbits, adapting a shared game and making space for a quieter outing. The two April 2022 improvement priorities are equally relevant to a parent's decision. The fit rests on how the setting listens to a child, establishes their starting point and matches the daily routine to their needs.