Skylarks Community Pre-School

A tool station, familiar storybooks and frequent walks around the neighbourhood give Skylarks Community Pre-School a practical, playful character. Based at the Village Centre in Broadbridge Heath, it has capacity for 50 children. Its appeal lies in children doing things for themselves: handling tools, retelling stories, making choices and exploring their community.

At its 8 January 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Skylarks Good overall and found safeguarding effective. Children attending then were aged two to four. The daily experiences were engaging, but two improvements mattered: making teaching more consistent between staff and organising group activities so quieter and younger children received enough attention.

Attendance is term-time only, with morning sessions across the working week and afternoon or all-day bookings on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning, development and care: children build language, physical skills and relationships through play, alongside early reading, mathematics and creative activities. Skylarks makes that concrete through cooking, role play, story sacks and small-group reading. Conversations invite children to explain their ideas rather than simply supply an answer.

Core Books are familiar texts that children revisit through related play and activities, giving them repeated opportunities to use the stories' vocabulary. Children also invent stories in role play and practise making marks with materials including paint, soil and shaving foam. Reading and early writing therefore connect to things children can handle, imagine and talk about.

Mathematics follows a similarly practical route. Sorting, pattern-making and number games sit alongside experiments with water and sand to explore capacity and weight. Numbers feature indoors, outdoors and in the surrounding community, helping children connect mathematical ideas with everyday experiences.

In January 2025, activities followed children's interests in subjects such as numbers and dinosaurs. During medical role play, adults explained the purpose of a stethoscope and encouraged conversation. That example captures the intended learning model: an absorbing game becomes an opportunity to develop understanding and vocabulary.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor space is accessible throughout the year. A balance beam, climbing frame, obstacle course and soft play offer different ways to practise movement, while the tool station gives children opportunities to learn safe handling. Threading, puzzles and cutting activities develop the smaller movements involved in later writing. Physical development extends beyond running around.

Frequent neighbourhood walks and visits to the local park connect learning with the place children live. Celebrations include Diwali, Christmas and Chinese New Year, introducing different traditions through shared experiences. Creative activities value children's exploration and effort rather than requiring everyone to produce the same finished object.

In January 2025, community experiences included shops and playparks, while visitors introduced wildlife care and the work of the fire service. Smaller outings enabled children with SEND to experience shops and sensory activities in a less overwhelming group. The scale of an outing could change to help children participate.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person who supports exploration, recognises achievements and helps with individual goals. Independence is taught through ordinary routines, including dressing and personal hygiene. Staff also help children practise sharing, taking turns and resolving disagreements, so social learning has a place alongside activities and games.

In January 2025, staff gathered information about children's preferences and existing understanding before they started. Upset children received comfort, and older children helped younger ones learn to share. These are useful details for families considering how a child will adjust to being away from home.

An online learning journal allows families to upload activities completed at home. Home-learning material includes Core Books, nursery rhymes, mathematics and home language, and staff can tailor activities to a family's request. This gives parents a practical way to connect home experiences with preschool learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND progressed well, supported by individual packages and timely referrals to outside agencies. Current staff roles include a SENCO and an early years teacher with SEND responsibilities; safeguarding leadership includes a designated lead and deputy, and staff roles include first-aid training.

In January 2025, observations informed children's next learning steps, and families received development updates. Information about progress also went to future schools and other settings to support continuity when children moved on. This transition work concerns understanding a child's needs and learning.

Healthy habits feature in the current curriculum through learning about food choices, tooth care and looking after the body. In January 2025, staff encouraged children to try unfamiliar fruit and vegetables and discussed healthy eating during play and routines.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 9am to 12.30pm, Monday to Friday. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, afternoon sessions run from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, and all-day sessions from 9am to 3.30pm. These are term-time arrangements. Families can therefore choose between a morning pattern, afternoons on the longer days, or an all-day booking.

Applications use a form that asks for preferred sessions and a start date. The main intake is in September each year; the waiting-list aim is to offer a place within 12–24 months of signing up, wherever possible, with no guarantee of an offer. This is a planning timescale rather than a promise.

Funding and Paid Extras

Skylarks accepts 2 year old funding and 30 hours funding, alongside its 15 hours funding offer. Eligibility conditions apply. Funding can be allocated without a limit on the amount used in an individual session, which gives families scope to use their entitlement across their chosen attendance pattern.

Paid childcare is also offered. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation. Uniform is optional, allowing families to decide whether it is useful for their child.

Getting There

The address is the Village Centre, Wickhurst Lane, Broadbridge Heath, Horsham RH12 3LY. Families can contact the preschool by telephone or email, and a contact form provides another enquiry route.

• Planning a start date. The waiting-list aim is 12–24 months, wherever possible, and September is the main annual intake. Families working towards a particular start date should factor that timescale into their plans.
• Consistency between adults. In January 2025, some staff were less confident or experienced in extending children's learning, and monitoring teaching was an improvement priority. At a visit, ask how staff receive feedback and support to make interactions more consistent.
• Attention in group activities. In January 2025, older, more confident children sometimes received more attention during larger activities. Ask how sessions now make room for younger or quieter children to contribute.
• Food and everyday supplies. With both morning and all-day patterns offered, ask what children need to bring for meals, snacks and personal consumables, and which items carry separate charges.

Skylarks suits families seeking term-time mornings, afternoons on selected days or all-day preschool sessions. Core Books, hands-on mathematics, the tool station and frequent community walks give its learning offer concrete substance. The key-person arrangement and home-learning journal also provide useful connections between preschool and family life.

The January 2025 findings give families two clear points to explore: consistency in adult interactions and fair participation in group activities. Those questions belong alongside its practical strengths when deciding whether the setting fits a child's temperament and a family's weekly routine.