Holmbridge Pre-School and Out of School Club CIO

Building a train track together captures the character of Holmbridge: older children helping younger ones connect the pieces, with everyday play making room for cooperation and independence. That was a concrete example from July 2025, rather than an abstract promise about learning. The setting combines pre-school provision with an out-of-school club serving children attending Hinchliffe Mill J&I School and Holme School.

Ofsted judged the provision Good on 17 July 2025 and found safeguarding effective. Holmbridge has capacity for 24 children in total, at its Woodhead Road address in Holmbridge, Holmfirth. Children attending at the time of that visit were aged 1 to 11; that age span covered the wider provision, including the club.

For parents, the useful distinction is between the pre-school day and care around school hours. Both featured in the July 2025 timetable, while government-funded childcare is offered to eligible children.

Play had a clear educational purpose in July 2025. An ocean activity began with discussion about sea creatures, fishing boats and nets, then moved into children creating their own ocean scene. It linked conversation with practical exploration: children could use the ideas they had just discussed rather than simply listen to an adult explain them.

The early years foundation stage is the framework for learning, development and care. In everyday parent language, it connects learning through play with developing communication, independence and relationships. The July 2025 examples show those strands meeting in ordinary activities, rather than being confined to separate lessons.

Children could reach the indoor play areas and choose from resources and equipment. This gave them opportunities to start activities themselves. The train-track example also showed the value of children learning alongside one another: a younger child could see how a piece fitted before trying it.

Independence extended beyond play. In July 2025, children helped themselves to snacks, managed handwashing and toileting, and put on coats for outdoor play. These are small tasks with practical value. They give children opportunities to practise looking after themselves within the daily routine.

Conversation followed children's ideas too. Sea creatures became part of an animal wedding, opening discussion about weddings and marriage. The useful feature was the connection between imaginative play and language: staff had something meaningful to discuss because the children had supplied the idea.

In July 2025, clear expectations helped children understand boundaries, while staff recognised their achievements and encouraged children to share successes. Turn-taking and sharing were visible in play. Together, these examples give parents a picture of how social expectations were practised throughout the day.

At the July 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff tracked development and acted on concerns, but asked for children's interests to be used more effectively in extending learning and for fuller information to be gathered from parents. These are two connected improvement points: knowing what a child enjoys and understanding their life beyond the setting both help staff choose what to offer next.

Communication already included information about children's activities and forthcoming outings in July 2025. The improvement point was therefore about the depth of information coming from families, rather than simply sending updates home. Parents choosing Holmbridge should give this distinction weight when discussing how their child's interests and development will be understood.

The staff structure includes a safeguarding lead role and a designated SEN co-ordinator. These roles identify responsibilities for safeguarding and special educational needs within the staff team.

The address is Woodhead Road, Holmbridge, Holmfirth, HD9 2SA. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01484 690 561 or by email to holmbridgepreschool@googlemail.com.

In July 2025, pre-school sessions ran from 9.15am to 3pm. Wraparound sessions ran from 7.30am to 8.45am and from 3pm to 6pm. These were different attendance patterns with different purposes: a pre-school session for younger children's education and care, and sessions around the school day.

The out-of-school club serves children attending Hinchliffe Mill J&I School and Holme School.

Government-funded childcare is offered for eligible children. Eligibility remains a condition of that offer, so families should distinguish their entitlement from the attendance pattern they want to arrange.

• Learning from individual interests. The July 2025 improvement point concerned making fuller use of what children enjoy. On a visit, ask how a child's current interests shape their next activities.
• Information from home. In July 2025, initial information from parents sometimes lacked useful detail. Ask how that conversation now captures your child's development, routines and interests.
• Pre-school and school-age care. The July 2025 timetable separated pre-school sessions from morning and afternoon wraparound care. Discuss which pattern fits your child and family when visiting.

Holmbridge suits families considering a pre-school session, as well as those seeking school-day wraparound care connected to Hinchliffe Mill J&I School or Holme School. Its July 2025 examples make the educational character tangible: cooperative construction, imaginative conversation and everyday independence.

The balanced judgement is Good provision with specific work to do on personalising learning and gathering information from families. Those improvement points make the visit conversation useful and concrete.