Daisy Chain Pre-School

Mud kitchens, garden areas and outdoor play spaces reached directly from each childcare room give Daisy Chain Pre-School a practical, hands-on character. Based at the William Gascoigne Centre in Middleton, Leeds, it combines a renovated community-centre setting with resources children can reach and choose themselves. The physical layout supports movement between indoor activities and outdoor exploration, rather than making the garden a separate destination.

Ofsted rated the setting Good at its 21 March 2022 inspection. The current age range is 24 to 60 months, with capacity for 68 children in total. This is a preschool offer for children beyond the baby stage, with provision labelled 2-year-olds, Rising 3’s and Pre-School.

Term-time attendance includes morning, afternoon and full-day bookings. That choice matters: families can use a shorter morning or a longer afternoon as well as a whole day, rather than fitting every child into one attendance pattern.

Rooms and Ages

The William Gascoigne Community Centre was renovated for the preschool, and each childcare room opens onto its own outdoor space. Mud kitchens, construction areas and garden areas give children different ways to handle materials, build and investigate. Resources positioned within children's reach also make choosing an activity part of the day itself.

The 2-year-olds, Rising 3’s and Pre-School labels distinguish stages within the setting. A Sensory Room adds another physical space, while Music Lessons sit alongside the play provision. These are useful points of difference for parents comparing the actual spaces and experiences their child would use.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, learning includes communication, early number work, physical activity and growing independence through play. It is the common foundation for provision here, rather than an additional programme.

In March 2022, children explored a rainforest made from natural materials, moving toy dinosaurs through it. Another activity involved freeing figures from ice as it warmed. These examples show how a simple resource can support experimenting and conversation: children have something tangible to investigate, rather than only an adult's explanation.

Language work also used sensory experiences. In March 2022, staff helped children describe the smell and feel of mint, rosemary and thyme, while older children talked about their drawings. Number activities included counting and comparing patterns and shapes; a garden search for word cards brought letters and sounds into outdoor play. The examples span different kinds of learning, with materials and movement giving children reasons to talk.

Outdoor and Community Life

Direct outdoor access is the strongest current environmental feature. Construction spaces and mud kitchens create opportunities for practical play, while garden areas bring growing things into children's surroundings. Their value is in the variety of experiences close to the rooms, rather than in a single occasional outdoor activity.

In March 2022, children had begun growing herbs and vegetables and took part in physical activity each day. Staff used those experiences to discuss food and exercise. Learning about healthy habits therefore connected with things children could do themselves.

In March 2022, children had an allocated key person and built close relationships with staff; they also practised everyday tasks such as putting toys away. Those small responsibilities gave independence a concrete form. Emotional support and encouragement accompanied children's attempts to complete activities, rather than leaving persistence entirely to the child.

At the March 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and additional funding well used for individual needs, including staff training for speech and language delay and work with professionals supporting children with SEND. These are dated findings about practice, not a substitute for discussing a child's present support needs.

In March 2022, staff offered initial language support where needed, including for children learning English as an additional language. Adults listened to children's contributions and helped expand their vocabulary. The same account also identified a need for more responsive engagement with two-year-olds, making the younger children's day an important consideration alongside the broader language provision.

Snacks are supplied for morning and afternoon attendance; families send a healthy packed lunch for afternoon or full-day bookings. Parents also supply nappies and wipes, so these remain part of the family's daily preparation.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8.30am to 11.30am, afternoons from 12.30pm to 5.30pm, and full days from 8.30am to 5.30pm. Attendance operates Monday to Friday during term time, with public bank holidays excluded. The term-time calendar is a substantial planning consideration for families needing childcare during school holidays.

Additional sessions can be purchased beyond funded entitlement. Payments for those sessions are due monthly in advance on the first of the month and are made through Famly, the nursery app used for fee payments.

Getting There

The address is William Gascoigne Centre, Acre Road, Middleton, Leeds, LS10 4DE. The preschool's community-centre premises and direct room-to-outdoor access are central to its layout.

Funding and Paid Extras

Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) includes the universal 15 hours per week and additional entitlement for eligible children, with sessions taken up to 15 or 30 hours according to entitlement and subject to availability. Funding follows the term-time attendance model. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

A refundable deposit applies when purchasing sessions beyond funded entitlement or taking a fee-paying-only place. It is returned after the final payment clears, but forfeited if the place is not taken after the cooling-off period; fee-paying places also carry a non-refundable registration charge.

Eight weeks' written notice is required to change a start date or sessions before starting, and to cancel once attendance has begun. Absence through illness or holidays does not reduce fees or generate a refund. These terms make the booked pattern a financial commitment, even when a child misses attendance.

• The two-year-old day. In March 2022, teaching did not consistently adapt to younger children's engagement, with communication and language identified for further work. At a visit, ask how staff now draw two-year-olds into activities and extend their conversation.
• Technology experiences. The March 2022 improvement priorities included broadening children's understanding of technology. Ask what practical opportunities now complement the sensory, construction and garden activities.
• Term-time planning. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions operate during term time. Families needing school-holiday care must account for that calendar when choosing their attendance arrangement.
• Packed lunches and supplies. Afternoon and full-day attendance require a healthy packed lunch, and parents supply nappies and wipes. Include those daily tasks in the practical comparison with other settings.

Daisy Chain Pre-School suits families seeking term-time morning sessions, longer afternoons or full-day attendance for children beyond the baby stage. Direct outdoor access, mud kitchens and construction areas give the offer a clear physical identity. The Good judgement from March 2022 provides a dated quality reference; the priorities for two-year-olds and technology give families specific matters to explore before choosing it.