Deepdale Pre-school

An agility wall, a water investigation station and a mud kitchen give Deepdale Pre-school a practical, hands-on character. Its home within Boston Spa Children's Centre combines a light, purpose-built interior with outdoor space for planting, experimenting and active play. This is a preschool setting with room for children to get messy and explore.

Deepdale provides childcare for children aged 2-5 years and has 30 places in total. At its December 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged inclusion to be Strong standard, the other assessed areas to be Expected standard, and safeguarding standards to be met. That combination makes inclusion the clearest strength in the assessment, while teaching consistency remains the main improvement point.

Term-time attendance can be arranged as a full day, a morning or an afternoon, with separate breakfast and lunch sessions. The practical distinction matters: families can choose a shorter preschool session rather than committing to the whole opening day.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning and care here, as it does across registered early-years settings: children develop skills through play and activities, with staff planning experiences and observing their development. Deepdale's parent information puts conversation, books and physical activity alongside this framework. These are everyday building blocks, rather than a separate branded curriculum.

In December 2025, children built with magnetic tiles as adults introduced mathematical ideas. Puppets and props helped bring stories to life, while crafts gave children practice in small hand movements. Learning grew from familiar play.

In December 2025, adults varied vocabulary for older and younger children during sand play. Snack time brought mathematical conversation; lunch supported social skills. Everyday routines provided opportunities to learn.

Rising Fives adds a more structured group for children staff consider developmentally ready. It begins in the final academic term and introduces concepts children will meet in Reception, alongside work on independence. Participation depends on readiness, including for younger children considered for the group. It is a stage-sensitive arrangement rather than a promise that every child follows the same timetable.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outside, the agility wall supports physical challenge, while the water investigation station gives children scope to experiment. A percussion stand, mud kitchen and sand pit add different materials and ways to play. Planting brings another kind of activity: children help care for growing things and can see what changes as plants and vegetables develop. Outdoor learning has several concrete starting points here.

Deepdale play park and the surrounding field extend the opportunities for movement, including bikes, scooters and ball play. These spaces complement the preschool's own outdoor area, giving active children opportunities to practise coordination and use larger movements. In December 2025, outdoor play also included making marks and exploring materials and textures.

Community participation has a named annual occasion. At the Christmas Tree Festival at Boston Spa Methodists Church, children make decorations for the preschool's tree. Their creative work becomes part of an event beyond the setting, giving it an audience and a local connection. Easter, Divali and Chinese New Year also provide themes for activities, with examples including cooking, cakes and cards.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is organised around the individual child. Parents can remain while their child becomes comfortable, and a familiar toy or blanket can provide continuity from home. Staff introduce the key person and use children's interests to help them engage with activities. A consistent adult may stay alongside a child initially, then step back as confidence grows. This gives families a gradual route into preschool life.

Tapestry is the online learning journal used to share progress and photographs, and parents can contribute information of their own. It gives home observations a place alongside what happens at preschool. Twice-yearly parents' evenings provide a more formal conversation, while the open-door approach allows concerns and everyday updates to be discussed between those meetings. Communication therefore has both ongoing and scheduled routes.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that support for children with SEND was highly effective, with speech and language therapists' advice incorporated into everyday interactions through visual prompts, language modelling and supported turn-taking. The important detail is how specialist advice reached the child's ordinary day, rather than remaining separate from it.

Deepdale works with Leeds SEND Local Offer and has a designated SENCO role. Its staff training includes paediatric first aid and safeguarding. These are arrangements families can discuss in relation to their own child's needs; the dated inspection assessment provides the judgement on how inclusion worked in practice.

Practical independence also receives attention. In December 2025, children practised washing their hands and clearing up after snacks, and took walks in the community. Deepdale works with parents on toilet training, allowing routines at home and preschool to be considered together. Families supply nappies, wipes and nappy bags when needed, as well as summer suncream and sunhats.

Medication is handed directly to staff rather than left in a child's bag. It is stored in a locked medicine cupboard, with the relevant forms completed. This gives parents a clear handover procedure for a specific care need.

Preparation for school includes contact after a child has been allocated a place. Deepdale invites the Reception teacher to meet the child, speak with the key person and review their profile. Sharing interests, friendships and skills can help the receiving teacher understand the child before the move. This is transition support following allocation, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Full day care runs from 9am to 3pm; the morning session is 9am to 12pm, and the afternoon session is 12pm to 3pm. Breakfast club runs from 8am to 9am, and a separate lunch session runs from 12pm to 1pm. These are distinct booking options, so the opening window should not be confused with the full day session.

Invoices are issued ahead of each half term, with payment due within 14 days. Reducing or cancelling sessions requires a half term's notice. Late collection and late payment attract charges. For families whose working pattern changes, that notice period is a meaningful part of the arrangement, alongside the choice of session.

Getting There

The address is Boston Spa Children's Centre, Deepdale Lane, Boston Spa, LS23 6EH, beside the children's park. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email, and an information and registration pack provides the application paperwork.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including the universal 15-hour entitlement from the term after a child's third birthday and funded places for eligible two-year-olds. Funding information also covers up to 30 hours for eligible working parents, over 38 weeks a year; Deepdale's childcare age range remains 2-5 years. Eligibility conditions apply, so an entitlement is not a promise of a particular attendance pattern.

Private sessions are charged separately, and breakfast is included in the breakfast club fee. Parents provide the non-food supplies listed above, including nappies and wipes when required and suncream in summer. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and session terms explain the charging and notice structure.

• Teaching consistency. The December 2025 improvement action concerned balancing children's own exploration with more purposeful adult teaching; staff knowledge of child development also needed further development. At a visit, ask how staff now plan and review the learning they intend an activity to achieve.
• The term-time timetable. Morning, afternoon and full day patterns all finish within the 3pm closing time. Families needing childcare beyond that window or through holidays should weigh the timetable against their working commitments.
• Changing sessions. A half term's notice applies to reductions and cancellations. Consider how comfortably that fits any variable working schedule before agreeing a pattern.
• Food across the day. Breakfast is included in breakfast club. Ask what children should bring for other food and how meal arrangements work during funded hours.

Deepdale suits families seeking term-time preschool through either shorter morning or afternoon sessions or a full day from 9am to 3pm. Its outdoor resources, Rising Fives preparation and Tapestry communication give the offer concrete shape. The December 2025 assessment places inclusion ahead of the other assessed areas, while the teaching improvement action deserves attention. For parents, the strongest case combines that inclusion assessment with a practical timetable and gradual settling arrangements.