Greenside Care Club

A preschool on school fields, with covered outdoor play and a route through to holiday care: Greenside Care Club combines early education with practical continuity for families in Pudsey. Its base is a portable cabin on the Greenside Primary School site, where two age-group rooms keep younger children’s provision separate from the older children’s club. The organisation is run by a voluntary parent committee.

At its 11 January 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Outstanding, found safeguarding effective and reported that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities were fully included and making excellent progress. The detail behind that judgement matters: children investigated floating and sinking, took responsibility for everyday tasks and received support that linked staff, parents and other professionals.

Preschool education serves children aged 3–4, while the wider club and holiday provision cover ages 3–11; there are 60 places in total. Term-time preschool can be combined with before- and after-school care, and holiday bookings include full days and shorter sessions.

Rooms and Ages

Room 1 serves ages 3–7, with independently chosen resources, sensory activities, role play and creative play. Children can choose indoor play or enclosed outdoor space with paving, grass and a canopy for shelter.

Room 2 serves ages 8–11, with areas for relaxation, computing, making things and games, plus access to tarmac and the school field. Older children help shape activities, equipment and rules, giving them a say in their club.

The cabin’s freestanding furniture can be rearranged to suit children’s needs. Outdoor access also needs to be understood practically: the younger room has stepped access as well as a route through the ramped main entrance, while the older room’s outdoor route includes steps.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides preschool learning through play and exploration across its areas of learning. Staff plan around children’s interests, so their ideas help shape activities.

In January 2024, water experiments involved predicting which objects would sink or float, then testing those ideas. Language work ran through interactions: staff introduced vocabulary, repeated words and allowed children time to answer. These examples connect conversation with practical investigation, rather than treating language and early scientific thinking as separate lessons.

Everyday responsibilities were another part of learning in January 2024. The helper of the day counted children wanting milk and put the number on a whiteboard; a handwashing song accompanied children’s independent hygiene routines. Small jobs gave counting and writing a purpose children could recognise.

Outdoor and Community Life

Holiday provision adds themed activity days, including Water fun, Funfair activities and team games. During the summer playscheme, visiting workshops include minibeast experts, circus skills and sport or dance instructors. These are holiday experiences, rather than a promise that every preschool week contains visiting specialists.

In January 2024, an interactive screen supported conversations about children’s family photographs and holidays in other countries. Christmas and Chinese New Year were among the celebrations used to introduce different traditions. Familiar family experiences became a starting point for learning about lives beyond children’s own.

Relationships and Communication

Each preschool child has a key person who works with the family and supports settling around the child’s needs and interests. Relationships with other preschool staff provide continuity beyond that individual contact.

Settling starts with a home visit involving the manager and SENCO, followed by an open day where families meet staff and their child’s key person. Individual settling visits follow, tailored to the child’s previous experiences and needs. The sequence moves from familiar surroundings towards becoming comfortable in the setting.

An electronic learning journey gives parents an account of their child’s experiences and development, with a paper copy provided when preschool ends. Daily conversations sit alongside observations, photographs and termly assessments, so communication includes both immediate exchanges and a longer view of learning. In January 2024, parents’ evenings and weekly newsletters also formed part of family communication.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENCO works with key people, parents and outside professionals to plan support. Individual Education Plans are shared with families and reviewed regularly; support can involve individual adult help or particular activity sessions. This gives parents a defined route from raising a concern with the key person to agreeing and reviewing a plan.

In January 2024, speech therapists contributed to strategies, and small intervention groups took place weekly to support speech and language. Current arrangements allow external agencies to contribute advice, resources, training or additional staffing where needed.

The main entrance has a ramp, and the setting has an accessible toilet. Those physical arrangements are useful alongside the adaptable furniture, although families should consider the routes between each room and its outdoor space.

Moving to school includes inviting teachers into preschool to meet and observe children. With parents involved, staff share learning journeys, assessments, transition reports and relevant support plans. This makes the handover about the individual child, including the help already in place.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is C/o Greenside Primary School, South Parade, Pudsey, LS28 8NZ. Overall opening hours are 7.30am–6pm, Monday to Friday. Preschool operates during term time, with a day running from 8.45am to 3.15pm; the preschool year covers 38 weeks.

Families can add paid preschool hours or use wraparound provision to extend preschool attendance across 7.30am–6pm. The school-age club serves children attending Greenside Primary School: morning care runs from 7.30am to the school start at 8.50am, and afternoon care from 3.15pm to 6pm. Staff accompany children between the club and school, with Reception children supported by their key person at the classroom handover.

Holiday playscheme bookings offer a full day, 7.30am–6pm, or half days of 7.30am–1pm and 1pm–6pm. It follows Greenside Primary School’s holidays and teacher-training days and accepts children from the care club, the school and elsewhere in the area. The holiday service therefore has a broader intake than the school-age term-time club.

Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded preschool education includes the Working Families Entitlement, offering 30 hours during term time for eligible children aged 3–4, and a 15-hour entitlement from the term after a child’s third birthday until school starts for children not eligible for the 30-hour offer. Additional preschool sessions can be purchased, allowing funded education and privately paid attendance to be combined.

The fees page sets out the attendance and food arrangements. Breakfast is included in the before-school fee and an afternoon snack in the after-school fee; holiday care provides breakfast and an afternoon snack, while children attending a morning or full-day holiday session bring a packed lunch.

Moving on to School

Attending preschool on the Greenside Primary School site does not guarantee a Reception place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Preschool and school-age care serve different groups. Preschool accepts children aged 3–4, while the term-time school club serves Greenside Primary School children. Discuss the intended combination of preschool, wraparound and holiday attendance during a visit.
• Outdoor access has different routes. The main entrance is ramped, but room-to-outdoor routes include steps. Families whose children need accessible movement should view the route their child would use, including access to the covered play area.
• Food arrangements depend on attendance. Before- and after-school fees include breakfast or a snack; morning and full-day holiday bookings require a packed lunch. Ask how preschool meals and consumables are handled across your intended funded and paid hours.

Greenside’s strongest combination is a well-defined preschool day, adaptable support and continuity into school-age and holiday care. The January 2024 Outstanding judgement gives a clear inspection position, while the room layouts, settling sequence and individual support plans give families concrete arrangements to assess.

It suits families seeking term-time preschool with wraparound extensions, as well as those needing full-day or half-day holiday care. For children attending Greenside Primary School, the school club adds supported classroom handovers. Families should weigh those practical connections alongside the age-group rooms and their child’s access needs.