Brayton Busy Bees Pre-school

A sensory garden, books to borrow and a baby and toddler group at Brayton Community Centre give Brayton Busy Bees Pre-school a character rooted in play and local family life. Based at Brayton Methodist Church Hall in Selby, it welcomes children aged two to four and has 20 places in total. A voluntary committee of parents and carers runs the pre-school, giving families a direct role in its organisation.

At its March 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good, found safeguarding effective and recognised effective support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The practical learning examples were memorable: vocabulary introduced while preparing fruit, shapes explored through cutting, and books borrowed for reading together at home.

Attendance is term-time, with morning, afternoon and whole-day patterns. This is a pre-school shaped around shorter sessions as well as a day spanning the school-day hours.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage brings learning, development and care together: children build language, explore ideas and practise everyday skills through play and shared activities. Brayton Busy Bees adds an emphasis on books, creativity, understanding different cultures and experiences chosen around children's interests. Its curriculum page also connects learning with exploration of the surrounding community.

In March 2025, communication teaching reached into ordinary routines. Preparing oranges and grapes became an opportunity to introduce vocabulary about how fruit is divided and grouped. Songs during group activities provided another way to practise language. Staff also taught Makaton signs, adding signs to children's communication, rather than relying on spoken words alone. A Makaton lead role supports this aspect of the current team structure.

Mathematics was similarly practical in March 2025. A cutting activity prompted discussion of a pentagon and counting its sides, linking the name of a shape to something children could handle. Children also practised using scissors and child-safe knives safely. These examples connect learning with useful actions, rather than leaving it confined to a separate group lesson.

Books travel beyond the setting. Library and home-learning resources are part of the offer; in March 2025, children chose replacement books from a swap library to share with their parents. That creates a simple bridge between reading at pre-school and reading at home.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor learning space includes a sensory garden, giving children another setting for exploration alongside indoor activities. Community experiences are also part of the curriculum's stated approach.

In March 2025, staff planned additional outdoor opportunities for children who lacked a garden at home. They also considered experiences individual children had not yet had, including bus travel, when arranging outings. The significance is the choice of experience: trips were linked to children's circumstances, rather than treated as an identical programme for everyone.

The Baby and Toddler Group meets at Brayton Community Centre on Tuesday mornings, from 9.30am to 11am during term time. It extends the pre-school's community involvement to younger children and their families, with time for adults to talk as well as children to play.

Relationships and Communication

In March 2025, settling sessions helped children become familiar with the setting before spending time there independently. A key person supported those who needed extra reassurance. For families facing a child's first separation, these are concrete ways to build familiarity with an adult and a new routine.

Communication with parents went beyond a progress update in March 2025. Staff shared ideas for learning at home, information about online safety and safeguarding, and routes to additional help. The current open-door policy supports direct conversation, while the parent-and-carer committee provides a separate opportunity to participate in decisions, fundraising and social events.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENCO role includes supporting children who need additional guidance and making referrals to specialist teams, including a Speech and Language Therapist. There is also a Safeguarding/Early Help lead role. These give families identifiable responsibilities within the team, rather than leaving support as a general promise.

In March 2025, regular assessments helped staff identify learning gaps and support needs. Additional funding had been used to develop spaces for children with SEND. Supervised toothbrushing also formed part of the day, providing practical experience of oral care.

Healthy eating needs a balanced account. In March 2025, staff encouraged balanced lunchboxes and helped children understand food origins, but messages during meals were inconsistent. The current curriculum includes healthy snacks and drinks; the improvement point concerns how the healthy-eating approach is put into practice.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Brayton Methodist Church Hall, Chapel Lane, Brayton, Selby, YO8 9EE. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, across 38 weeks of the year, during term time.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, afternoon sessions from noon to 3pm, and whole-day attendance from 9am to 3pm. These are different booking patterns within the same opening window, so families can consider a shorter session or a longer day around their routines.

Registration forms can be returned by email, and the pre-school offers an open-door visiting arrangement. Its contact route is braytonbusybeespreschool@gmail.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes two-year-old places and places for three- and four-year-olds covering the stated 15- and 30-hour entitlements. Delivery is term-time. Paid sessions are also offered; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

An optional care-package charge contributes towards everyday consumables and additional activities. It is separate from the session price and is not a requirement for taking a funded place. Families weighing funded and paid attendance should distinguish that optional package from the childcare hours themselves.

• Healthy-eating practice. In March 2025, children received inconsistent messages about healthy eating during meals. Ask how lunchbox guidance and mealtime conversations now work together, including the arrangements for bringing or paying for food.
• Curriculum oversight. In March 2025, systems for reviewing teaching were insufficiently developed, potentially missing opportunities to strengthen staff practice. A visit is a useful opportunity to discuss how managers now observe teaching and act on what they learn.
• Term-time routines and extras. The morning, afternoon and whole-day patterns operate across 38 weeks, and the consumables-and-activities package is optional. Consider how the attendance calendar fits your family and discuss what accepting or declining the package means in practice.

Brayton Busy Bees suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those wanting attendance from 9am to 3pm. Its sensory garden, borrowing resources and community toddler group give the offer recognisable substance. The March 2025 learning examples show how language and mathematics were woven into everyday activity, while settling sessions and a key person gave children practical support. The balanced decision is to weigh those strengths alongside the healthy-eating and teaching-review improvement points, with particular attention to how both are handled now.