Fountains Playgroup and Pre-School

One shared playroom gives Fountains Playgroup and Pre-School its character: younger children learn the routines alongside older children, rather than moving through separate age-labelled rooms. This charitable playgroup occupies a purpose-built building in Grantley, near Ripon, and has 20 places in total. Its appeal lies in the combination of mixed-age play, practical independence and close contact with families.

At its 29 March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Fountains Good overall, found safeguarding effective and judged that children with additional needs received effective support. That is a dated assessment. The current offer includes outdoor play, a key person for each child and individual support plans where needed, with children accepted from 2 years to 4 years 11 months.

Term-time attendance includes mornings, shorter days with lunch and stays through the afternoon, allowing different departure times.

Rooms and Ages

The shared room lets younger children learn routines from older children. Its 20 places describe whole-setting capacity, rather than daily attendance.

Child-sized toilets support independence. The single-level building is wheelchair accessible and has an accessible toilet. Children in nappies or toilet training are welcomed, with staff following parents' preferred approach.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the required framework for learning through play, covering language, movement, relationships, literacy and mathematics. Children organise some activities themselves; practitioners lead others.

Singing, instruments and parachute play give group time opportunities for listening and turn-taking. Construction, playdough and mark making offer choices, while the funky fingers area supports fine motor skills. Handling materials builds the movements needed for later learning.

Snack has its own small routine. Children post a name plate into a red box to pay for their snack, then eat in groups of 4. This creates a manageable setting for conversation and practising manners. After lunch, sharing books and interpreting their pictures gives children another way to tell stories, even before they can read the words.

In March 2023, children built bridges with large wooden blocks and explored water moving through drainpipes mounted on a wall. These were practical opportunities to investigate how things work. However, some adult-planned activities constrained creative expression, and children's understanding of diversity and contemporary Britain needed further development. Both points matter alongside the play-based offer: access to materials and genuine freedom to use them are different things.

Outdoor and Community Life

A mud kitchen, digging area, balancing beam and playhouse support exploration and pretend play; wheeled toys, balls and hoops encourage movement. Outdoor time comes before lunch and again during the afternoon.

Early Years Alliance membership gives staff and the committee access to information, support and training for running the playgroup.

Relationships and Communication

Each child's key person is the family's first contact. Individual settling arrangements help children build familiarity with that adult before spending time apart from their parents.

Evidence Me enables two-way app sharing alongside daily conversations, newsletters and online updates. Learning journals and achievement records combine staff observations with parents' accounts of interests, strengths and difficulties, helping shape learning plans.

The key person completes the developmental check between 24 and 36 months. Discussion with parents connects observations of everyday play to agreed next steps.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

For children needing additional support, parents, the key person and the SENCo agree an individual learning and provision plan (ILPP). Targets are usually reviewed after 6 to 8 weeks; further professional advice may be sought if those targets have not been reached. A defined review point gives families a way to discuss what has changed and what needs adjusting.

Support can involve speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, portage or autism outreach. For children with additional medical needs, staff work with parents on an individual medical plan, reviewing it when circumstances change. Translation services can also be used, and parents can agree the use of words from their child's home language.

Staff training includes North Yorkshire Education Services and the Early Years Alliance, plus paediatric first aid and administering prescribed emergency medication.

Moving to school includes a meeting with the Reception teacher from the family's chosen school and sharing relevant information. Parents may take part in transition discussions, and teachers can be invited to support-plan reviews. The aim is continuity of information about the child, including their learning and individual needs.

Sessions and Attendance

Fountains opens for 38 weeks a year, during term time, Monday to Friday. Opening hours are 8.15am to 5pm from Monday to Thursday and 8.45am to 3.30pm on Friday. Friday therefore needs its own place in a family's weekly childcare plan.

Shorter attendance can finish at noon, or at 1pm for children staying for lunch but leaving before the afternoon. Other children stay for the day, with departures at 3.30pm and care continuing until 5pm on the longer opening days. These options allow families to distinguish a morning of preschool from a day that includes lunch and afternoon play.

The address is Grantley, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 3PJ. Enquiries can be made by telephone or through the contact form. Uniform is optional; children need suitable outdoor footwear, protective clothing for messy play and indoor pumps or slippers kept at the setting.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds, including universal funding, extended working-parent funding and disadvantaged two-year-old funding, subject to the relevant eligibility and code requirements. Attendance is term-time rather than year-round. Additional hours beyond a child's funding allocation are paid for privately, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

The fees and funding page separates childcare hours from other costs. Hot school lunches are charged separately, while parents may instead provide a packed lunch; snacks sit within a voluntary contribution. Non-food consumables, including wipes, nappy sacks and sun cream, also sit within that voluntary contribution, and families wishing to supply specific items themselves can discuss that arrangement. These extra-charge arrangements also apply alongside funded hours.

Lunches are cooked in the on-site Fountains Primary school kitchen and brought to the playgroup, with a menu rotating over 3 weeks. Dietary requirements are discussed with parents and taken into account.

Invoices are issued half-termly, with fees payable in advance; payment for unfunded hours is required within 14 days of the invoice to retain the child's place. Fees remain payable for short absences and term-time holidays. Additional voluntary services are discussed when offered, rather than forming a standing promise of particular activities.

Moving on to School

The playgroup occupies the grounds of Fountains Primary School. Attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Being on the same site and passing information to a Reception teacher are separate from a school's decision to offer a place.

• Creative choice and diversity. In March 2023, activities sometimes narrowed children's creative choices, and learning about diversity needed more depth. During a visit, ask how children now choose their own creative work and encounter different families, cultures and ways of life.
• A shorter Friday. The Monday-to-Thursday opening extends to 5pm, while Friday finishes at 3.30pm. Families using the later finish need a separate Friday arrangement.
• Lunch and voluntary extras. School lunches carry a separate charge, while snacks and specified consumables sit within a voluntary contribution. For a child with allergies, confirm the current food-handling arrangements and agree any items you will supply yourselves.
• School-site expectations. Fountains shares a site with Fountains Primary School, but preschool attendance does not secure a Reception place. Keep the school application separate from the childcare decision.

Fountains suits families looking for mixed-age preschool, whether they want a morning ending at noon, a shorter day including lunch or attendance through the afternoon. The shared room, outdoor materials and small-group snack routine give its play-based approach practical substance. Key-person contact and reviewed individual plans provide clear routes for family involvement.

Term-time operation and the earlier Friday finish are decisive practical limits. The March 2023 assessment was positive, but its concerns about creative freedom and diversity remain useful questions for a visit. Families comfortable with that timetable and the mixed-age model have a clear, specific proposition to consider.