Fylingdales Pre-School Playgroup

A mud pit, a parent-elected committee and school preparation rooted in village relationships give Fylingdales Pre-School Playgroup its character. This charity-run setting occupies St Stephens Church Rooms in Fylingthorpe, Whitby, with capacity for 18 children. Parents can contribute to how it runs as well as to their own child's learning.

At its 11 March 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and found safeguarding effective, with children making good progress and showing confidence in their relationships with staff. Two improvements matter to families: more consistent teaching of communication skills, including letter sounds, and greater privacy for toddlers using a potty.

The offer combines separate Under 3 Room and Preschool Room provision with outdoor play, meals and a key person for each child. Attendance is term-time, with several morning-start booking options extending from lunchtime to late afternoon. That combination gives families choices about the length of their child's day, while keeping school-holiday childcare a separate consideration.

Rooms and Ages

The Under 3 Room has equipment for children aged 9 months to 3 years, with water play, painting, pretend play and early mark-making supporting language and social development; the key person plans around each child's interests and helps with toilet training. The Preschool Room emphasises communication and solving problems, with a gradual move from the younger room agreed with parents according to the child's development.

Moving rooms is treated as a process rather than a single switch. Children spend time between the two spaces before completing the move, allowing the change to follow their readiness. Preschool activities and visits also prepare children for primary school, extending that attention to transition beyond the setting itself.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through play, covering children's communication, relationships, physical development and early understanding of subjects such as number and the natural world. Children choose activities themselves alongside experiences organised by practitioners. The framework is the shared foundation for early years education; the useful detail here is how play and adult support fit together.

Circle time, stories, small-group activities and child-chosen play punctuate the daily routine. After lunch, books and small-world toys provide a quieter interval. The timetable allows activities to change with children's interests, so the structure gives a rhythm to the day rather than prescribing every moment of it.

In March 2025, practical exploration included balancing grain against a stone in bucket scales and kneading ingredients into play dough. Those examples connect mathematical language and physical skills to things children can handle. A weekly number and shape supported early mathematics, while conversations about chicken eggs introduced vocabulary about incubation and hatching. Some teaching of the sounds in children's names needed greater accuracy, making communication practice an important point to revisit.

Outdoor and Community Life

Messy play has a physical home in the mud pit, and outdoor activities continue through the colder months. Old clothes, wellies and weather-appropriate layers are part of the practical preparation. Uniform is optional, so families can prioritise clothes that children can manage and that can get dirty.

In March 2025, children used coloured water in spray bottles to make marks outdoors. A sensory room had also been created for emotional support, while work on a vegetable patch was underway to connect healthy eating with how food grows. The latter was a developing project at that point, rather than a completed facility.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who works with the family on needs, interests and settling. Two settling sessions allow a parent to stay, and the decision about beginning separations is made together. Comforters are welcome. These arrangements give the child a familiar adult and give parents a role in shaping the early days.

Dojo is the secure online system used for observations, assessments and updates, with an individual account for families. Parents can contribute pictures and information from home as well as follow learning in the setting. That makes communication a two-way exchange: what a child enjoys at home can help staff understand the interests they bring into play.

Conversations at the end of a session complement digital updates. A staff member shares the day's information, with a handover from the key person when shifts mean another adult speaks to the family. Assessment summaries are made at transition points, including changes of group and the move to school.

Committee membership gives parents another route into the setting's life. Parents elect the voluntary management committee, and the Annual General Meeting provides a forum for considering the year's activities and the next year's plans. Families who enjoy contributing to a community organisation may value that opportunity to influence its direction.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO role coordinates support for special educational needs. The support policy describes an assess, plan, do and review cycle, involvement of parents in decisions and contact with outside agencies when appropriate. This cycle gives families a role in planning and reviewing their child's support.

Staff have paediatric first aid, safeguarding and food hygiene training, alongside additional training in behaviour management and special educational needs. Toilet training does not have to be completed before a child starts: staff work with parents when the child is ready, with accessible toilets and different seats and potties supporting the process.

In March 2025, children practised everyday independence by managing coats, washing hands and serving food with tongs, but some newly toilet-training toddlers used a potty in the shared room with insufficient privacy. The improvement sought was specific: self-care should develop with respect for the child's body as well as encouragement to do things independently.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is St Stephens Church Rooms, Fylingthorpe, Whitby, YO22 4RN, with the setting's postal address also identifying Thorpe Lane in Robin Hoods Bay. Telephone enquiries use 07964 436779, and there is an email contact form.

Opening hours are 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, for 38 weeks of the year. School holidays are closures. The booking options starting at 8.30am finish at 1pm, 3.30pm, 4.30pm or 5.30pm; lunch accompanies each option, with a light tea in the later two.

Attendance patterns are agreed ahead of each half-term. Existing hours continue unless parents request a change, and alterations depend on space for the requested hours. Flexibility also depends on maintaining continuity and stability for the children, which matters if a family's working pattern changes regularly: the arrangement is built around agreed bookings rather than day-by-day changes.

Private fees are payable ahead of each half-term, and charges continue for absence, bank holidays and closures caused by circumstances outside the setting's control. A prolonged absence can be considered by the committee, and a payment schedule may be arranged for families having difficulty paying. Families should obtain their current prices in a written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for under-twos and children aged two, three and four, with eligibility checks applying to some funding. Care is term-time, and private fees apply to hours for which funding is not received. The distinction between funded hours and the accompanying charges is important when comparing the total cost of a booking.

Private fees include food, snacks, milk and formula, plus nappies and wipes where appropriate; funded children have a separate meal charge. For funded families, a voluntary daily materials-and-extras contribution supports learning resources and supplies including wipes, paper towels, toilet roll and soap.

Meals rotate so a child attending on the same weekday encounters different dishes, and an adult prepares tea during the afternoon routine. Dietary needs and allergies are recorded at registration, passed to the kitchen and shared with staff.

Getting There

There is no on-site parking, with parking beyond the church and a nearby car park offering alternatives. The setting sits on a bus route between Fylingthorpe and Robin Hoods Bay, with a stop nearby.

For the move to school, the nursery describes links with Fylingdales Primary School and Hawsker Primary School. Preparation includes school clothes in pretend play, books and conversations about school, invitations to teachers and attempts to accompany children to their first settling session. Attending the playgroup does not guarantee a school place: families still use the local authority admissions process.

• Communication and potty privacy. The March 2025 improvement points concerned the consistency of language teaching and privacy during early toilet training. On a visit, ask how staff practice is now monitored and where a child can use a potty privately.
• Starting age and room placement. The home information gives a starting age of 6 months, while the prospectus gives 6 weeks; the Under 3 Room description starts at 9 months. For a baby, establish the accepted starting age and the room their child would use.
• Term-time logistics. The 38-week calendar leaves school holidays outside the childcare offer, and collections require parking away from the premises. Weigh both against the household's working year and collection arrangements.
• Funded costs and dietary needs. Funded bookings carry a separate meal charge and a voluntary contribution towards materials and supplies. Discuss the complete booking cost alongside the kitchen arrangements for any allergy or food intolerance.

Fylingdales suits families seeking a committee-run village setting, messy outdoor play and a gradual approach to settling and moving between rooms. Its attendance choices accommodate both a morning ending after lunch and a longer day reaching into the late afternoon, rather than asking every family to choose the same length of care.

The March 2025 judgement provides a positive overall assessment, but the language-teaching and potty-privacy improvements deserve direct follow-up. For parents comfortable with term-time care and parking away from the building, the combination of key-person relationships, parent participation and school-transition work gives this playgroup a clear practical appeal.