Jack and Jills Nursery School

A nursery minibus travelling to its own Forest School site gives Jack and Jills Nursery School a clear outdoor identity. Natural settings become places for exploration and physical play, alongside daily outdoor activity at its purpose-built Thirsk premises. There is substance indoors too: named rooms take children from babyhood towards school, with routines adapted for babies and increasing independence for older children.

At its February 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found effective safeguarding, teaching informed by individual assessment and support through care plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That judgement is a dated assessment. The current offer includes professionally coached gymnastics, swimming from age 3 and outdoor learning beyond the nursery grounds.

The nursery accommodates children from birth to 5, with capacity for 90 children in total. Its baby room starts from 6 weeks. Families can use hourly or sessional attendance, full-time care and funded term-time arrangements, with different meal and funding terms attached to those choices.

Rooms and Ages

Maples serves babies from 6 weeks to 18 months, with accessible resources, adaptable routines and a key person responsible for each child's learning.

For children aged 18 months to 2 years, Cedars builds independence through more challenging activities and child-directed exploration, with a large outdoor area and local outings.

Sycamores & Oaks covers ages 2 to 5 across two preschool rooms, using separate learning areas, individual planning and movement between outdoor and indoor spaces to support preparation for school.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, children learn through play, with activities chosen by children alongside experiences organised by adults; interests and developmental needs help shape those choices. It is the shared educational foundation, while the nursery's additional activities give the day its own character.

Forest School adds regular learning in natural surroundings through movement, sensory exploration and play. Minibus travel to the nursery's own site takes children beyond the outdoor space attached to the building.

Richmondshire Thirsk Dales Gymnastics provides professionally coached sessions using equipment to develop balance, coordination, strength and flexibility. Swimming lessons begin from age 3. These add different kinds of physical challenge: managing movements on gymnastics equipment and becoming more confident in water.

Cedars also has weekly dance and visits to Twiggy's for soft play, offered optionally for an additional charge.

Outdoor and Community Life

In February 2023, children followed an interest in toy insects by examining real bugs outdoors with magnifying glasses. They also made food for birds in winter and drew trees while noticing seasonal changes. These examples show how an initial curiosity could become observation, discussion and a practical task.

At the same date, mathematics appeared in snack-time conversations about counting fruit and comparing portions. Children shared books with friends and talked about stories, titles and authors; construction play involved deciding where tubes should go in a castle. Learning was woven into ordinary activity, with children making decisions as well as responding to adults.

Relationships and Communication

Maples combines a baby's key person relationship with adaptable routines, allowing individual needs to shape care while familiar daily patterns remain.

In February 2023, settling visits were adjusted to each family, and staff spent time getting to know children and parents before attendance began. Family photographs were accessible in the rooms. These were concrete ways of bringing familiarity into a new setting, rather than expecting every child to settle on the same timetable.

Parent communication also had a practical learning purpose in February 2023. Families were invited to discuss development and next steps, and staff sent activity ideas home. That gave parents something specific to build on beyond nursery hours, connecting conversations about progress with things they could do together.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that detailed care plans and collaboration with other professionals supported children with SEND, while daily language interventions and careful adult interaction helped communication develop rapidly. The strength of that assessment lies in the mechanisms: planning for an individual child, drawing on professional support and making language work part of the day.

In February 2023, children practised talking about emotions and considering how their feelings affected friends. Staff also taught practical safety awareness, including choosing a clear space for outdoor bouncing play. Emotional understanding and everyday safety were made concrete through children's own experiences.

Food arrangements depend on attendance. Full-time private fees include meals, snacks and drinks, and that package cannot be combined with government funding; meals for hourly or sessional attendance are charged separately. The booking pattern therefore determines whether meals are included or charged separately.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery offers hourly and sessional bookings as well as full-time attendance. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm from Monday to Thursday, with Friday closing at 5.30pm. It operates throughout the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas.

There is also an Out Of School Club for ages 5 to 11. Before-school care runs from 7.30am to 9am; after-school care starts at 3.15pm and ends at 6pm from Monday to Thursday or 5.30pm on Friday. Breakfast is included in morning care, while tea is charged separately after school.

For the same older age group, Holiday Club offers a full day from 7.30am to 6pm, a morning from 7.30am to 1pm, a short day from 9am to 4pm, and an afternoon from 12.30pm to 6pm, ending at 5.30pm on Friday. These services extend the nursery's usefulness for families with children at different stages, while remaining separate from its early-years rooms.

Getting There

The nursery's address is Unit 1, Concept Business Park, Allendale Road, Thirsk, YO7 3NY, on Thirsk Industrial Park. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01845 526746 or through the contact form and online enquiry route; visits can also be booked.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and additional private hours are offered. For babies under 2, funding is stretched over 51 weeks, with a maximum of 22 hours each week and up to 10 funded hours in a day. For ages 2 and 3, families can choose the 51-week stretched arrangement or term-time funding of up to 30 hours weekly.

The stretched funded window is 8am to 11am and 1pm to 4pm; the term-time window is 9am to 3pm. The universal 15-hour entitlement applies from the term following a child's third birthday. These funded windows differ from the full opening day.

Funded hours carry a separate Sustainability Contribution and Consumables Charge. Families can opt out by notifying the manager and completing an agreement. This is distinct from paying for additional childcare hours, and consumables are charged separately through that contribution.

Fees are paid in advance each month. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page explains the structure. A term-time funded contract combined with private hours also carries charges for those additional hours during holidays.

• Funding windows and the working day. The stretched offer uses morning and afternoon windows, while term-time funding runs from 9am to 3pm. Ask how your preferred attendance pattern combines funded hours, private hours and holiday attendance.
• Baby-room organisation. Maples starts from 6 weeks and adapts its routine around individual babies. On a visit, ask how many babies attend together and how the key person arrangements work across your chosen days.
• Choosing extras. Cedars offers weekly dance and optional, separately charged soft-play visits to Twiggy's. Discuss which activities your child would join and how those choices sit alongside the ordinary room routine.

Jack and Jills suits families seeking hourly or sessional childcare, full-time private attendance or a funded term-time pattern, with older-child wraparound and holiday provision adding another practical option. The outdoor offer has real substance: its own Forest School site, minibus access and daily outdoor play provide different settings for exploration.

The February 2023 Outstanding judgement gives a strong dated quality assessment, supported by concrete examples of individual planning, language work and relationships with families. For today's decision, the main practical distinction is between booking patterns: meals, funded windows and additional charges work differently across them. Families whose schedules fit those arrangements have a nursery with clearly described rooms and a substantial physical-activity offer.