Northern Performance Academy & Performatots

A storytelling theatre with its own stage, a studio for movement and a bistro for cooking give Performatots an unmistakably arts-led character. This Harrogate setting uses performance as part of everyday learning, alongside science, number work and independent play.

Ofsted rated Northern Performance Academy & Performatots Outstanding at its 7 February 2023 inspection. That is a dated judgement, while the current offer includes daily dance, speech and drama, musicality and singing.

Performatots accepts children from 20 months up to 5 years and has 60 places in total. Half-day, preschool-day and longer attendance options sit alongside a minimum commitment of 15 hours across at least two attendances each week.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the foundation: children develop knowledge and skills across areas including literacy, maths and science through planned activities and play. Performatots adds an arts-inspired approach, using creative and performing activities to explore concepts across those areas. Its 4 Performatots C's are Confidence, Curiosity, Creativity and Capability, pursued through activities shaped around children's interests and staff observations. This arts-inspired approach complements the EYFS.

Teacher-led experiences include gymnastics, languages and yoga, alongside dance and speech and drama. Music happens daily. Science School involves exploration and investigation, while Friday making and baking activities are included in private and enhanced funded attendance.

Free-choice play has a planned place in the routine, too. Children select activities and develop play with others; staff observe what interests them and use that understanding to plan support or further challenge.

In February 2023, children described their music using the terms forte and piano and discussed gluten while stretching dough. Another practical example involved adjusting the flour and water in a dough mixture until it reached the consistency they wanted. These experiences connected language and mathematical problem-solving with something children could hear, handle and change. Learning had a practical purpose.

Outdoor and Community Life

The learning spaces support different kinds of activity. A dedicated Yoga and Dance Studio gives movement its own setting, while the sensory Zen Den provides another type of space within the provision. The storytelling theatre has a stage, and the lending library allows books to be borrowed. Together, these facilities connect the performance-led curriculum with quieter exploration and reading.

Outside, the Secret Garden contains wild frogs, and children have access to a kitchen herb garden and veggie patch. A water wall, climbing bridge and beach kitchen add physical and exploratory play. These are concrete reasons to look beyond the indoor arts facilities: the outdoor offer includes growing, movement and materials as well as imaginative activity.

The Performatots Atelier is an outdoor artists' studio containing a scrap creation station and toolbench. It gives making a dedicated place outdoors, extending the creative approach beyond painting or performance. Regular outings and field trips are included in the private and enhanced funded offer, alongside gardening and nature study; their place in the charge structure is important when comparing attendance options.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is agreed with each family as part of the joining process. After registration, the setting arranges a settling-in plan and a start date, and provides the child's first uniform polo shirt.

Observation is also part of ongoing care and planning. Staff get to know children's personalities and interests, then use what they see during play to shape learning opportunities. Parents can book an online meeting with their child's teacher, and a separate Parenting Support Meeting offers discussion of parenting concerns. These give families dedicated opportunities to discuss their child.

In February 2023, parent workshops included a pyjama story-time activity about sharing stories and introducing vocabulary at home. At the same visit, children explored feelings in drama using coloured scarves, explaining emotions through words and actions. The examples linked home learning with a concrete way for children to express themselves, rather than treating communication simply as passing information between adults.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and strong communication and language progress, including for children learning English as an additional language. These findings belong to that visit. In February 2023, staff understood how to raise child-protection concerns, held paediatric first-aid certificates and completed daily safety checks.

Practical independence was visible in the same month. Children prepared vegetables under supervision in the learning kitchen, then served their pasta and poured drinks in the bistro. Food preparation connected hygiene, safe use of tools and choices about eating with the children's own actions. It also made lunch part of learning rather than merely a break between activities.

Preparation for the next stage runs through the current curriculum's emphasis on independence, cooperation and thinking for oneself. Choosing play, working with others and participating in practical activities give those ambitions an everyday form.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Northern Performance Academy, End of Anchor Road, Harrogate, HG1 4TA. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm from Monday to Thursday, with an earlier Friday finish at 4.15pm. That Friday difference deserves attention when matching care to work commitments.

Private attendance options include half days from 8am to 1pm or 1pm to 6pm, a preschool day from 8am to 4pm and a full day from 8am to 5pm. A separately charged extension runs from 5pm to 6pm. Funded half days use the same morning and afternoon windows, while the funded extended-day pattern runs from 8am to 6pm. Basic Curriculum funded hours are subject to change each term; the Friday opening limit also applies.

Attendance must total at least 15 hours a week across a minimum of two attendances. Performatots also does not share care, or split funding, with another group setting, although care with a private nanny or home-based childminder is permitted. These are substantial conditions for families combining different providers or looking for a small weekly preschool commitment.

Funding and Paid Extras

Performatots accepts 15-hour and 30-hour government funding, with its funded attendance options delivered during term time. The important distinction is between Basic Curriculum and Enhanced Curriculum funded arrangements. Enhanced Curriculum includes the private offer's activities and services through a voluntary funded-day contribution. Basic Curriculum provides a free-play arrangement without that contribution and excludes specialist classes, clubs and the listed extras.

Homemade meals and snacks are included in private fees; enhanced funded attendance covers them through the separate contribution, while families using Basic Curriculum funded attendance provide meals and snacks themselves. Consumables such as wipes and sun cream are covered by the enhanced funded contribution, whereas Basic Curriculum families provide them under the setting's policies.

The fees and funding options set out those different attendance arrangements. Private prices depend on factors including the child's age and booking pattern, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. A non-refundable registration charge applies when joining.

• A substantial weekly commitment. The minimum is 15 hours over at least two attendances, and another group setting cannot share care or funding. Families combining providers need to decide whether that rule fits their existing arrangements.
• Friday finishes earlier. Friday opening ends at 4.15pm, while the longer session patterns extend later on other days. At a visit, clarify how the chosen booking pattern works across the week.
• Two funded experiences. Enhanced Curriculum uses a voluntary contribution for the additional services; Basic Curriculum excludes the listed classes, extras, food and consumables. Compare the intended experience and what the family must supply before choosing between them.
• An individual start. Book a Look offers a 30-minute teacher-led tour, and joining includes an agreed settling plan. Use that conversation to discuss how settling and any additional support would work for your child within the creative daily routine.

Performatots suits families seeking an arts-led preschool experience through mornings, afternoons, preschool days, full days or extended days. The theatre, outdoor Atelier and bistro give the approach physical substance, and the February 2023 Outstanding judgement adds an important dated quality assessment.

The strongest reason to choose it is the connection between creative teaching, practical activity and independent play. The main decisions are equally concrete: whether the minimum attendance and shared-care rules fit, whether Friday's finish works, and which funded arrangement provides the experience the family wants. For parents who value daily performance and making as routes into early learning, this is a clearly defined offer.