East Horley Playgroup

Scout-hut premises give East Horley Playgroup its setting; in September 2024, garden investigations and opportunities for children to do things themselves shaped its daily life. Based at the Gatwick Metro Centre in Horley, it accepts children aged two to five and has 28 places in total. This is a playgroup for the preschool years, rather than provision starting with babies.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and judged safeguarding effective. The detail behind that judgement matters: children practised practical skills, joined imaginative play and became absorbed in stories, while curriculum planning and adults’ questioning needed greater precision.

Attendance is term-time only, with a choice of three sessions sharing the same morning start and finishing at different points through lunchtime and the afternoon.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care: play, conversation and practical experiences help children build skills. Here, the September 2024 examples included preparing fruit, pretending to cook and joining in familiar stories. These give parents a concrete picture of learning through everyday activity.

In September 2024, children used the home-corner kitchen for pretend cooking, with adults adding vocabulary about weight and quantity to younger children’s play. Preparing fruit for snacks gave children a chance to practise a practical skill independently. Independence had a practical outlet.

Stories also drew active participation that month. Children supplied familiar phrases and offered ideas about what could happen next; adults talked alongside their play to introduce language. Stories and adults’ narration of play provided opportunities to hear and use language.

The September 2024 improvement points qualify that picture. Some planning did not sufficiently match individual interests and learning needs, leaving parts of learning to chance. Adults also needed to make their questions more purposeful and allow longer for children to understand and answer. For families weighing the educational offer, the important distinction is between providing engaging activities and using them deliberately for each child.

Outdoor and Community Life

In September 2024, the garden gave children room to run, search for bugs and investigate worms in the soil. They shared their discoveries with adults. That physical space supported both movement and close observation, giving children something tangible to talk about.

The scout-hut premises are another defining feature of the setting. East Horley Playgroup operates from the 1st and 2nd Horley Scout Hut at the Gatwick Metro Centre, just off Balcombe Road.

At the September 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that support for children with SEND included timely involvement from outside agencies and staff training funded through additional support, while children made good progress from their starting points. This is the strongest evidence of how inclusion worked in practice at that time.

During September 2024, staff gathered children’s interests and routines from parents to help them settle. Familiar information gave adults a starting point when a child became upset. Staff also responded calmly to tired or distressed children, offered comfort and helped them identify their feelings.

Everyday responsibilities supported participation that month: children helped arrange lunch tables, shared toys and cleared activities away. Adults demonstrated gentle behaviour and established expectations for moving safely indoors. These were small, repeatable opportunities to practise cooperation.

The team includes SENCO and safeguarding-lead roles, alongside first-aid training. These provide identifiable responsibilities for additional needs and safeguarding arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

The playgroup opens Monday to Friday during term time, from 9.15am to 2.30pm. Its three booking options run from 9.15am to 12.15pm, 9.15am to 1pm and 9.15am to 2.30pm. Families can choose a session ending at 12.15pm or one extending further into the day.

The address is 2nd Horley Scout Hut, Gatwick Metro Centre, Balcombe Road, Horley, Surrey RH6 9GA. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 07811799284 or through the contact form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible children from two to four. The arrangements include 15 funded hours per week for eligible two-year-olds, the universal 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, and up to 30 hours for eligible working parents. Funding is used during term time, rather than spread across the year, and begins in the term after eligibility starts.

Working-parent eligibility requires reconfirmation every three months. Booked hours beyond a child’s entitlement are charged privately, with funded and paid hours itemised separately. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the funding and fees page explains the charge structure.

A daily snack is supplied, with a separate voluntary contribution towards snacks that neither determines access to a funded place nor excludes children whose families decline to pay. A one-off joining charge is requested, but it is waived where a family cannot pay and is not a requirement for accessing funded provision.

• Individual learning. September 2024 improvement points concerned planning for each child and allowing enough response time. On a visit, ask how practitioners now choose next steps and adapt conversations for children with language needs.
• Term-time attendance. All three sessions start at 9.15am, and the latest finish is 2.30pm. Families needing care through school holidays or later afternoons should weigh that timetable against their working pattern.
• Snacks and joining charges. The snack contribution is voluntary, and the joining charge is waived for families unable to pay. These conditions matter when assessing the written quotation alongside any privately booked hours.

East Horley Playgroup suits families seeking either a morning session or a longer term-time day for children aged two to five. Practical independence, imaginative play and garden exploration give its September 2024 account substance. The Good judgement sits alongside specific improvements to individual planning and questioning, making those useful priorities for a visit. Its appeal is a preschool timetable with several finishing options, rather than an extended working-day schedule.