Horley Community Preschool

A water wall, pretend coffee-making and letters posted with parents give Horley Community Preschool a recognisable character: practical play with opportunities to talk, count and become more independent. Based at Strawson Community Hall in Horley, it has capacity for 24 children. At its July 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the preschool Good and found safeguarding effective.

The strongest examples from July 2025 were small, purposeful interactions. A conversation during role-play became a discussion about sugar and teeth; collecting objects created an opportunity to connect counting with written numbers. These are useful signs of how staff turned children's interests into learning, rather than treating play and teaching as separate parts of the day.

Morning and afternoon sessions, plus a Lunch Club overlapping the first hour of the afternoon session, give families different ways to arrange term-time attendance. The important reservation concerns staff development: in July 2025, leaders sometimes missed opportunities to give individual practitioners more precise support.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, exploration and adult guidance. Children have opportunities to pursue their own ideas as well as take part in activities led by staff; observation helps practitioners decide what each child should work towards next. This is the shared early-years foundation, rather than a separate branded curriculum.

In July 2025, staff knew their key children well and planned learning around their development and interests. Children experimented with artificial flowers and sent water through tubes attached to a water wall. Well-resourced activities allowed them to continue exploring for themselves, while patient adult support helped them attempt tasks independently. The physical equipment mattered because it gave children something concrete to investigate.

Conversation and books supplied another route into learning. In July 2025, practitioners allowed children time to explain their ideas and helped conversations continue. Questions during stories encouraged children to contribute, while mathematical words were introduced in everyday discussion. Children also counted collected objects and connected them with numerals. Together, these examples show how language and early number work fitted into ordinary play.

The weakness was the match between an activity and a child's stage of learning. In July 2025, some tasks were pitched beyond what children could manage, reducing the learning they gained. Leaders needed to spot these moments more consistently and provide targeted mentoring. That is a specific limitation alongside the positive account of children's engagement.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play continues throughout the year, including on grass that can become muddy, so children need named wellies. This makes clothing and footwear part of the practical preparation for attendance, rather than an occasional requirement for a special outing.

In July 2025, parents joined children on a trip to the post office to send letters they had written. It connected an activity at preschool with its real-world purpose and gave families a direct part in the experience. This was an example of parent involvement, rather than a promise of a fixed outings timetable.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is allocated a key person responsible for their wellbeing and learning profile, with family contact helping staff understand individual interests and needs. A small tin containing the key person's favourite things can go home for a couple of nights. It gives the family something tangible to share with their child while getting to know the adult who will support them.

Shared across the provider's two settings, the red Home Contact Book travels in the child's book bag and can carry achievements, dates and information from parents, grandparents or childminders. Staff check it once a week, so information needed that day should be passed on directly. That distinction matters: the book supports an ongoing exchange but is not the route for an urgent message.

The Parent Forum, also shared across the provider's two settings, meets every half term and helps with preschool matters, including fundraising. It offers a more sustained form of involvement than helping with a single activity, for families who want a role in supporting the setting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2025 inspection, Ofsted found effective communication with families and strong support for children with SEND, with information shared between parents and other agencies helping children make good developmental progress. The current support arrangements include a SEND coordinator, observation and monitoring, and an Individual Support Plan that is reviewed and evaluated. Work with Surrey County Council and outside agencies provides a mechanism for coordinating a child's support.

In July 2025, familiar routines helped children understand transitions between indoor and garden activities. Staff explained the reasons for behavioural boundaries, including the risk of getting hurt when running inside. These examples put independence alongside clear expectations, rather than expecting children to work out the rules themselves.

Sessions and Attendance

Attendance is term-time, Monday to Friday, following Surrey County Council's term dates. The Morning Session runs from 9am to noon and the Afternoon Session from noon to 3pm; Lunch Club runs from noon to 1pm, and sessions can be combined to suit family arrangements. This makes the preschool relevant to families seeking either part-day attendance or a combination of sessions.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01293 665091, by email to Info@horleycommunitypreschool.co.uk or through the contact form. Invoices are issued ahead of each term, with weekly, monthly or whole-term payment arrangements.

Getting There

The preschool operates at Strawson Community Hall on Albert Road, Horley, RH6 7HZ. The address number needs attention when arranging a visit, as detailed below.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes FREE EARLY ENTITLEMENT FOR TWO YEAR OLDS (FEET) for eligible families from the term after their child's second birthday, alongside the 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds from the term after their third birthday and additional hours for eligible working families. Funding is delivered during term time, with funded attendance arranged in three-hour sessions between 9am and 3pm; the stated annual pattern is 38 weeks.

Funded children have a separate consumables/sustainability charge, reduced for attendance below three sessions a week or financial hardship. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation, and the charge should be considered separately from any privately paid childcare hours.

Parents supply a packed lunch, which is refrigerated, and are asked to contribute an item from the snack list each week; milk or water is supplied at snack time. Families should disclose allergies or intolerances so an alternative snack can be arranged.

• Staff mentoring. In July 2025, some activities were too difficult for the children taking part, and leaders did not consistently identify where individual staff needed more support. On a visit, ask how activity planning and practitioner feedback now address this issue.
• Term-time attendance. Morning and afternoon sessions can be combined, but the preschool follows Surrey County Council's term dates. Families needing childcare during school holidays will need to plan around that calendar.
• Visit address. The inspection address is 156 Albert Road, while the contact address uses 158 Albert Road for the same hall and postcode. Confirm the correct address number when booking a visit.
• Food and funded extras. Packed lunches and weekly snack contributions sit alongside a separate funded consumables charge. Families affected by allergies should confirm current snack practice, and those using funding should establish how the charge applies to their session pattern.

Horley Community Preschool suits families looking for morning sessions, afternoon sessions or a combination within a term-time calendar. The key-person tin, Home Contact Book and half-termly Parent Forum give parent involvement a practical shape, while the July 2025 examples show learning rooted in conversation, hands-on exploration and growing independence.

The Good judgement comes with a clear caveat about targeted staff support and appropriately pitched activities. The July 2025 findings make practitioner mentoring a central consideration alongside the positive examples of children's learning.