Holsworthy Playgroup

Vegetable growing, insect discoveries and torch play gave Holsworthy Playgroup’s September 2024 nursery day a practical, exploratory character. Its garden provides space to investigate outdoors, while a parent committee runs this charitable playgroup and raises money for equipment and facilities. This is a setting where parents can take a role beyond their own child’s attendance.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and found safeguarding effective. The playgroup has capacity for 16 children and accepts children from their second birthday. Morning and afternoon sessions offer two different ways to use its weekday opening hours.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS shapes the learning programme: children learn through play, with activities supporting language, early number skills and independence. In September 2024, identifying their names helped children practise early reading skills, while sorting fruit introduced counting and comparison. Familiar songs gave them another way to practise language.

Play also created opportunities to investigate. In September 2024, children experimented with balls and plastic tubing, working out how to make them move. Torches in the sensory playhouse introduced light exploration. These are concrete examples of learning through doing.

Social learning was woven into play. In September 2024, staff helped children take turns with toys and join activities together. Mirrors and play dough supported conversations about faces and differences between friends. The emphasis was on experiences children could see, handle and discuss.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden supports exploration in different weather. In September 2024, children planted vegetables and gathered their crops, examined fallen leaves and discovered insects in soil. Staff supplied vocabulary for those discoveries, connecting outdoor play with conversation about the natural world.

A slide, see-saw and wheeled toys provided opportunities for movement during that visit. Indoors, tools used with play dough offered a different physical challenge. Together, these activities gave children practice with both whole-body movement and smaller hand movements.

September 2024 community experiences included visits to shops, the library and the coast. A supermarket outing linked food identification with road safety. These trips extended learning beyond the playgroup’s immediate surroundings, though broader cultural learning remained an improvement priority.

Every child is allocated a key worker and a second practitioner as backup. That gives families a defined starting point for conversations about their child, rather than leaving responsibility entirely with whoever happens to be free. The prospectus also invites parents to discuss development with staff.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted identified inconsistent communication with parents about key people, learning and next steps, and called for more opportunities to explore children’s own cultures, other cultures and the wider world. Those are useful priorities for families to weigh alongside the Good judgement. A key-worker system matters most when parents know who their contact is and understand what their child is working towards.

The team includes designated safeguarding lead and SENDCO roles, with paediatric first-aid responsibilities also identified. These are practical points of contact for concerns and additional support; they do not replace the dated safeguarding judgement.

In September 2024, six staff were employed, with early-years qualifications spanning levels 2 to 3. During play, practitioners allowed time for answers and expanded children’s spoken sentences. This gives a specific picture of how language was supported at that visit.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon; afternoon sessions run from noon to 3pm. For parents collecting children from school, an earlier collection is offered, provided staff are told that morning.

The playgroup operates a waiting list. Applications can be returned by post or email, and enquiries can be made through its contact form or by telephone. This is a durable application process, rather than an indication of how many places are free.

Getting There

The address is Badock Gardens, Bodmin Street, Holsworthy, EX22 6BQ. Contact details also use Rowland Gardens at the same street and postcode; the different garden names deserve clarification before a visit.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is accepted, including 2 year old funding and 30 hours funding. Eligible children can also use 2 and 3 year old funding vouchers. Paid childcare is offered alongside funded provision; current prices come in the playgroup’s written quotation.

Medicines must be handed directly to staff rather than left inside children’s bags. Parents are asked to report absences caused by illness or holidays promptly and label belongings, including lunchboxes, drinks bottles and sun cream.

• Communication with your key worker. September 2024 brought an improvement priority around parents understanding learning and next steps. On a visit, ask how the main and backup key workers keep that conversation going.
• Learning beyond the local area. Shops, the library and coastal visits featured in September 2024, while cultural learning needed further development. Ask how children now encounter their own and other cultures during play.
• Planning the visit and daily costs. The inspection address uses Badock Gardens; the contact address uses Rowland Gardens. Clarify the meeting point and ask how food and consumables are arranged for funded and paid attendance.

Holsworthy Playgroup suits families seeking either morning or afternoon attendance, with the option of an earlier collection for a school pickup. Its parent-led structure offers a further fit for families who want to contribute to how the setting develops.

The September 2024 examples give substance to its play-based day: growing vegetables, experimenting with light and taking learning into the local community. The balance is parental communication and cultural breadth, both explicit improvement priorities. Those deserve as much attention as the Good grade when deciding whether this playgroup fits your child.