Orchard Park Pre-School

A garden children can move into throughout their session, parents helping shape the setting, and play built around individual interests give Orchard Park Pre-School its character. This community-led charity serves Huntington in York, welcoming children from two years old until school age. There are 24 places in total.

Ofsted rated the setting Good on 26 January 2023. The strongest detail beneath that judgement is practical: children explored food and language, used mathematics in play and took part in activities beyond the setting. There was also a clear improvement point about giving children more control over everyday choices.

Parent involvement extends beyond conversations about progress. An elected parent committee manages the setting, including its finances and staff. Families can also contribute to gardening, activities and equipment. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions run during term time, giving parents several attendance patterns to work with.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, with activities planned around children's interests and development. At Orchard Park, that means opportunities to paint, cook, make music, explore water and take on imaginary roles. These experiences give children different ways to communicate and experiment rather than asking everyone to learn through the same activity.

In January 2023, food preparation brought several kinds of learning together. Children tried handling noodles with chopsticks and scissors, exercising their fingers while exploring food associated with another culture. Counting ingredients added a mathematical element. Parents contributed their cooking knowledge, introducing flavours that connected family experience with the children's activities.

Language was equally concrete at that time. A pretend hospital introduced a stethoscope and its purpose; a rainbow prompted conversation about colour and blending. Children took turns choosing songs. These examples show how vocabulary can grow from something a child is doing or noticing, rather than from an isolated language exercise.

Mathematical activities in January 2023 included comparing children's heights and making shapes on a window with shaving foam and brushes. The materials mattered: large movements offered another way to explore shape, while comparing heights gave measurement an immediate, personal meaning.

Outdoor and Community Life

Children have access to an enclosed garden throughout their sessions, with outdoor toys supporting play outside. Moving between indoor activities and the garden gives outdoor play a place in the ordinary day. Outings and visitors also feature during the year.

In January 2023, a library outing involved travelling by bus, paying the fare, choosing books and borrowing them. The trip brought together road safety, everyday transactions and reading choices. Parents also helped with gardening at that time, connecting family participation with the outdoor space children used.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who works with their family and takes particular responsibility for their needs and interests. That relationship also supports the child's start at preschool, helping them take part in learning activities. It gives parents a clear practitioner with whom to share information about their child.

Membership of the Pre-school Learning Alliance accompanies a participatory role for parents: families can exchange information with staff, help during sessions, contribute their interests and join the management committee. In January 2023, staff regularly discussed children's learning with parents and offered ideas for developing speech and language at home. Communication therefore included practical ideas families could use between sessions.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described an experienced special educational needs coordinator working with key people, families and outside agencies to organise timely, targeted support. These were findings about practice at that visit. In January 2023, additional funding also paid for resources linked to children's interests, including dressing-up materials to encourage interaction and resources supporting speech.

Snack time includes fruit, with milk and water offered, and children sometimes help prepare food. A free breakfast club offers cereal or toast, while Lunch Club is charged separately. This makes the distinction between breakfast and the additional lunchtime booking relevant when planning a child's day.

Sessions and Attendance

Orchard Park operates during term time. The Morning Session runs from 9am to noon, with an option to continue until 1pm with lunch; the Afternoon Session runs from noon to 2.30pm, and the Full Day Session from 9am to 2.30pm, Monday to Friday. Parents can therefore choose a shorter session or combine the morning and afternoon within the preschool day.

Lunch Club runs from noon to 1pm and can be booked beforehand or on the day. The morning booking with lunch is paid half-termly. That payment condition is worth distinguishing from the separate lunch booking when choosing an attendance pattern.

Getting There

The address is Badger Paddock, Huntington, York, YO31 9EH. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 07407 700315, by email or through the contact form; a registration pack is also offered.

Funding and Paid Extras

In January 2023, the setting provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. Paid morning, afternoon and full-day sessions form part of the current attendance offer, with breakfast free and Lunch Club charged separately. Families should obtain current prices in a written quotation from the preschool.

• Everyday independence. In January 2023, children managed coats and toileting, but staff gave them too few opportunities to choose play materials or prepare, serve and pour refreshments. During a visit, ask how children now make these choices for themselves.
• Term-time timetable. Sessions finish at 2.30pm and operate during term time. Families needing care beyond that window should weigh the timetable against their working arrangements.
• Funding and the complete quotation. Funded early education was part of the January 2023 offer, alongside today's paid session choices and separately charged Lunch Club. Ask for one written breakdown covering current funded-hour arrangements, meals and non-food consumables for your intended booking.

Orchard Park suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions, as well as those wanting a full day within a term-time timetable. Its garden access, key-person system and opportunities for parents to contribute give the offer a clear shape. The January 2023 examples add substance: learning included food, imaginative play, mathematics and a bus trip to the library. The decision turns on whether the hours work for your family and how confidently children now direct their own everyday choices.