Emley Playschool

Emley Playschool

Unique reference number (URN): 311282 Address: Emley Methodist Chapel, Church Street, Emley, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD8 9RP Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 18/03/1993 Registers: EYR Registered person: Emley Playschool Committee

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and actively promote sharing and turn- taking throughout the day. They model positive behaviour and clearly reinforce expectations through consistent routines and clear boundaries. This considered approach means children feel secure and it helps them to learn self-regulation and conflict resolution in a supportive and age-appropriate way. For example, children offer to share play dough when they have more than their friend.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff actively promote kindness, respect and an understanding of privacy. They encourage children to treat one another with care and consideration, creating a respectful and inclusive culture. Staff always act as positive role models, demonstrating calm communication and respectful interactions.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children work towards achieving personal and social goals with the guidance and encouragement of staff. Consistent praise reinforces positive behaviour and builds confidence and self-esteem. Children play collaboratively, form strong relationships and feel safe, valued and respected in the setting.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff monitor attendance closely and respond quickly to any concerns. Attendance is high, ensuring children benefit from regular participation and continuity of care.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders prioritise and promote children's welfare and wellbeing through robust policies and procedures that guide daily practice. There is highly effective partnership working with children and families through a consistent key-person approach. Staff complete home visits to ensure they fully understand individual needs from the outset. Parents follow clear procedures for reporting absences. Any unexplained absences are followed up in a very timely manner. This ensures children's safety and welfare remain a priority.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff maintain high standards of hygiene that actively support children's personal health. They encourage personal care routines and maintain a clean environment to promote healthy habits. Staff support children's independence by encouraging them to manage self- care tasks such as toileting and handwashing.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff actively promote healthy lifestyles with children. This includes a balanced diet and good oral health. They limit screen time and include regular physical activity. Staff encourage healthy eating through discussions, role modelling and sharing mealtimes with them. Well-structured routines are embedded in practice and provide consistency. This helps children to feel secure and promotes their emotional wellbeing.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff build warm, trusting relationships with all children. Additionally, they have a significant impact on the wellbeing of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is recognised and praised by parents.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Skilful staff identify children's individual needs. For children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), there is highly coordinated and timely intervention and support. This is successfully guided by experienced staff who have specific SEND training and in close working partnership with parents and other professionals. Therefore, the culture of inclusion is well-embedded into practice.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff have high expectations for all children. They use consistent routines, purposeful teaching and clear boundaries that support positive behaviour and learning. Staff closely monitor the progress of all children. They use successful strategies to monitor the impact of their adaptations on practice, for instance the use of additional funding to support the provision of one-to-one and extra sessions for children. Regular meetings between adults involved with children ensure their next steps are purposefully identified and implemented.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Parents feel confident, supported and well informed about their children's development through continual communication with staff. Children show expected levels of progress in their learning. However, there are higher levels of progress in children's social and language development. Staff build children's confidence, form positive relationships, and develop communication skills through meaningful interactions and a combination of adult- and child- led play.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children experience a broad and balanced curriculum across the 7 areas of learning and develop new skills. Children practise and apply new learning through purposeful play and well-planned activities and self-chosen resources.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children's communication and language development is a strength. This means children are confident to share their thoughts and ideas. They speak and listen in turn and add their own text to pictures using their imagination to tell a story. Children use mathematical language during play, both in child- and adult-led activities. They demonstrate a growing understanding and application of concepts, such as counting, size and shape. For example, they count, measure pebbles and recognise numbers in the sand tray. Children develop personal and social skills. They begin to recognise and show empathy and understanding to those around them. For example, they check if a friend is hurt when they have fallen over and offer them a cuddle.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff understand the curriculum and what they want children to learn. Close links with schools help to ensure children are ready for the next stage in their learning. Teaching builds on what children already know. Staff understand that revisiting and adapting past learning ensures newly gained knowledge is secure and meaningful. Small-group activities play a key role in teaching. During such activities, staff focus on children's speaking, listening and attention skills, for example during talking-time sessions. The curriculum is inclusive and accessible. It is reflective of children's needs, interests and abilities. Children's care needs are met, and staff create a secure environment where children are motivated to learn.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff adapt teaching to suit different ages and learning styles. They respond sensitively to children's cues and support their emotional wellbeing. Physical development is prioritised through a range of activities. Children ride wheeled toys with increasing speed and directional skill. Strength and coordination are promoted when children squeeze water from pipettes and sponges. Mathematics is taught through fun activities. Children are confident to use mathematical language and understand mathematical concepts. Staff typically use activities indoors to promote learning effectively. However, there is less focus on children's learning during outdoor play.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders demonstrate a secure understanding of the setting's context, strengths and areas for development. They take timely action to drive improvement and respond to the changing needs of children and families. Leaders work in partnership with parents and external professionals, ensuring support and any action is targeted and effective.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders engage parents and professionals thoughtfully, supporting smooth transitions. As a result, children settle quickly and feel secure. Leaders help children to thrive through careful planning and tailored support. However, leaders do not share and gather information well from all settings where children attend.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders manage the provision efficiently. They skilfully balance children's care and staff wellbeing and ensure manageable workloads. This approach creates a positive working environment where staff perform to the best of their abilities for the benefit of the children. Regular and relevant professional development equips staff with the knowledge and skills to carry out their roles successfully. This includes initiatives and training that is not mainstream to upskill staff and support the diverse needs of children. Staff feel valued and supported. They review each other's practice and confidently accept and offer feedback to make further improvements. There is a secure culture of wanting to make a difference to children and families.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children are happy, safe and well-cared-for at this very established heart of the community- based setting. Children arrive at the setting excited, motivated to learn and eager to join in with a well-planned range of activities. There is a consistent daily routine that is clearly understood by children. This enables them to have a sense of belonging. Children are warmly greeted by a qualified and long-standing staff team whose aim is for them to thrive, achieve and reach their full potential. Staff know the individual needs of each child very well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, which is a key strength of the setting. This means that all children are fully included in all aspects of the setting and the day.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Staff are playful and engage with children consistently. Children giggle as they practise throwing beanbags to build balance, resilience and coordination skills. Staff skilfully challenge children by increasing the distance they throw the beanbag to hit the target. Children enjoy the challenge and celebrate their achievements, and they are active learners who understand how to share and take turns.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children explore the playroom with confidence, including those who are newer to the setting. Staff deploy themselves well within the environment. Teaching strategies are tailored to children's starting points, individual needs and their identified next steps in learning. Staff are enthusiastic and use effective open-ended questions to ignite children's thoughts. Staff listen to and value children's responses and their shared ideas. Children are kind to one another. They engage in cooperative play both indoors and outdoors. Children join in group activities such as listening for home sounds with audio. They pay attention with deep levels of concentration. Children develop age-appropriate social skills, demonstrating how to express themselves when shopping for fruit and vegetables in the role play area.

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Next steps

Strengthen communication with other settings children attend to ensure continuity of learning. Ensure highly effective teaching and interactions are embedded into practice during outdoor play and learning.

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About this inspection

The inspectors spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator and parents during the inspection.

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About this inspection

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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Inspectors:

Jade Charlton Lindsay Dobson Stephanie Nixon

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Address:

Emley Methodist Chapel Church Street, Emley Huddersfield West Yorkshire HD8 9RP

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Emley Playschool Committee

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:00 - 15:15,Tuesday : 09:00 - 11:30

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Age range of children at the time of inspection

The inspection started on 19 January 2026. Inspectors returned on 5 March 2026 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: Deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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