Ash Park Childcare Services

WEEK 1 – FOOD 🧀🍦🐟

We kicked off our summer with a delicious week all about food and exploring our senses!

🍦 We enjoyed a visit to Brymore, where we tucked into some tasty ice cream in the hot sunshine, watched the animals playing and had lots of fun in the large open sandpit.

👃👅 We explored our senses through food tasting, trying some unusual flavours and discovering the differences between sweet, sour and savoury foods. We certainly had some interesting reactions! 😂

🧀 We then headed to Wensleydale Creamery, where we discovered how the famous Wensleydale cheese is made. We learned about the cheese-making process, explored the Wallace & Gromit exhibition and even got to taste different flavours of cheese! 🧀🐶

🧁 After all that exploring, we got busy in the kitchen with some baking! The children enjoyed mixing, creating and getting hands-on with their ingredients before enjoying their tasty treats. 👩‍🍳👨‍🍳

🐟🍟 We finished our food-filled week with a classic favourite – fish and chips! A delicious way to end a fantastic week of exploring food, flavours and our senses. 😋

🏰 WEEK 2 – HISTORY ⚔️
Our history week began with some fantastic fine motor work as we created our very own historic castles. The children cut, stuck and joined boxes together before decorating their castles using lots of different colours. 🎨🏰

We then visited Byland Abbey, where we explored the fascinating history of the ruins. We climbed, practised our gross motor skills, played hide and seek and enjoyed a lovely picnic amongst the historic surroundings.

⛏️ Next stop was York for The Dig, where our budding archaeologists listened to a talk about ancient artefacts and then had the chance to get stuck in and do some digging themselves!

🦴 We also became fossil makers, using clay, tools and moulds to create our own fossils to take home.

⚔️ Finally, we travelled back in time at JORVIK, learning all about Viking life. We travelled through their world on the Time Machine ride, experienced the environments and even some of the smells they would have encountered! We then explored the museum and incredible Viking artefacts.

🎨 WEEK 3 – ARTS & CRAFTS 🖌️

We got creative in so many different ways!

👦👧 We talked about the different parts of our bodies and used what we had learned to create our very own portraits.

🌸 At Helmsley, we got close to nature with a flower-picking experience. The children explored colours, chose their favourite flowers and created beautiful bunches to take home for their loved ones. 💐

🗿 At Yorkshire Sculpture Park, we explored interactive galleries inspired by Indian and African cultures, created our own sculptures and then ventured outside to discover the amazing large-scale sculptures around the park.

🤡 We celebrated National Clown Week and summer with lots of colourful crafts, including tissue-paper clown faces, paper-plate creations, symmetrical butterflies, glittery ice cream cones with our favourite toppings and lots of drawing! 🍦🦋✨

🏺 We finished the week with pottery masterpieces, adding lots of glitter, splashing them with colour and letting our creativity run wild!

🐾 WEEK 4 – ANIMALS 🦋

Our final week of this first block was all about the wonderful world of animals!

🦆 We took a leisurely walk to visit the ducks, feeding them bread and seeds and even having a little paddle ourselves!

🐠 At the Sea Life Centre, we explored the amazing colours of the underwater world, coral and a variety of sea creatures. We also discovered reptiles and the environments they live in, watched the penguins and even got to feel a mermaid’s purse!

🦋 At Butterfly World, we learned about the butterfly life cycle, experienced the warm and humid environment they live in and discovered a wonderful variety of butterfly species. Afterwards, we enjoyed a picnic, played in the sandpit and practised our gross motor skills on the large climbing frames.

🐄 We visited Steph’s Farm, where we met baby calves, horses and sheep before heading out on a hike and stopping at Lake Gormire for our mid-morning snack.

🦉 To finish our animal adventure, we visited Thorpe Perrow and Birds of Prey, where we saw and learned about incredible owls, eagles, vultures and ravens. We even had the opportunity to meet some of the animals before finishing with a picnic.

🌳💚 What an amazing first four weeks of summer our Ash Trees have had! From food tasting and baking to history, art, nature and animals, we have explored so many new experiences, developed new skills and made lots of wonderful memories together.

And this is only the beginning… ☀️🌳💚

Happy Monday :)

We have had the painter in this weekend brightening up our lovely little nursery. This has been a bigger job than expected so please bare with us this week with the look of our setting. We assure you all this organised chaos will be well worth it for our open day 5th September and the future of our little people

Thank you for your support and understanding :)

Something exciting is happening at Ash Park Childcare👀👀

Please join us for an open day, to re introduce our selves and for you to look round our brand new rooms! 💙

Saturday 5th September 2026

10am-1pm

Keep your eyes peeled to see who will be our surprise guest this time🤩

💙Join the Ash Park Childcare Family! 💙
As we continue to grow, we're looking for a passionate and caring Level 3 Childcare Practitioner to join our wonderful team at Ash Park Childcare!
Position: Level 3 Childcare Practitioner
Hours: Full Time – 40 hours per week

About the Role -

As a Childcare Practitioner, you'll play an important role in creating a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment where children can learn, grow, and thrive. You'll work closely with our team to provide high-quality care and engaging learning experiences, while building positive relationships with children and their families.

Your Responsibilities -

-Provide high-quality care and education in line with the EYFS framework.
-Plan and deliver fun, engaging activities that support children's development.
-Build warm, positive relationships with children, parents, and colleagues.
-Ensure the safety, wellbeing, and safeguarding of all children at all times.
-Observe, assess, and record children's learning and development.
-Help create an inclusive, welcoming, and inspiring learning environment.
-Work collaboratively as part of a supportive and enthusiastic team.

What We're Looking For -

Level 3 qualification in Early Years/Childcare (essential).
A genuine passion for working with young children.
Knowledge of the EYFS and safeguarding practices.
Excellent communication and teamwork skills.
A positive, caring, and enthusiastic attitude.

Why Join Ash Park Childcare?
💙A friendly and supportive team who truly feel like family.
💙Opportunities for professional development and training.
💙A welcoming environment where your ideas and contributions are valued.
💙The chance to make a real difference in children's lives every day.

If you're passionate about early years education and would love to become part of the Ash Park Childcare Family, we'd love to hear from you!

Apply today and start your next exciting journey with us!

Hi everyone! 😊
Just a little reminder to please make sure your child comes to nursery with appropriate clothing for the weather each day, as we'll be spending lots of time outdoors enjoying the summer activities. We also kindly ask that you provide a spare set of clothes for your child, just in case of any little accidents or messy play. Please ensure all items are clearly labelled with your child's name.
As the weather continues to get warmer, could we also ask that every child brings a labelled sun hat to nursery to help keep them safe while playing outside. 🧢☀️
If you haven't already, we also have our summer uniform available to purchase, including nursery tops and sun hats, if you would like your child to have one. 🥰
Thank you so much for your continued support and cooperation—we really appreciate it! 💙

✨ Exciting things are happening at Ash Park Childcare! ✨

Just a little heads-up as we begin our renovations... you might notice our rooms looking a little different over the coming weeks. 🚧

We're creating an even more beautiful, engaging, and inspiring space for our little learners, and we couldn't be more excited! Thank you for your patience and support while we work behind the scenes.

We can't wait to reveal the finished result and share our amazing new spaces with you! Stay tuned – it's going to be worth the wait! 💙

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported and donated to help raise money for Tallulah. 💜
Thanks to your incredible generosity, we raised an amazing £1,511! 🎉
This money is going towards a specialist car seat to help keep Tallulah safe, comfortable, and supported on every journey. Your kindness and generosity mean more than words can say, and we are so grateful to every single person who donated, shared, or supported the fundraiser.
Thank you for making such a real difference in Tallulah’s life. 💕

A quick reminder for all parents who are entitled to government childcare funding.

You must apply or re confirm your funding code to receive funding for the next term starting 1st September. This must be done by August.

Without this you wont be able to access funding for the Autumn term

Have a lovely weekend :)