Care Chiefs Highfield Day Nursery

Farm animals, campfire cooking and outdoor exploration gave Care Chiefs Highfield Day Nursery a clear character in March 2022. At its 17 March 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good overall. The strongest detail was practical: children climbed, painted and explored outside, while older children cooked Welsh cakes over a campfire.

Based at Highfield Hall Farm in Farnworth, Bolton, the nursery has capacity for 33 children from birth to five years. It opens throughout the year, Monday to Friday, from 7am to 6pm.

In March 2022, outdoor play supplied much of the learning material. Toddlers mixed water and mud with utensils in the mud kitchen, practising small hand movements through purposeful play. Campfire cooking also gave older children opportunities to practise safety instructions. These were experiences with something concrete to do, rather than activities built around sitting and listening.

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. In everyday language, that means play and care serve educational purposes too: developing communication, movement and early understanding of numbers. In March 2022, children matched quantities with numbers, and preschool children practised writing their names. Sensory play with dinosaurs prompted toddlers to explore textures and learn vocabulary.

China Town was another memorable example from March 2022. Children travelled by bus and train for Chinese New Year, ate a Chinese meal and experienced celebrations. Walks also took them into local parks and the surrounding community. These examples show how learning extended beyond the nursery's own outdoor space; they do not establish a current trip schedule.

At the March 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described staff adapting learning with parents and other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. That judgement belongs to the inspection date.

In March 2022, books were accessible throughout the nursery, and its lending library extended shared reading into the home, with books for parents as well as children. Updates through an app and social media gave families ways to follow nursery life. Children also practised taking turns and resolving disagreements, making social learning part of their play.

The address is Highfield Hall Farm, Highfield Road, Farnworth, Bolton, BL4 0AW. Opening hours are 7am to 6pm on weekdays, across the year.

In March 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. At that time, it closed on bank holidays and for a week at Christmas. Those dated arrangements should be kept separate from the current opening window.

• Toddler learning. In March 2022, some toddler activities did not stretch children's existing understanding because staff were unclear about their next learning steps. During a visit, ask how practitioners now select and review challenges for toddlers.
• Attendance and costs. For a family considering the nursery's weekday opening window, what attendance pattern, funded-hours arrangement and meal or consumable charges would apply to their child?

Care Chiefs Highfield Day Nursery suits families looking for weekday childcare across the year, with an outdoor character evident in its March 2022 provision. Farm animals, cooking and community outings gave children concrete experiences to learn from. The toddler teaching concern is the useful counterweight: an appealing activity needs a clear learning purpose too.