Go Outdoors Childcare & Holiday Club

A pirate ship, a stream and a woodland area give Go Outdoors Childcare & Holiday Club its character: this Burnley setting makes outdoor exploration the main business of childhood. Its grounds cover 3 acres, with a log cabin offering shelter and space for indoor activities.

The nursery accepts children aged 2 to 5 and has 80 places in total. Before-school, after-school and holiday provision also serves children aged 4 to 8, giving families with older children a separate use for the setting. Preschool attendance is funded and term-time only, with morning, afternoon and school-day-length patterns.

At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and found effective safeguarding, good progress across the areas of learning and effective support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The same visit identified weaknesses in older children's listening and attention, and in the delivery of phonics, which remain important questions for families approaching Reception.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the shared framework for children's learning and care: play, conversation and practical activity help children develop language, movement, social skills and early understanding. Go Outdoors adds its own Go Outdoors Educational Approach, combining outdoor exploration with natural materials and objects from everyday life. Children plant seeds, grow food, splash in puddles and climb trees.

The Curiosity Approach contributes open-ended questions, sensory exploration and authentic objects sourced from charity shops and car boot sales. Calm colours and natural textures shape the indoor spaces.

Forest School, here explained through hands-on learning in wooded or natural surroundings, complements that approach. Children gather materials, make things, practise building shelters and tackle woodland skills. Access between inside and outside lets them choose where to play, while supported risk-taking gives adults a role in helping children think through a challenge rather than simply removing it.

Older children's projects develop from their own interests and questions. The staff team includes qualified Forest School leaders with outdoor paediatric first-aid qualifications, a relevant combination for a day built around outdoor experiences.

In June 2022, children mixed mud with natural ingredients, searched for insects and recorded their discoveries with pens. Storybooks were shared in a den. These examples connected imaginative play with conversation and early mark-making.

Outdoor and Community Life

The grounds provide a bike-ability course, vegetable garden and sand/mud pits, alongside an adventure playground. An outdoor classroom and an all-weather campfire pit make the environment usable across changing weather.

Shelter remains part of the arrangement. The log cabin contains 4 activity rooms, with dining, changing, toilet and sleeping facilities. Children can move between the building and gardens, so outdoor emphasis does not mean having to stay outside when they need warmth or rest.

During June 2022, children practised controlling bikes around obstacles and used syringes to transfer water between containers. One activity challenged balance and movement; the other required small, controlled hand movements. The setting also has an outings policy requiring parental permission and advance planning, allowing experiences beyond the grounds to connect with children's learning.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person chosen through the relationship that develops with a member of staff. That adult becomes the family's main contact, observes progress and gives regular developmental updates. For parents, the useful feature is continuity: there is someone who knows the child's interests and can connect home information with what happens during sessions.

Parentzone provides an online learning journal, with access included in the registration charge once a place is confirmed. Parents can follow activities and development there. The group's parent-partnership policy, shared by this setting, also provides for parents to contribute observations from home and agree how information about the day is exchanged.

That shared policy schedules parents' evenings 3 times a year and a monthly Parent Committee. The committee can contribute to policies, food discussions and events.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO role supports the team. The group's SEND policy, used here, sets out Targeted Learning Plans with parents involved in planning and reviewing support, alongside liaison with other professionals. The mechanism matters more than a broad promise of inclusion: it gives families a plan, agreed actions and a way to assess whether those actions help.

In June 2022, staff monitored children's speech and language and made referrals when additional support was needed. School leaders had also joined families for a transition stay-and-play. These were practical ways to connect developmental needs and the move towards school, rather than treat Reception preparation as learning letters alone.

Rest can happen indoors or outside. There is an indoor sleeping area, while outdoor options include a hammock, sling or roll mat with a blanket. Eco-friendly nappies and wipes are provided; families may bring a preferred nappy brand, and children bring sun cream in summer. Changing facilities and warm-water handwashing are available alongside outdoor play.

In June 2022, outdoor supervision included headcounts, high fencing, secured gates and radio communication when groups moved farther from the building. Current arrangements include designated safeguarding lead roles and outdoor first-aid qualifications among Forest School leaders.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 54 Airdrie Crescent, Burnley, BB11 4DW, with private parking on site. Preschool opens Monday to Friday during term time, from 8.45am to 3.15pm, across 38 weeks of the year.

For the 15-hour entitlement, sessions run from 8.45am to 11.45am or from 12.15pm to 3.15pm. The 30-hour pattern runs from 9am to 3pm. A minimum attendance of 2 days a week is recommended to help children become familiar with people and routines; it is a recommendation rather than a compulsory booking rule.

School-age provision has its own timetable. Breakfast Club runs from 7.30am to 9am, with school drop-off included, while Afternoon Club runs from 3.30pm to 6pm, with school collection included. Holiday Club offers short and long days during school holidays; the long day runs from 7.30am to 6pm. The contact form handles preschool enquiries and visit requests, and holiday bookings can be made online.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded preschool provision covers the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements, including eligible funded places for 2-year-olds, and operates during term time. Eligibility conditions apply. Paid before-school, after-school and holiday care sits alongside that preschool offer; the fees page explains the booking categories.

Funded preschool children bring packed lunches, with snacks and drinks provided; holiday short days also require packed lunches with snacks and drinks included, while holiday long days and school-age club fees include their meals. The nursery publishes a nut-free policy and states that it accommodates dietary requirements.

Families provide summer sun cream; nappies and wipes are supplied, with the option to bring a preferred brand. Once a preschool place is confirmed, a registration charge includes a waterproof puddle suit and Parentzone access. Holiday Club activities are included in its fee, keeping that charge structure separate from funded preschool attendance.

• Outdoor kit is essential. Children spend time outside through the seasons, and the kit guidance calls for suitable footwear, layers and waterproof clothing. At a visit, discuss how your child would use shelter and rest spaces during a wet or cold session.
• Early literacy needs attention. In June 2022, staff pronunciation of initial sounds was inconsistent, and older children needed better support to understand expectations during group activities. Ask how phonics practice and listening skills are developed now, especially for a child nearing school age.
• Preschool follows the school calendar. Its funded sessions operate for 38 weeks, while Holiday Club serves school-age children. Families arranging care for a younger child should consider how term-time attendance fits their working year.
• Lunch and allergies need planning. Funded preschool attendance involves a packed lunch, and the nursery has a nut-free policy. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food-handling practice and how their child's requirements will be managed.

Go Outdoors suits families seeking either shorter morning or afternoon preschool sessions, or the 9am-to-3pm funded pattern, with outdoor play central to both. The woodland, water, growing spaces and cabin give children substantial scope to explore, while key-person contact and Parentzone connect families with their development.

The outdoor environment and dated Good judgement are strengths; phonics and older children's attention remain specific points to discuss.