Greenglade Day Nursery and Forest School

A mud kitchen for the youngest children, outdoor days for toddlers and bread-making for preschool children give Greenglade a recognisable character. Nature and practical independence shape the day at this Hipperholme nursery, while large sliding windows and natural wood furnishings carry the outdoor emphasis into its indoor spaces. Learning here involves handling, choosing and doing.

Greenglade Day Nursery and Forest School has 100 places in total and accepts children aged three to 60 months. At its March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children, including those with SEND, progressed well through learning built around their existing abilities. That dated judgement sits alongside later regulatory findings, discussed below.

For parents, the strongest practical features are a home visit before settling begins, an individually paced introduction and detailed communication through Parentzone, the electronic learning journal and daily reporting service. Attendance is booked across the year, with a minimum of two full days each week.

Rooms and Ages

Ladybirds, for children under two, occupy three ground-floor areas, with open-ended play resources and a dedicated space for rest and sleep. Squirrels, aged two to three, use two ground-floor areas arranged for independent choices and child-led play, with comfortable resting spaces. Hedgehogs & Owls, aged three to five, have two first-floor areas where accessible resources encourage children to choose their activities independently.

The youngest children's outdoor provision includes a mud kitchen and sand pit in their own part of the Outdoor Learning Area. Music, movement and sensory materials are part of their day, and practitioners respond to repeated interests such as carrying objects between places or spinning them. This gives staff a concrete starting point for extending a baby's play rather than moving everyone through the same activity.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, conversation, physical activity and practical exploration contribute to their early learning. Greenglade adds a Scandinavian-inspired Forest School approach, centred on repeated experiences in natural surroundings and supported challenges. The outdoor emphasis sits alongside the EYFS rather than replacing it.

For Squirrels, Little Forest School means a group spends much of its day in the nursery's outdoor area, including meals and sleep, with a Forest School practitioner leading the provision. A group takes part each day. That is a substantial outdoor routine for toddlers, rather than an occasional change of scenery, and prepares them for the older children's woodland experiences.

Older children have construction materials, role play, books and a play gym available for independent use. A book of the week connects stories with children's interests, seasonal changes or events, while group conversations give children practice in listening and explaining their ideas. Independence also extends to food: preschool children bake bread most days and use a preparation area and sink built at child height, with an oven where they can watch their baking cook.

In March 2023, children explored water flow by changing the position of pipes and worked out how to adjust sticky play dough. Those examples show the practical character of the learning at that time: children could test an idea and see what changed. Babies handled sensory materials and joined in with songs, while number and pattern activities used small animal resources.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily woodland outings involve a group of Hedgehogs and Owls, with places named by the children including The Fairy Path and The Climbing Tree. Bug hunting, climbing and imaginative play with natural materials give those outings a clear purpose. The routine also includes everyday access to the nursery's outdoor space.

The nursery garden uses grass and natural materials, with fruit trees and separate learning spaces for small-group play. Indoors, ground-floor sliding windows admit daylight and open towards the outdoor area. These are useful physical details for families weighing how much outdoor learning is supported by the building itself.

Community experiences extend beyond woodland. Children take daily local outings, with destinations including shops, a library, parks and a residential care home; food-related trips include Halifax market, where children buy ingredients to prepare back at nursery. The value is practical: children connect the food they handle and the places they visit with everyday life beyond their room.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts at home. Usually around six weeks before the agreed start date, a senior member of staff and the child's future key person make a home visit, allowing familiar routines and individual needs to guide the introduction. Nursery visits then increase gradually and include different parts of the day, such as meals and sleep where relevant.

There is no fixed limit on settling visits, and parents leave their child during this period only when comfortable doing so. The settling period and initial home visit are free. Formal attendance begins when both the family and nursery consider the child settled, making the introduction responsive to the child rather than a predetermined number of visits.

Daily verbal handovers are backed by Parentzone, which gives parents access to activity records, care routines, photographs, videos and developmental observations. Parents can add comments and pictures, exchange messages with staff and view bookings. The Parent Portal provides policies and other parent information, while the webcam service lets parents view their child's room and the outdoor area on attendance days.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A full-time SEND coordinator works with other agencies involved in children's support. Additional support funding can be used for specialist equipment, staff training or increased adult support. These are concrete mechanisms for tailoring care, and families can discuss how they would apply to their own child's needs.

Room teams are permanently allocated, with other permanent staff providing cover. Staff qualifications include degrees, teaching qualifications and N.V.Qs.; the team also undertakes accredited paediatric and bespoke outdoor first-aid training. The latter is relevant to a nursery where activities regularly extend into the community and natural environments.

Meals are made daily from fresh ingredients, largely in the nursery's professional kitchen, with menus adjusted for seasonal and individual requirements; the dietary policy accommodates medical, ethical and religious needs. Breast milk can be refrigerated, and new foods during weaning are introduced at parents' request.

There were two practical weaknesses in March 2023: some babies were seated too far ahead of lunch and became unsettled while waiting, and staff did not consistently use the correct method for checking food temperatures. These are specific care concerns, rather than a reason to flatten the whole account into its Good grade.

In April 2025, the nursery had failed to meet its requirement to notify the regulator of a significant event. This later finding matters alongside the earlier inspection judgement and gives families a concrete management issue to discuss.

Sessions and Attendance

The standard day runs from 7.30am to 6pm. An early-morning option covers 7am to 7.30am, while the fees arrangements also describe a paid extension from 6pm to 6.30pm. Booking is all year round, with a minimum of two full days per week; the nursery operates for 52 weeks and closes on statutory bank holidays.

Absence for sickness or holidays remains chargeable. Missed days may be exchanged within seven days before or after the absence, subject to availability. Cancelling a place or reducing attendance requires four weeks' notice, with cancellation given in writing and charges continuing through the notice period. Those terms matter for families whose working pattern changes during the year.

Getting There

The nursery is at Greenglade, Denholme Gate Road, Hipperholme, Halifax, HX3 8HX. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01422 200123 or by email at info@greengladeforestschool.com.

School preparation includes inviting schools into the nursery and talking with children about what their next setting will be like. This is transition support, not an admissions arrangement. Kestrels provides before- and after-school care for children attending Lightcliffe C of E Primary School, using the Outdoor Classroom within the nursery's outdoor area.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Working Parent Entitlement for eligible children from the term after they turn nine months up to four years old, Funding for families with special circumstances and Three- and Four-Year-old Universal Entitlement. Funding is stretched across attendance throughout the year, and any attendance beyond the allocated funded hours is charged privately. Parents must supply the information needed for the nursery's claim and reconfirm working-parent eligibility when required.

Meals are included in the daily fee. Nappies, wipes, formula milk and other consumables are also included; the inclusive-fee terms apply to the funded attendance arrangements as well. A non-refundable booking deposit is credited in full against the first invoice, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

The fees page describes the charge categories and a separate Forest School transport charge. Monthly invoices identify booked days, and parents can view their account through Parentzone, making the distinction between funded allocation and additional paid attendance easier to follow.

• A substantial weekly commitment. The all-year booking terms require at least two full days per week, with four weeks' notice to reduce attendance. Families seeking occasional care should weigh that commitment before booking.
• Baby lunchtimes and food handling. The March 2023 findings concerned prolonged waiting before babies' meals and inconsistent temperature-checking procedures. During a visit, ask how lunch preparation, seating and serving now work in Ladybirds, including current allergy arrangements for your child.
• Management notification. The April 2025 finding concerned a failure to notify a significant event. Ask how responsibility for reporting and oversight is organised now.
• See the child's actual spaces. Weekday visits need no appointment between 7.30am and 6pm, and alternative times can be arranged. Use the visit to see the allocated room, outdoor provision and Parentzone demonstration, and discuss how nursery-based outdoor activities relate to the separately registered Forest School service.

Greenglade suits families who want practical, nature-led early learning and can commit to regular attendance throughout the year. Standard full days and days with an early-morning or evening extension serve different working schedules; Kestrels also provides a separate wraparound pattern for children attending Lightcliffe C of E Primary School.

The strongest reasons to consider it are tangible: outdoor provision begins with the youngest children, preschool cooking uses child-height equipment, and settling starts with a home visit. The March 2023 care weaknesses and April 2025 notification finding deserve direct discussion. For families comfortable with the attendance commitment, the combination of hands-on learning and detailed parent communication has clear appeal.