Little Wizards Pre-School

A frog pond, vegetable growing and children taking responsibility for recycling give Little Wizards Pre-School a clear character: learning involves doing useful things, as well as playing with interesting materials. The garden is part of that work. Children help care for plants and wildlife, while indoors, open-ended resources give them room to choose, experiment and develop their own ideas.

At its 4 June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the setting Good overall, judged personal development Outstanding and found safeguarding effective. That positive assessment came with a specific improvement point about making the intended learning clearer to staff. It is an important distinction for parents: the activities have purpose, but practitioners need to understand precisely what that purpose is.

Based in Unit E at B S Mills on Buxton Road, Stockport, SK12 2PY, the setting has capacity for 84 children. Its care encompasses babies, toddlers and preschool children, with flexible sessional attendance during term time and a holiday club covering some school holidays.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby and Toddler Room combines muted colours, cushions and rugs with low furniture and natural materials, supporting exploration, movement and early communication. Resources are positioned for young children to investigate, rather than simply observe. Activities encourage the progression from crawling and pulling up to walking and talking, so physical development sits alongside opportunities to explore objects and make sounds.

Sleep has its own arrangements. A quiet indoor area uses classical music to help children settle, and an outdoor resting area offers an alternative in the fresh air. Resting children remain visible and supervised. For families of younger children, this makes sleep part of the planned day rather than an interruption to it.

For two-year-olds, sensory exploration sits alongside space for running, climbing and balancing. Singing, conversation and stories support emerging language. Older children encounter number, weight and measurement through natural materials and loose parts; keyboards, printing equipment, typewriters and LCD writing tablets give the literacy area several ways to explore writing.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the required framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, that means learning through play, conversation and practical experiences, with staff observing children and using their starting points to plan what comes next. Children choose activities during the day, while adults teach, demonstrate and talk with them as interests develop.

Loose parts are central to the approach. These open-ended materials can be used in different ways, allowing children to investigate rather than work towards a single predetermined product. The curriculum starts with information shared by children, carers and their key worker. Planning responds to what children are doing, which gives their existing knowledge and interests a direct part in the next learning opportunity.

Kidslingo adds Spanish lessons once a week, bringing another language into the nursery day. Footytotz supplies a trained coach to support physical development.

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff sometimes lacked a clear understanding of the intended learning, including the skills children were meant to develop while painting. The improvement required was therefore about how activities are delivered, rather than simply providing more resources. A well-equipped area still needs an adult who knows what to teach through it.

Outdoor and Community Life

Environmental responsibility is unusually concrete here. Our Planet Matters brings together recycled furniture, milk in glass bottles, fruit and vegetable growing, and recycling bins both outdoors and inside. The garden includes a frog pond, a bug hotel and feeders for birds and butterflies. Children water plants and care for wildlife, making environmental care something they practise.

In June 2025, children took on the roles of green warriors, watering the vegetables they had grown; climate crusaders measured rain, wind and temperature each day; and agents of change sorted recycling and returned milk bottles. Lab coats and superhero costumes helped turn those responsibilities into imaginative play. These were specific activities at that time, alongside the continuing environmental arrangements described above.

Another June 2025 example joined books, outdoor play and language: children used crates to reach a potion-making activity, then mixed petals and water in small bottles. Adults discussed the smells and the imagined effects. A story became something children could handle, change and talk about, rather than an experience ending when the book closed.

Relationships and Communication

Information from carers and the key worker feeds into each child's starting point. Parents' ideas and suggestions are welcomed, giving family knowledge a place in planning rather than treating learning as something confined to the setting. This is useful where a child's interests or emerging abilities are first noticed at home.

In June 2025, babies explored picture books made with photographs of their families and homes. Staff talked gently about familiar people and offered physical comfort. Those personal books connected the nursery day with the people babies already knew, a practical detail that matters more than a general promise of warmth.

At that time, an information shed offered parents a recipe of the week and guidance on topics including toilet training and dummy use. It provided practical material to take into family life. Staff also had supervision meetings and opportunities for further training and sharing practice, making professional discussion part of the working arrangements observed in June 2025.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A safeguarding officer role and first-aid-trained staff form part of the care arrangements. Language support includes recognising when children need additional help and involving specialists. That is a specific mechanism for responding to a need, rather than a blanket assurance about every child's experience.

The nursery cook prepares meals each day and involves children in getting ingredients ready, linking food with discussion about healthy living. In June 2025, lunchtime also gave children practice in serving food, pouring drinks and clearing crockery, with adults eating alongside them and modelling table manners.

Self-care was equally practical in June 2025. Children discussed hydration and personal space, heard a story about toothbrushing and practised the technique demonstrated on oversized pretend teeth. Everyday routines gave children opportunities to do more for themselves. These habits also form part of preparation for moving on to school, alongside the play-based learning described above.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. The attendance model is flexible sessional care during term time, with holiday-club provision for some school holidays. Families whose working pattern follows school terms therefore have a different arrangement to weigh from those needing care throughout holiday periods.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01663 747144 or through the contact form. An application form is also provided. These give families a direct route into the joining process.

Getting There

The address is Unit E at B S Mills on Buxton Road, Stockport, SK12 2PY. Newtown station is across the road and buses stop outside, useful practical connections for families travelling towards Manchester, Stockport or Buxton.

Funding and Paid Extras

The setting offers 15 hours funded places for two-, three- and four-year-olds, plus 30 hours funding for eligible children and families. Its term-time attendance model matters when considering how funded care fits the family week. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Clarity of teaching. The June 2025 improvement point concerned staff understanding the learning intended within activities. On a visit, ask how practitioners now explain and deliver the skills behind a painting, language or movement activity.
• Term-time and holiday needs. Flexible sessions operate during term time, while the holiday club covers some school holidays. Discuss the proposed attendance pattern against your working calendar before committing.
• The full cost of attendance. Funded care is offered alongside activities such as Kidslingo and Footytotz. Request a written quotation explaining the treatment of meals, consumables and any activity charges for your proposed hours.

Little Wizards suits families drawn to practical, child-led exploration and a garden where children help look after living things. Spanish with Kidslingo and physical activity through Footytotz add named experiences to the everyday play, while the Baby and Toddler Room gives younger children a calmer setting for movement, communication and rest.

Its attendance offer serves flexible term-time sessions and holiday-club care during some school holidays. The June 2025 assessment was positive, especially about personal development, but the teaching improvement point deserves attention. The strongest reason to choose it is the substance of the children's day: growing, investigating, making choices and practising useful responsibilities.