Pollyanna's Day Nursery

A hedgehog house with a night vision camera gives Pollyanna's Day Nursery a memorable connection with the natural world. Its Forest School space sits beside the main nursery in Prestbury, with a mud kitchen, digging areas and sheltered learning spaces. Outdoor learning has a regular place in the day, rather than being reserved for occasional outings.

At its 18 February 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. There is capacity for 51 children, with accepted ages running from three months to 60 months. The setting occupies Prestbury Village Hall on Macclesfield Road, combining a large indoor space divided into learning zones with two adjacent outdoor spaces.

The practical offer includes full-day, morning, half-day and wraparound childcare, alongside care booked by the hour. That breadth matters for parents whose working arrangements call for something other than the same booking every day.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play supports language, physical skills and learning how to relate to others. Pollyanna's adds a child-led approach and named weekly activities, giving children concrete things to investigate, grow and make.

Science Club introduces ideas through sounds and experiments with objects that sink or float. Gardening Club involves planting and looking after the outdoor space, while Cooking Club includes making star sandwiches and apple pies. These are practical experiences with different demands: observing what happens, caring for growing things and taking part in food preparation. Book of The Week adds a recurring shared book to the learning programme.

In February 2025, practitioners extended children's speech by building short sentences from their words and explaining unfamiliar vocabulary. Singing and conversation were part of everyday routines, and group activities gave children practice in discussing ideas and taking turns. Learning therefore involved exchanges with adults and other children, alongside choosing activities independently.

Mathematics was less consistently woven into children's own play at that date. Adults used counting and number talk in group activities, but opportunities to deepen mathematical understanding during self-chosen activities were missed. This is a specific limitation to weigh alongside the practical clubs, rather than treating a busy activity programme as proof that every area receives equal attention.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School here means child-led outdoor learning that explores nature and the environment. The dedicated space includes grassland, a rope swing, a shed and digging areas; a canopy and bell tent provide additional places for activities. Children can investigate the outdoors through movement and hands-on play, with different spaces for exploring and making things.

The Forest School opening window is 09:30 to 11:30 each morning, five days a week. Blackberry and raspberry bushes give children plants to learn about and care for, while caterpillars, butterflies and the hedgehog house bring wildlife into the experience. Outdoor clothing, wellies and puddle suits are provided when required.

In February 2025, babies explored the outdoor area, two-year-olds used the slide, and preschool children took part in forest school activities. Natural objects also became tools for painting, linking outdoor exploration with mark making. Activities were arranged across different attendance days so that access did not depend on attending on one particular day.

Relationships and Communication

In February 2025, staff gathered information about children's interests, development and home lives as they joined. That gave settling a personal starting point: practitioners could respond to the child they were getting to know, rather than relying solely on a standard routine. Staff also helped children practise everyday independence, including managing coats and accessing lunch and drinks.

Communication at that date combined daily conversations at collection with weekly learning updates. An online app let parents contribute experiences from home as well as receive information. For families, that creates a two-way picture of development, with home experiences able to inform conversations about nursery learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that learning was adapted to individual needs, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and that children made good progress from their starting points. The useful detail is the mechanism: regular observations and assessments informed decisions about what each child should learn next.

Staff training in February 2025 included safeguarding, working with babies and forest schools. Adults worked with small groups during play, while older children helped younger children understand routines and expectations. These observations describe practice at that date, rather than a promise about today's staffing numbers.

Food is freshly prepared on the premises, with weekly menus and provision for dietary requirements. Lunch is included in full-day sessions, making that booking pattern easier to plan around mealtimes.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Macclesfield Road, Prestbury, Macclesfield, SK10 4BN, at Prestbury Village Hall. Opening hours are 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Full-day, morning, half-day and wraparound childcare sit alongside an hourly option; early drop-offs are also offered. The hourly arrangement may be useful where parents need a shorter period of care rather than a whole session.

Three weeks of closure fall each year, usually around Christmas, the first week of June and the last week of August. UK bank holidays and public holidays are additional closures. Those breaks need to sit alongside parents' own annual leave or other childcare arrangements.

Tours can be booked by contacting the nursery. Parking is available for drop-offs at the village hall.

Funding and Paid Extras

In February 2025, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Families should obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation. Full-day bookings include lunch; that inclusion belongs to the full-day session and should not be assumed to describe the terms of funded hours.

• Mathematics in everyday play. The February 2025 improvement point concerned using more mathematical ideas during children's self-chosen activities. On a tour, ask for examples of how counting, comparison and number language now arise during play.
• Holiday cover. Three annual closure weeks, usually around Christmas, early June and late August, come alongside bank and public holidays. These breaks may require separate childcare planning.
• Outdoor fit. Forest School operates each morning, five days a week, with wet-weather clothing provided when required. Ask how outdoor activities are adapted for your child's age and comfort.
• Funding and the full quotation. Full-day sessions include lunch. Ask which funded entitlements and attendance arrangements apply to your child, and how meals and non-food consumables are handled within that quotation.

Pollyanna's suits families seeking practical, child-led activities and regular outdoor learning, with full-day care, morning or half-day sessions, wraparound bookings and hourly care all part of the offer. The clubs have substance: children experiment, plant and prepare food, while the Forest School space gives nature a regular role.

The Good judgement from February 2025 provides a clear inspection position, with mathematics in everyday play the specific point for further development. Annual closures are the other major practical consideration. Families whose schedules fit those breaks have several genuinely different attendance patterns to consider.