Berwick Road Day Nursery

In October 2023, a planning bus for choosing activities and a sports coach's rope trail gave Berwick Road Day Nursery a recognisable character: children making decisions as well as getting moving. At its October 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, with strengths in children's relationships and learning alongside improvements needed in curriculum precision, letter sounds and babies' care.

Based in Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, the nursery has 60 places in total and accepts children aged 2 to 60 months. Capacity describes the whole nursery, rather than the size of an individual group.

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: their day brings together communication, physical activity and early mathematical understanding.

In October 2023, preschool children used the planning bus to decide which activity to choose. That gave them an active part in shaping their learning. A sports coach also organised a rope trail, combining movement with working together.

Mathematics developed from finger counting and action rhymes for younger children to recognising written numbers for older children. Gardening supplied another practical lesson: children understood that picked green tomatoes needed to ripen before eating. These were concrete ways to connect ideas with things children could do and observe.

The teaching priorities were less consistent elsewhere. Some activities lacked a sufficiently clear learning purpose, while inaccurate pronunciation of letter sounds weakened children's understanding of how speech relates to letters.

At the October 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described responsive help for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including seeking additional support for individual needs.

In October 2023, staff used a welcome song naming children and adults, and explained what would happen next to reassure babies and toddlers. Adults stayed close enough for children to seek comfort. However, babies sometimes received insufficient help when their key person was briefly away, making changes of adult harder for them.

Communication also mattered: parents valued candid conversations about learning and hearing about their children's activities. For families, that connection helps make sense of the nursery day beyond the activities themselves.

The address is Berwick Road, Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, CH66 4PN. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year, with closure on bank holidays.

In October 2023, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. This describes its provision at that date.

• Learning purpose. In October 2023, some activities needed clearer teaching intentions. Ask how practitioners now decide what children should learn from an activity.
• Letter sounds. Accurate pronunciation was an October 2023 improvement priority. Ask how staff practise and maintain consistency in this part of early literacy.
• Babies and familiar adults. Brief key-person absences sometimes unsettled babies in October 2023. Discuss how another familiar adult takes over care.
• Attendance pattern. The nursery opens across the working week and closes on bank holidays. Which booking patterns would fit your family's routine?

Berwick Road suits families seeking year-round weekday care who value practical learning and children's growing independence. Its October 2023 picture combines purposeful mathematics, gardening and warm relationships with specific teaching and baby-care weaknesses. Those priorities deserve attention alongside the Good judgement.