The Abbey Nursery School

A former Sunday School chapel, a baby sensory den and separate garden zones give The Abbey Nursery School its character. This Evolution Childcare setting on Forest Street in Weaverham pairs babies' texture and sound exploration with older children's French, physical education and early literacy activities.

At its June 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that visual cues helped children with special educational needs and/or disabilities understand changes in routine. That judgement provides a dated assessment of care and education, rather than a promise about every child's experience.

The nursery has capacity for 70 children, with a current age range of 2 months to 60 months. Its four named rooms are Baby Room, Toddler Room, Early Learner Room and Reception Room. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings give families several ways to organise attendance.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Room combines sensory baskets, messy play and mainly floor-level exploration, with ribbons and feathers among the materials used to encourage communication and movement. The sensory den adds a calmer space for investigating light, sound and texture. Babies also use the nursery garden and take outings in the surrounding area, so their experiences extend beyond the room.

Toddler Room introduces pretend play with simple props and changes of level to explore, while outdoor activities use balls, bats and bikes to practise coordination. Children normally move into this room at approximately 12 months and remain until their second birthday. The staff-to-child ratio is 1:3. This is a change in the kind of play offered as well as a room move: imaginative activity begins alongside increasingly mobile exploration.

Early Learner Room, for children from age 2, emphasises choosing activities, recognising their name and joining songs and stories, with a layout that lets children reach activities independently. Its core rhymes baskets give familiar stories and repeated phrases a practical role in language development. These baskets are used across the rooms, linking listening and communication with recognisable resources rather than relying solely on adult-led instruction.

Reception Room, entered from age 3, combines play with more structured school preparation, including French, P.E. and show and tell. Families receive rotas explaining when these sessions happen. The room's name refers to a stage within the nursery; its activities prepare children for their next setting.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the foundation for children's learning and care: sensory play, conversation, movement and increasing independence run through the day. The Abbey adds the room activities described above.

In Reception Room, the 52 week letters and sounds programme introduces phonics alongside literacy and communication. A separate reading scheme invites children to tell a story from a book's pictures, with a communication book allowing parents to contribute comments from home. That makes early reading a shared activity rather than something confined to nursery hours.

Recent activities show how practical materials enter the day. In May 2026, mini-beast painting used fingers, sponges and brushes to explore insects and other small creatures, with conversation about movement, colour and patterns. January 2026 activities included painting with frozen cubes and practising scissor control. These are dated examples of sensory exploration and hand control, rather than a fixed timetable of recurring sessions.

There is a qualification to the learning picture. In June 2024, some children who preferred pretend play or investigation disengaged from structured tasks, and some shared story activities continued beyond their attention span. The improvement priority was to adapt delivery more closely to different ways of learning. For parents, the balance between child-led activity and group instruction matters as much as the list of activities.

Outdoor and Community Life

Different garden zones provide space for outdoor exploration, while the room arrangements give outdoor activity a role at each stage. Toddlers have two outdoor play sessions, using movement equipment to practise physical skills. Babies combine garden use with local outings.

Reception Room extends exploration into the surrounding community through visits to shops, businesses, attractions, a library and a museum. These visits give children experiences to discuss and connect with their play. They are community outings, with no fixed frequency attached to them.

Relationships and Communication

An individual Key Worker discusses each child's needs and development during settling. For room moves, parents help agree timing, staff pass on routines and the next Key Worker builds familiarity. That preserves continuity as children move between rooms.

In June 2024, staff used parents' information about interests to shape activities during settling, including dinosaur play for toddlers. Babies sought comfort from familiar adults and settled with songs or favourite stories. These examples connect the relationship with everyday care: staff were using what they knew about children to help them feel comfortable and participate.

Communication also supported that relationship in June 2024. Families received development updates and information at handovers, while staff discussed ways to continue learning at home with parents of children with additional needs. The current Reception Room reading arrangement offers a specific home-to-nursery exchange through comments in the communication book.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Staff notice children's signals, help them name feelings and offer comfort while they regain calm. Everyday reassurance helps children make sense of their emotions.

Practical independence develops through daily routines. Toddlers sleep after lunch with their own labelled bedding, and staff sit nearby while children practise feeding themselves. In Early Learner Room, staff work with families on toilet training and changes to sleep, while children practise washing and brushing their teeth after meals. Care and learning overlap here: managing a routine is itself something children gradually learn.

Food is cooked on site each day by the nursery chef, with puréed fruit and vegetables used for younger babies before other foods are introduced. This allows feeding arrangements to change with children's development.

Sessions and Attendance

Full Day Session runs from 8am to 6pm. Morning bookings run from 8am to 1pm, and afternoon bookings from 1pm to 6pm. An early-start or late-finish option covers 7.30am to 8am or 6pm to 6.30pm, extending attendance around the main sessions.

Open from 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, across the year except bank holidays, the nursery has a longer opening window than its standard full-day session. Extensions bridge that difference for working families.

Branch enquiries go directly to the nursery on 01606 539000 or through theabbey@evolution-childcare.co.uk. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Getting There

The address is Forest Street, Weaverham, Northwich, CW8 3EY, beside Weaverham Methodist Church in the former Sunday School chapel. On-site parking supports journeys by car.

Funding and Paid Extras

The Abbey offers 15 Hours per week and 30 Hours per week funded arrangements in term time, alongside options stretched over 52 weeks. Funding operates Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm, with full-day and morning or afternoon half-day patterns.

Private sessions and hours beyond stretched funding are charged at the standard session or day rate, so a longer attendance pattern can combine funded and purchased hours.

Meals and snacks on funded sessions are charged separately, with the food supplied depending on whether the child attends a morning, afternoon or full day. The Abbey fees page sets out these categories separately from additional childcare hours.

• Structured activities. The June 2024 improvement priority concerned adapting teaching to children's different learning styles. During a visit, ask how staff change a group story or planned activity when a child engages better through exploration.
• Youngest starters. Baby Room describes care beginning at 6 weeks, while the current overall age range begins at 2 months. Confirm the starting-age arrangements for a younger baby before making plans.
• Funding and extensions. Funded sessions sit within the 8am to 6pm window, while early starts, late finishes and funded-session food have separate charges. A written quotation for the intended pattern will make those categories clear.

The Abbey suits families looking for morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with extensions around the main day. Its strongest practical attractions are the baby sensory den, staged room progression and a Reception Room offer that combines languages, movement and early reading. Those details give parents more to assess than a general promise of play-based care.

The June 2024 Good judgement comes with a teaching improvement priority: adapting activities to individual learning styles. For children who prefer open exploration, the balance between independent play and organised activity deserves close attention alongside the sensory resources and garden use.