Fairy Bridge Nursery

A converted barn, an orchard and a woodland reached across the Fairy Bridge give this Croston nursery a clear character. Outdoor play runs through its day, with children choosing between indoor activities and fresh-air exploration for much of the time. This is a setting where muddy clothing has a practical purpose.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Fairy Bridge Nursery Outstanding, finding safeguarding effective and praising the quality of its curriculum and interactions with children. The detail behind that judgement matters: children investigated sounds, harvested food and practised doing things for themselves, rather than simply moving between adult-directed activities.

Fairy Bridge Nursery has 54 places in total at Isle Of Man Farm on Meadow Lane in Croston, Leyland (PR26 9JP). Its three rooms are organised around ages one to four, while its childcare offer extends from 12 months to five years. Attendance can be term-time or across the year, using separately bookable time blocks.

Rooms and Ages

Daisy Room, for children aged one to two, combines loose-part exploration and messy sensory activities with daily indoor and outdoor play, a separate garden and a sleeping area furnished with mats and calming music. Resources are adapted to children's repeated patterns of experimentation, so movement and sensory discovery have a place alongside rest.

Bluebell Room, for ages two to three, emphasises conversation, sharing and turn-taking, using Early Talk Boost alongside the Wellcomm toolkit for speech and language assessment and support, alongside an indoor sand kitchen, messy-play tray and free-flow outdoor access. Pouring drinks from a small jug and serving fruit make snack time an opportunity to practise independence.

Sunflower Room, for ages three to four, has a naturally bright, neutral interior and combines child-led ideas with listening activities, self-service snacks, dressing and toileting practice, plus movement between indoors and outdoors. Tidying resources and joining circle time introduce shared routines while leaving room for children to develop their own play.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play across seven areas, including communication and personal development. Here, that statutory foundation is translated into sensory exploration, conversations, stories and practical tasks, with different emphases as children move through the rooms.

Phase 1 Phonics in Sunflower Room develops listening and attention through songs, rhymes and stories. The ican Early Talk Boost programme also supports language, understanding and personal, social and emotional development; selected children take part for nine weeks.

In September 2024, children experimented by dropping sand into a drainpipe containing water and listening to the resulting sound. Adults allowed their investigation to develop, giving children time to pursue their investigation. That example captures the nursery's learning style more clearly than a list of activities: the child's question can shape what happens next.

Outdoor and Community Life

The secret garden door leads towards the Fairy Bridge, woodland and orchard. In the main garden, a mud kitchen, large sand pit and den-making resources sit alongside space for bikes and obstacle courses assembled from planks, tyres and crates. Daisy Room's separate garden gives the youngest children their own outdoor space.

Woodland play includes opportunities to climb trees with adults nearby for support. Children can choose indoor play, and the woodland is avoided during high winds; extreme weather brings play indoors. Outdoor provision is substantial, but the weather rules give it sensible boundaries.

A field across the car park provides space for vegetable growing and larger physical games. In September 2024, children picked orchard fruit and grew onions, potatoes and strawberries, using their produce in snacks and baking or taking it home. Growing and eating were connected activities, making the origins of food something children experienced directly.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person, with extra time together during settling to build familiarity. Parents can stay during settling visits before the start date, and the process is adjusted to the individual child. The useful feature is flexibility in how the relationship develops, rather than a single timetable applied to everyone.

In September 2024, established routines helped children understand expectations, while adults encouraged them to talk through disagreements and consider other people's feelings. Children also practised managing their outdoor clothing and preparing snacks for friends. Emotional support and practical independence were connected in ordinary moments.

At the September 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff recognised children's developmental needs promptly, worked closely with parents and professionals, and supported children with special educational needs and/or disabilities exceptionally well. Communication covered both learning and daily routines, allowing parents and practitioners to coordinate support rather than work separately.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Rest has a place within the flexible day. Daisy and Bluebell Rooms have designated sleeping areas, and calmer spaces elsewhere allow children to pause when they need to.

Toilet training follows the child's readiness. Nappy-changing facilities, potties and child-sized toilets support the process, while families supply nappies, wipes and spare clothes. These everyday arrangements make the transition manageable without requiring children to be toilet trained before joining.

Families send a packed lunch containing an ice pack; morning and afternoon snacks are separately charged, with an alternative of supplying healthy snacks under the nursery's guidelines. Milk or water accompanies snack time, and drinking water is accessible during the day.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, across 50 weeks of the year. Term-time-only attendance is also offered. There is no minimum number of booked days, although the nursery recommends at least two sessions each week to help children establish relationships and settle.

The numbered booking blocks run from 7.30am to 8am, 8am to 9am, 9am to noon, noon to 1pm, 1pm to 3pm, 3pm to 4pm, 4pm to 5pm and 5pm to 5.30pm. This gives families morning and afternoon options as well as shorter blocks around them. The afternoon timing difference in the booking information is a point to settle before agreeing attendance.

Enquiries and requests for a prospectus go to fairybridgenursery@yahoo.com. Invoices arrive through the Famly app, with payment due in advance by the first day of the month. Non-payment results in suspension of the child's place until payment is made, and charges continue during family holidays or other absences to retain the place.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery accepts 2 year funding, alongside 15 and 30 hour funding for eligible children from the term after their third birthday. Funding can cover 38 term-time weeks or be spread across the 50-week operating year; funded hours depend on the particular session and day. Additional hours beyond the funded entitlement are charged separately.

The fees and sessions page sets out the charge structure, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Snack charges sit alongside parent-provided lunches, while nappies and wipes come from home; funded attendance follows these same arrangements.

A separate charge covers the supply and replacement of Forest school clothing, meaning the outdoor clothing used during nursery attendance. Families can instead supply suitable waterproofs and cold-weather items, keep them at the nursery and replace them when necessary. Changing a decision about opting out of extra costs requires one term's notice.

• Afternoon booking times. The session table separates 1pm to 3pm and 3pm to 4pm, while the introductory booking list also offers 1pm to 4pm. Agree the exact afternoon pattern and how it is invoiced before booking.
• Outdoor clothing. Woodland, garden and all-weather play are central to the day. At a visit, discuss the clothing-supply option and how replacement items are managed if you provide them yourself.
• Attendance rhythm. There is no minimum number of days, but the nursery recommends at least two sessions weekly for settling and relationships. Discuss how your intended pattern would support your child's settling period.

Fairy Bridge Nursery suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions, with either term-time attendance or care across the operating year, who want outdoor exploration to be a substantial part of childhood. Its converted barn, separate youngest-room garden, woodland and orchard give that approach physical substance. The September 2024 Outstanding judgement adds weight to the picture, while the key-person arrangements and language programmes give parents specific support mechanisms to consider. The practical trade-offs are clear: lunches and personal consumables come from home, outdoor clothing needs planning, and the afternoon booking pattern deserves agreement before attendance begins.