Baslow Edge Nursery

College grounds, twice-weekly Forest School and a yearly concert trip to Sheffield give Baslow Edge Nursery a character shaped by outdoor exploration and experiences beyond its rooms. Based at Cliff College in Calver, it combines access to Peak District countryside with dedicated spaces for babies, two-year-olds and preschool children. At its November 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. That judgement belongs to the provision inspected then; the current offer includes sessions for children from eight months to five years.

There are 32 places in total. Within Stanton room, babies have their own space alongside a larger area for two-year-olds; Haddon room provides the preschool stage. The progression between them takes account of confidence and development, rather than treating a birthday as the sole deciding factor. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings sit alongside breakfast and later care, giving families several ways to organise attendance.

The strongest reasons to consider Baslow Edge are concrete: countryside within the college grounds, a glass-fronted sleep room for babies, daily language sessions in Haddon and an activity timetable that makes room for gardening, cooking and signing. The older inspection also identifies a useful caution about the consistency of adult engagement, which deserves attention alongside the breadth of experiences.

Rooms and Ages

Stanton room brings together a dedicated baby space and a larger space for active two-year-olds, while movement into Haddon’s preschool provision usually happens around age three, with confidence and developmental milestones also informing the decision.

Within the Baby Room, songs, early conversation, sensory exploration and movement support communication, physical development and early relationships; its glass-fronted sleep room gives resting babies a separate space that staff can see into.

The Two Year Old Room combines stories and imaginative play with climbing, balancing and social play, and children can use the playground, garden and wider grounds daily.

Haddon Room adds language work, music, gardening and experiences in the wider community to the preschool day, with outdoor learning sharing the emphasis given to activity inside.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the educational foundation: children learn through play, conversation, movement and relationships, with the youngest children’s day emphasising communication, physical development and personal, social and emotional development. The nursery’s additional activities sit alongside that framework. They give children different ways to explore its areas of learning rather than replacing them.

Learning and Activities

Haddon’s daily NELI sessions are interactive language activities used to develop and track children’s communication. That makes language work a recurring part of the day, rather than something reserved for an occasional group activity. Spanish, Makaton signing, yoga and calming stories also feature in this room’s curriculum, alongside cookery and gardening. Music workshops take place during the year with specialist visitors.

The weekly activity timetable is specific. Forest School runs on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, providing planned outdoor learning alongside use of the college grounds. Monday mornings bring signing, Wednesday mornings gardening and Friday mornings cooking; yoga and calmer stories occupy Monday and Wednesday afternoons. For parents, this makes the relationship between attendance days and activities easy to understand. A child’s booking pattern will shape which of these sessions falls within their nursery week.

In November 2021, children investigated colour mixing by trying it for themselves, used a number game to count and compare quantities, and worked together to construct a pretend bonfire from leaves and mud. These examples show what learning looked like at that visit: testing ideas, handling materials and negotiating with other children.

Outdoor and Community Life

The college’s Peak District grounds are a substantial part of the offer. Exploration of the wider grounds is a daily aim, and the nursery asks families to supply wellies for wet conditions or sturdy trainers when the ground is drier. Outdoor clothing is practical equipment here. Clothes that can get dirty suit the activities better than outfits kept for special occasions.

Haddon’s annual visit to the Crucible in Sheffield connects children with Music in the Round’s concert and project for early years and Key Stage 1. A summer-term trip, involvement in local fundraising and visits to community spaces extend that experience beyond the nursery. These are opportunities to encounter places and activities outside the usual room routine; they are not presented as weekly outings.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with shorter sessions, adjusted through discussion with parents about how their child is responding. A comforter from home is allowed during this period. That gives families a practical bridge between familiar home routines and the new nursery day, rather than requiring every child to settle on the same timetable.

For babies, staff work with parents around individual routines, including sleep. Babies also share snacks and lunch with the two-year-old group, bringing opportunities for social contact beyond their own space. Children who need help with toilet training receive support linked to the routines their parents have already introduced at home.

An online learning journal carries photographs and observations from a child’s key person or a manager. Regular parent consultations cover the next steps staff have identified. Together, these provide both glimpses of the nursery day and opportunities to discuss what children are learning, rather than leaving communication entirely to brief daily exchanges.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staff structure includes a SENCO role, a safeguarding lead and practitioners with paediatric first aid training. Activities are adapted to individual children, including participation in group sessions. These arrangements combine a designated SENCO role with adjustments to activities for individual children.

At the November 2021 inspection, Ofsted found that staff deployment sometimes reduced their engagement with children, including outdoors, and asked for more consistent interaction and stronger staff knowledge of how to extend existing learning. Newer and less confident staff were still developing their practice at that time. The concerns were about how effectively adults supported learning, so the number of activities alone should not decide a family’s assessment.

Derbyshire’s Smile4Life campaign brings toothbrushing into Haddon’s health and wellbeing work. School transition also receives practical attention: staff share information with local schools and arrange visits and activities to help children prepare for the next stage. These are transition arrangements, with no admissions advantage claimed.

Sessions and Attendance

The postal address is Baslow Edge Nursery, Haddon Room, Cliff College, Calver, Derbyshire S32 3XG. During term time, opening hours are 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Families can contact the nursery by telephone or email.

Breakfast Club runs from 8am to 9am. Morning sessions last from 9am to noon, afternoons from noon to 3pm, and the Full Day pattern covers 9am to 3pm. Teddy Bear club extends care from 3pm until either 4pm or 5pm. These are separate booking choices within the opening day, rather than an expectation that every child attends for the full opening window.

Additional timings include an early start, a lunch hour subject to availability and a later finish. Holiday club provides a further option, with sessions from 8.30am to 4.30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during designated holiday periods. The 2026–27 calendar includes half-term, Easter and summer dates, but no Christmas holiday club. It also identifies a non-funded week from 13 to 16 April 2027, when normal opening hours apply. Families using funding need to account for that distinction when planning attendance.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and privately paid sessions are both offered. The entitlements include up to 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds from the term following their third birthday, up to 30 hours for eligible working families with children from nine months, and up to 15 hours for some two-year-olds whose families receive additional government support. The funding information also specifies the 30-hour entitlement for eligible three- and four-year-olds. These entitlements are described over 38 weeks, and families can request that funding be stretched into holiday periods.

Food arrangements vary: families supply a packed lunch for children staying after noon, snacks are included in the morning and afternoon session descriptions, breakfast is included with Breakfast Club, and light tea is included with the club ending at 5pm. For funded children, snacks carry a voluntary contribution and enrichment activities have a separate charge; the nursery publishes a nut-free policy and asks parents to keep dietary information up to date.

Parents provide nappies and wipes when needed, as well as spare clothing. Additional private hours are charged after a child’s funded allocation has been used, and unarranged early drop-offs or late collections incur a charge. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the funding and charges information sets out the categories families should account for.

• Adult engagement. The November 2021 improvement points concerned staff deployment and extending children’s learning. On a visit, ask how adults now support children during outdoor play and how newer practitioners develop that practice.
• Days and activities. Forest School falls on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, while cooking is on Friday morning. Choose an attendance pattern with the activities your child would actually encounter in mind.
• Term-time and holiday planning. Holiday club uses selected dates and a different daily window, with no Christmas club in the 2026–27 calendar. The non-funded April week also needs to be included in a family’s childcare budget.
• Food and allergies. Lunch comes from home, while snacks and club food follow different charging arrangements. Families managing allergies should confirm current practice and discuss packed lunches alongside the nut-free policy.

Baslow Edge suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as a 9am-to-3pm day, with breakfast and later care available as separate patterns. Its appeal lies in the combination of college grounds, planned outdoor learning and Haddon’s language, music and community experiences. Babies have a dedicated space and a visible sleep room, with home routines informing their care.

The dated Good judgement offers a useful reference point alongside the learning-related improvement points from the same inspection. Attendance days, packed lunches and the term-time calendar are the practical decisions to weigh alongside the countryside setting.