Songbirds Preston

Two acres give Songbirds Preston a clear outdoor identity, with bird-named rooms and Forest School provision alongside its youngest children's care. This is a nursery where the grounds deserve serious attention: the Preston setting has its own outdoor learning space, rather than relying solely on outings for contact with nature.

At its 20 March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. That judgement provides a dated assessment of care and education, rather than a description of every aspect of today's operation.

Songbirds Preston is at 106 Station Road, Preston, Hull, HU12 8UY, and has capacity for 81 children aged six months to five years. Its room labels start below that entry age, so families should distinguish the Baby Buntings room's age band from the nursery's accepted starting age. Opening hours are 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Buntings covers 0 to 15 months; Robins follows at 15 to 24 months. Chickadee's is for children aged two to three, while Bluebirds (Pre-School) covers three to four. Forest School is also listed for the three-to-four age band. These stages give parents a concrete way to understand the progression from baby care towards preschool, rather than treating the nursery as one undifferentiated group.

The grounds are the strongest current physical detail. Forest School, an outdoor approach involving child-led exploration and supported risk-taking, uses Preston's own outdoor learning area; a heated woodland lodge adds a sheltered base. The practical appeal is sustained contact with the outdoors, with somewhere warm as part of that provision.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care. In parent language, it brings play, communication, physical development and growing independence into the nursery day; an outdoor approach sits alongside those expectations.

In March 2023, staff used children's interests to shape activities and introduced vocabulary through subjects such as dinosaurs. Water play became an opportunity to predict which objects would float, while conversations about quantity and size brought early mathematics into ordinary activity. Children were encouraged to remember earlier experiences and consider what might happen next. Those examples show how play can become a conversation that stretches understanding.

Books had a deliberate place in the day in March 2023. Each room selected five books monthly, linking their themes to children's interests and next learning steps. Repeated stories supported familiarity with language, and children carried the stories into imaginative play with one another. Emotional understanding was among the themes explored.

The Preston preschool and Chickadee's also take part in the Wanderlust Nature Study, a nature programme intended to encourage exploration and scientific curiosity. Its value for families is the explicit connection between these older groups and learning about the natural world. It complements the setting's outdoor identity.

Outdoor and Community Life

In March 2023, a covered teaching area supported outdoor listening activities. Children discussed sounds including wind, birds and rain striking the roof, turning the surroundings into material for language and observation. Older children also considered slippery or muddy areas for themselves. The detail matters: outdoor learning involved attention and judgement as well as physical play.

In March 2023, information from parents about babies' home routines shaped their care at nursery. A space was available for parents to breastfeed, and babies developed relationships with their key person. For a family starting childcare, the useful feature is that home habits informed the nursery day rather than being treated as separate from it.

Everyday independence was built through small tasks in March 2023: babies practised feeding themselves with spoons, toddlers washed their hands, and older children considered suitable clothing before fastening their coats. These are modest activities with a clear purpose. Children get opportunities to do things for themselves as their abilities develop.

At the March 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that additional funding supported children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with practitioners working alongside other professionals and using pictures and technology to help children communicate. This is concrete evidence of support at that date, including ways for children without spoken language to express what they wanted.

Two weaknesses also mattered in March 2023. More able children did not consistently receive enough challenge to examine their thinking further, and some parents felt insufficiently informed about learning and progress. The required improvements were deeper challenge and a more effective exchange of information with families. Both deserve attention when judging whether the nursery fits an individual child.

Meals are included across Songbirds settings, with three meals each day and a chef involved in nutrition and menu planning. This gives food a defined place within the daily care offer.

Sessions and Attendance

The Preston opening window is 7am to 6pm on weekdays. The nursery operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and a week at Christmas. Families comparing working hours should treat the opening window as the practical boundary of the day.

Enquiries go to preston@songbirdsdaynursery.com or 01482 890441. A show-around can be booked for the Preston setting. The address is 106 Station Road, Preston, Hull, HU12 8UY.

Funding and Paid Extras

In March 2023, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. That is a dated participation fact, rather than a promise about a particular family's entitlement today. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Challenge beyond familiar answers. In March 2023, more able children needed greater opportunities to extend their thinking. On a visit, ask how practitioners develop a child's explanation after they have already given the correct answer.
• Communication about progress. Some parents were insufficiently informed in March 2023. Ask how learning updates invite a response from home, and how those exchanges influence the child's next steps.
• Your attendance and funding arrangement. The weekday opening window runs from 7am to 6pm, while the funded provision described in March 2023 covered two-, three- and four-year-olds. Ask for a written arrangement covering the attendance pattern, applicable funding and what meals and non-food consumables mean for that booking.

Songbirds Preston suits families who value outdoor learning and want a nursery journey that moves from Baby Buntings through to preschool. The two-acre setting, heated woodland lodge and nature study for older groups give that preference substance.

Its March 2023 assessment was Good, with useful detail about baby routines, books and communication support. The balance is equally clear: challenge for more able children and communication with parents were improvement priorities. For families whose schedules fit the weekday opening window, those are the points to weigh alongside the grounds and room progression.