Chuckles Childcare Warton

Hatching chicks, instructor-led yoga and books to take home give Chuckles Childcare Warton a recognisable mix of practical discovery and storytelling. Daily sensory play sits alongside rhymes and stories, with children’s interests shaping what they explore. The emphasis is on learning by doing: handling materials, talking about discoveries and building confidence through familiar routines.

At its December 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. That judgement comes with a specific improvement point: staff deployment sometimes left children with less help to take their learning further. It is an important qualification to the positive picture.

Based at 1 Harbour Lane, Warton, Preston, PR4 1YA, Chuckles accepts children from birth to five and has 65 places in total. Babies, Tweenies, Toddlers and Pre-School are its four main rooms, with movement between them guided by development. Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings give families several attendance patterns rather than a single daily arrangement.

Rooms and Ages

Movement through Babies, Tweenies, Toddlers and Pre-School follows children’s development, making readiness central to room changes.

In December 2024, the youngest babies had reachable resources in comfortable play spaces, while older babies used equipment to practise pulling themselves upright. These were practical opportunities to develop movement, rather than activities requiring babies to keep pace with older children.

In December 2024, Tweenies combined a weekly shared book with independently accessible, floor-level books, including textured ones. Reading offered both group participation and individual choice.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the framework for learning, development and care. Chuckles puts this into practice through play shaped by children’s interests: daily stories, rhymes and sensory exploration connect language with hands-on discovery.

A qualified instructor delivers yoga sessions, while the lending library extends reading into family life. Show and tell gives children opportunities to speak to others; pet visits and community outings broaden their experiences.

Children observe tadpoles becoming frogs, caterpillars becoming butterflies and chicks hatching. These changes give them something to watch and discuss over time.

In December 2024, play included little wheelbarrows, bricks and pretend cement for exploring construction work. Outside, filling and emptying containers at the mud kitchens gave staff opportunities to introduce mathematical language. An ice-cream role-play shop encouraged conversation about ingredients. These examples show how everyday play could connect physical activity, vocabulary and ideas about the wider world.

Diwali, World Book Day and Easter are marked with gifts, while a graduation ceremony closes the year.

Relationships and Communication

The key-person arrangement gives a child a particular practitioner with whom to build a relationship. Chuckles also works with families to carry familiar home routines into nursery life, including following the stages of weaning as parents introduce foods. For babies, that makes the details of eating and sleeping part of the settling conversation rather than separate from it.

Settling sessions are included in the administration charge. The current offer also includes the Baby’s Days App, which keeps parents connected with nursery life. In December 2024, families received spoken updates as well as information through an app about activities and development. The two channels allow for both a quick conversation and information parents can return to later.

Sleep arrangements are specific: each child has a cot or sleeping mat and their own bedding. Blankets and sheets are stored in individually labelled bags, and the on-site laundry allows bedding to be washed at least weekly. Personal bedding gives the sleep routine something consistent even while the wider nursery day changes around it.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO works with practitioners and outside agencies to identify possible additional needs, arrange individual interventions and update their knowledge through training. This is a defined support mechanism, rather than a general promise that every need will be met in the same way.

At the December 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that professional relationships and targeted work supported children with developmental delays effectively. Families considering additional support therefore have both a current SENCO arrangement and a dated assessment of how targeted help worked in practice.

Independence was part of daily care in December 2024: children put away possessions, managed their coats and served food, with adults ready to help. These small tasks matter because they give children opportunities to practise doing things for themselves within ordinary routines, rather than treating independence as a separate lesson.

A chef prepares meals and snacks, including homemade soups and baked goods, using local fresh produce daily. Chuckles offers catering for special diets and allergies; the menus include dishes such as lentil-and-broccoli pasta bake and African bean stew, making individual dietary arrangements a practical consideration for families.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.45am to 5.45pm, Monday to Friday. Bookings include a full day from 7.45am to 5.45pm, a morning from 7.45am to 12.30pm and an afternoon from 12.45pm to 5.45pm. The morning and afternoon patterns are separate options, so parents can choose a shorter session as well as a full day.

Flexible or personalised hours are restricted to term-time arrangements and are offered at the nursery’s discretion, subject to availability. That condition matters for anyone whose work pattern changes: flexibility is a conditional booking option rather than an unrestricted promise.

Chuckles opens for 51 weeks of the year and closes on bank holidays and between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day. Full fees apply on closure dates, and collecting after the closing time attracts a late charge. These terms affect the overall childcare arrangement as well as the daily timetable.

Telephone and email enquiries lead to a tour and paperwork; families can also apply through the online booking form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Chuckles accepts 15 hours and 30 hours government funding and local-authority-funded childcare for children aged two, three and four. Funding is stretched across its 51-week year: the stated weekly allocations are 11.17 hours for the 15-hour entitlement and 22.35 hours for the 30-hour entitlement. Some hours are banked, with a day-care arrangement offered to make them up under the funding policy.

Private full-day fees include food, outings and resources. Food during funded hours is charged separately, with breakfast, lunch and snacks treated as separate items; a voluntary consumables charge applies during funded hours from age two. The distinction matters when comparing a private session with a funded attendance pattern: the food treatment changes, and the consumables contribution has both an age condition and voluntary status.

There is a registration charge covering administration and settling, with part credited against the first invoice. Chuckles also accepts tax-free childcare payments, employee childcare vouchers and childcare university grants. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the booking and funding terms explain the charge structure.

• Help during activities. In December 2024, staff deployment sometimes reduced the support children received to extend their learning. During a visit, ask how adults are now positioned across activities and how they support children who need more help.
• Funding and closure costs. Food is charged separately during funded hours, the consumables contribution from age two is voluntary, and full fees apply on closure dates. A written quotation should distinguish these items from additional private hours.
• Dietary arrangements. Chuckles offers catering for allergies and special diets, while its menus include peanut butter. Allergy-affected families should confirm current ingredient, preparation and serving arrangements before agreeing care.
• Moving between rooms. Development guides progression through Babies, Tweenies, Toddlers and Pre-School. Ask how readiness is assessed and how your child’s routines will carry into the next room.

Chuckles suits families looking for morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with storytelling, sensory exploration and practical experiences running through the offer. Instructor-led yoga, the lending library and watching living things develop add tangible choices to the nursery day.

The balance is positive, but the December 2024 staff-deployment concern deserves a direct conversation. For younger children, familiar home routines and personal sleep bedding are useful details; for families using funding, the separate food charges and stretched delivery need careful budgeting. The strongest fit is with parents who value this combination of flexible session choices and learning through everyday activity, and who are comfortable with the stated booking conditions.