Heyhouses C of E Nursery School

A water wheel, outdoor classroom and mud kitchen give Heyhouses C of E Nursery School a recognisable character: play here has space to become messy, practical and absorbing. This Christian nursery occupies a purpose-built brick building beside Heyhouses Primary School in Lytham St Annes. Its outdoor resources are a substantial part of the offer, with parent fundraising helping to shape the places children use.

At its September 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children made good progress, with especially strong support for children with special educational needs and disabilities. That is a dated assessment. The current day combines small key-person groups, children's choices and activities directed by adults, rather than relying on one style of teaching throughout.

Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance are offered during school terms, with Breakfast Club and later care extending the opening window.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes children's learning and care, including language, movement, relationships and early number skills. Here, children learn through play, with adults using their interests and observations to decide what to introduce next. It is the shared framework for early years provision; the nursery's practical choices give it its everyday character.

Welcome Time brings children together in Key Person Groups, smaller gatherings where they practise conversation, listening and taking turns with familiar adults. Children then choose between indoor and outdoor play. Adult-directed experiences include gardening and baking, alongside activities built around something that has caught children's interest. This gives the day both continuity and room to change direction.

Stories run through the day and help bring sessions to a close. Group activities introduce phonics, music, shape and number.

In September 2022, language activities included dens and tepees that encouraged conversation, while words of the week introduced vocabulary through everyday exchanges. Number work involved counting objects inside numbered boxes and recognising numerals. These were concrete experiences, connecting speech and mathematical ideas with things children could handle and discuss.

Outdoor and Community Life

Inside and outside play are connected through free-flow access. Friends of Heyhouses, the parent-and-staff fundraising group, has helped provide the outdoor classroom, mud kitchen and water station with its water wheel, alongside sand and indoor art resources. These give children different materials and spaces to explore, with practical play extending beyond tabletop activities.

In September 2022, children used monkey bars and low obstacles for climbing and balancing, and an external provider led multi-sport activities. Those experiences added movement and manageable physical challenges to the day.

Community involvement includes the Christmas Tree Festival at St Annes Parish Church each December, with children and families decorating the nursery's tree. Friends of Heyhouses also organises a Family Fun Day during the spring or summer term and a Christmas Fair in December. Its activities include a nursery trip to Smithills Farm at Bolton, giving families a named destination beyond the nursery grounds without implying a fixed trip schedule.

Relationships and Communication

Familiar adults have a defined place in the day. Key Person Groups create time for children and practitioners to know one another, with conversation and shared activities forming part of the routine. An initial home visit is also part of the nursery's approach, bringing the relationship with home into the start of nursery life.

Each child's Learning Journey is a file containing observations, photographs and examples of their work. Parents can contribute to it and arrange to see it, then keep it when their child moves to primary school. That gives communication a concrete centre: families can discuss actual experiences and development rather than relying solely on a brief verbal update.

Open Evenings and Parent Workshops provide further opportunities for discussion. A transition report accompanies preparation for school, summarising development towards the early learning goals. In September 2022, staff also worked with other professionals and schools and took children to visit the school they would attend, helping them become familiar with its people and surroundings.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In September 2022, individual intervention plans were reviewed and adjusted, while picture prompts, visual schedules and familiar words from children's home languages helped children learning English. These are useful examples of how support was made practical at that time, rather than a general promise about every child's experience today.

At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted asked leaders to strengthen training and oversight of allergy and dietary procedures because leaders did not always check that staff outside the kitchen understood the policy and could apply it consistently. Kitchen staff had detailed knowledge of children's requirements. This is a material point for families managing food allergies.

Everyday independence includes choosing a snack, washing hands and pouring drinks with adult support. For children with long-term medical conditions, the nursery uses care plans; administering prescribed medicine requires parents to complete a medication form. These arrangements give families specific procedures to understand before care begins.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens on weekdays during usual school terms, from 8am to 6pm, and closes for school holidays. Full days run from 9am to 4pm; mornings are 9am to noon, and afternoons 1pm to 4pm.

Breakfast Club runs from 8am to 9am, while After Nursery covers 4pm to 6pm. Morning attendance can extend through lunch until 1pm, or an afternoon session can begin at noon to include lunch. Sessions are agreed before a child starts and reconsidered at the start of a term where necessary, allowing the agreed pattern to reflect the family's arrangements.

A written notice period of half a term applies when withdrawing a child. Fees are due at the start of the week or month, and absence refunds are generally unavailable; holidays taken during attendance do not attract a refund. Those terms matter alongside the session choice when planning childcare costs.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded and privately paid childcare are offered. Term-time funding includes 15 hours a week for three- and four-year-olds, 15 hours for Golden Ticket two-year-olds and 30 hours for eligible working parents. Additional hours are charged, and extra days beyond the funded term allocation can also require payment. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and sessions page explains the structure.

Mid-session snacks and milk or water are free, while hot lunches are charged separately and prepared in the primary school kitchen; families may instead supply a packed lunch, and starting or cancelling hot dinners requires a week's notice. The nursery's lunchbox policy asks families to exclude foods linked to severe allergies among attending children, as well as sweets and fizzy drinks.

Getting There

The address is Clarendon Road North, Lytham St Annes, FY8 3EE. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01253 640 110 or by email at nursery@heyhousesnursery.co.uk. The nursery is adjacent to Heyhouses Primary School, but nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place.

• Allergy procedures. The September 2022 improvement action concerned staff understanding and monitoring of dietary procedures. At a visit, ask how allergy information now reaches every practitioner and how leaders check that it is followed.
• Term-time planning. Morning sessions, afternoons and full days sit within school-term opening. Families needing holiday childcare will need arrangements that cover those closures as well as the nursery week.
• Uniform and outdoor play. Children wear navy lower garments, a yellow logo polo and a pale blue logo sweatshirt or cardigan; second-hand uniform is offered. Outdoor clothing and footwear must suit active play, so practical dressing is part of preparing for nursery.
• Choosing the daily pattern. Lunch extensions and care before or after the main day provide several combinations. At a visit, discuss how the proposed pattern fits your child's experience of Key Person Groups, lunch and the later club activities.

Heyhouses suits families seeking term-time preschool provision with a choice of morning, afternoon or full-day attendance, plus care before and after the main day. Its strongest practical attractions are the connection between indoor and outdoor play, resources funded by Friends of Heyhouses and the Learning Journey that families help build and keep.

The September 2022 allergy-procedure improvement is an important consideration for families managing food allergies.