Kids Planet Shepherd Lodge

A Victorian house, a garden with a fire pit and an allotment give Shepherd Lodge a clear outdoor character. Children can cook outside, grow vegetables and take part in sport, with outings extending their experiences beyond the nursery garden. This is a setting whose physical surroundings give families something concrete to weigh alongside its care and learning.

At its June 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Kids Planet Shepherd Lodge Good overall, recognising thoughtful learning activities and strong relationships with parents while identifying a need to give children longer to answer questions and try new vocabulary. That language-development point deserves attention alongside the outdoor strengths.

Based in Lytham St. Annes, the nursery accepts children aged 3 to 60 months and has 57 places in total. Attendance choices include mornings, afternoons and full days, as well as a shorter day.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: their day combines play, conversation, physical activity and growing independence. Outdoor experiences add practical substance here. The Udeskole outdoor education area supports hands-on learning, including cooking around the fire pit, to help children explore challenges and practise doing things for themselves.

A sports coach is part of the current offer. In June 2024, coached activities included yoga and football with a dinosaur theme, giving children opportunities to move, coordinate their actions and work together. Those examples show how physical activity can involve cooperation as well as exercise.

During June 2024, learning about other countries involved songs, food and flags. Activities built on children's existing understanding, giving them concrete ways to explore unfamiliar places and cultures. This makes the learning easier to relate to than a topic name alone.

Books and singing also featured throughout the day in June 2024. Babies explored books and listened to stories, while older children joined familiar rhymes and their accompanying movements. The improvement point concerned the conversations around learning: staff sometimes moved on before children had enough time to answer or practise unfamiliar words. Enjoying stories and getting space to speak are different needs.

Outdoor and Community Life

Plants and trees fill the garden, while the developing allotment brings growing food into children's experiences. Digging, tending plants and seeing what grows give children practical encounters with the natural world. The outdoor education area adds a fire pit for cooking activities, giving children another practical way to learn outdoors.

In June 2024, children planted and harvested fruit and vegetables, and babies explored soil in planters with staff. Sensory experiences included water, pipettes and shaving foam. These details matter for younger children too: the outdoor emphasis reached babies through activities suited to exploration with their hands.

Outings include shared outdoor activities with Kids Planet Ansdell and sports days at Ansdell Park. That partnership extends the opportunities for group activity beyond Shepherd Lodge itself. Local trips are also part of nursery life, alongside the garden-based experiences.

Relationships and Communication

Famly, the parent app used for updates about children's day, connects families with nursery life. It sits within the group-wide package included in fees, alongside sports activities. For parents, information about care and learning helps connect what happens at nursery with what happens at home.

In June 2024, staff shared information both through an app and in conversation, and lent families learning resources. Home learning bags and guidance about toilet training helped parents continue activities and routines beyond nursery hours. The practical value was continuity: families had resources to use, rather than simply a description of what their child had done.

Support for families using another home language was also evident in June 2024. Bilingual staff could communicate with children and parents in those languages, and other practitioners learnt useful words and phrases. Familiar language gave families a practical point of connection while children settled.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described coordinated SEND support through individual programmes, progress monitoring by the special educational needs coordinator and referrals for specialist help. The important detail is the mechanism: support linked children's individual needs with staff planning and outside expertise.

In June 2024, babies practised feeding themselves with utensils, while older children received help to use cutlery appropriately. Staff also explained behaviour expectations and used gentle reminders. Everyday routines therefore offered opportunities to practise independence alongside learning to participate with others.

Freshly prepared snacks and meals cater for children's dietary needs. Food is part of the day, and its charging position depends on whether early years funding is applied.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 166 St. Annes Road East, Lytham St. Annes, FY8 3HP. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 52 weeks of the year; bank holidays are closures.

Full Day runs from 8am to 6pm, Morning from 8am to 1pm, Afternoon from 1pm to 6pm and Short Day from 9am to 3pm. Full Time is also listed with an 8am to 6pm day. These choices allow families to distinguish a shorter daytime booking from either half of the longer nursery day.

Ad-hoc hourly care is another booking option and carries a higher rate than regular sessions. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01253 729009 or by email to Shepherdlodge@kidsplanetdaynurseries.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and privately paid care are offered. The fee structure distinguishes care paid privately from days when early years funding is applied, so the cost of attendance needs to be understood alongside the session chosen.

The group-wide package included in fees covers snacks and meals, formula milk, nappies, wipes and sun cream, together with sports activities and Famly. On days with early years funding applied, meals, consumables and activities are charged separately. This distinction matters when comparing a private booking with one using funded hours: an inclusive private fee does not mean the same items are included with funding.

Funded-day charges use full-day, half-day or short-day bands according to the hours attended. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, allowing families to see paid care and additional charges together.

• Time to talk. The June 2024 improvement point concerned giving children longer to answer and practise new words. During a tour, ask how practitioners now make space for children's responses during stories, play and group activities.
• Outdoor participation. The fire pit, allotment and trips with Kids Planet Ansdell are substantial parts of the offer. Use a booked tour to discuss how these experiences fit your child's age and stage.
• Funding and the final bill. Meals, activities and consumables attract separate charges on funded days. A written quotation should distinguish these from paid childcare so the attendance pattern can be assessed as a whole.

Shepherd Lodge suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day care, with outdoor learning a substantial part of the choice. The Victorian house and garden, fire-pit cooking, allotment and Ansdell Park activities give the setting a recognisable character.

The June 2024 language-development improvement point remains an important part of that assessment. Families who value practical outdoor experiences and communication between home and nursery have clear reasons to consider it, while funded attendance requires attention to the separate extras.