Ribby Hall Nursery and Preschool

Woodland walks, animal encounters at Wild Discovery and gardening at Mr McGregor’s Village Garden give Ribby Hall Nursery and Preschool a character that extends beyond its rooms. These places are part of the learning day: children explore nature, build dens and find things to talk about through direct experience. The holiday-village setting earns its place in the curriculum.

On Ribby Road in Wrea Green, Preston, the nursery accepts children from three months to five years and has 87 places in total. At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good. That judgement is a dated assessment; the current offer combines play-based learning and outdoor activity.

Full-day, morning and afternoon sessions give families different attendance options, with term-time-only places offered for children aged three to four, subject to availability. Meals and non-food consumables are included in funded and privately paid sessions, while parents supply their baby’s formula.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, covering language, movement and emotional development before building further work in literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. Ribby Hall adds concrete experiences to that shared foundation. A pretend kitchen, sand and water station and an ICT room with iPads give children different ways to investigate, imagine and practise skills.

The nursery’s Golden Threads connect belonging, communication, wellbeing, curiosity, movement and independence across ordinary routines and planned activities. Children help with food, water plants and take responsibility for small tasks. That makes independence something to practise during the day, rather than a lesson saved for a group session.

Elements of Reggio Emilia, Montessori and Forest School inform a play-based approach expressed here through natural materials, open-ended resources, practical tasks and outdoor exploration. Art ateliers are dedicated spaces where children choose how to explore materials and make art. The emphasis is on the process of creating, giving a child room to pursue an idea rather than reproduce an adult’s finished example.

Books and talk have a substantial place. Daily stories, puppetry and rhymes sit alongside adults describing actions during care routines and adding vocabulary during play. For younger children, gestures and visual props accompany speech; older children have opportunities to act out stories and use conversation to organise shared projects.

In June 2022, children experimented with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, making predictions before watching the reaction. The same visit identified a weakness in larger group activities: quieter children sometimes received less benefit because their needs were insufficiently considered. The practical question is how staff give those children space to contribute.

Outdoor and Community Life

Nature School, the nursery’s outdoor learning offer, includes daily walks through the village and woodland, gardening and making things with natural resources. Visits to Mr McGregor’s Village Garden connect nature activities with a specific place, while Wild Discovery trips introduce children to the animal world. These experiences provide subjects for conversation as well as reasons to move and explore.

Outdoor play also includes space for climbing, running, gardening and substantial construction projects. Growing vegetables links planting with food preparation, giving children a practical connection between what they cultivate and what they eat. Community members are invited to share their skills and knowledge, extending that learning beyond nursery staff.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who plans activities and can talk with parents before they take their child home. Tapestry, the online system for exchanging photographs and information, adds fortnightly updates from that practitioner. Families therefore have both everyday conversation and a continuing picture of their child’s experiences.

For babies, the care approach includes a consistent key person, familiar comfort items, family photographs and cosy corners. Predictable routines and time for reassurance support the relationship before expecting confident exploration. Throughout the nursery, adults help children name feelings and practise calming responses, including breathing and movement breaks.

In June 2022, information about children’s development and backgrounds passed to their next key person when they changed rooms, and transition arrangements also covered moving to school. That gives room changes an individual starting point: staff can build on what a child already knows and needs.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The assistant manager also holds the SENCO role, providing a point of contact for additional needs. Designated Safeguarding Lead responsibilities sit within the management team, and staff receive food-safety and allergen training. These are practical arrangements for organising support and care.

At the June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described individual adjustments and agency-supported SEND plans that helped children progress. In June 2022, allergy-aware activities included changing ingredients used in sensory play and play dough, allowing children to take part alongside their peers.

A chef prepares nursery meals, with breakfast, hot lunch, light tea and fruit included in both funded and private sessions. The nursery’s dietary policy is to accommodate allergies, individual requirements and cultural preferences wherever possible, with parents sharing those needs when joining.

Water and milk are available throughout the day. In June 2022, however, children sometimes chose juice brought from home, and staff needed a clearer understanding of the effect on oral health. That concern matters alongside the practical provision of healthy drinks, because the choices children actually make determine the benefit.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Ribby Road, Wrea Green, Preston, PR4 2PR. Opening hours are 8am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks, with closure on bank holidays and during Christmas week.

The full-day session runs from 8am to 5.30pm. Morning sessions finish at 1pm after an 8am start; afternoon sessions run from 1.30pm to 5.30pm. Those alternatives serve different working and family routines, although the afternoon start follows a gap after the morning session ends.

Term-time-only places are offered for children aged three to four, subject to availability. Changes to sessions or cancellation of a place require four weeks’ notice. Nursery enquiries can be made by telephone on 01772 674 513.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible two-, three- and four-year-olds can use funded early education, including the universal 15-hour entitlement and the working families 30-hour entitlement where applicable. Funding can be delivered term-time or stretched, with full-day, morning and afternoon delivery options. Hours beyond a family’s daily funded entitlement are charged separately.

Meals and snacks are included for both funded and privately paid attendance. Non-food consumables are also included across both arrangements; formula is the exception families supply themselves, using their baby’s preferred brand and labelling it with the child’s name.

Preschool yoga and outdoor sessions for children over two carry no additional charge. A deposit and a late-collection charge apply, and current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation. Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit Childcare are accepted, with invoices and receipts provided to support claims.

The funded-place booking policy uses a waiting list when demand exceeds provision, prioritising children already attending and their siblings. Funded-only places may be capped within age groups to maintain a mixture of funded and privately paid sessions. Participation in funding therefore needs to be considered alongside the attendance pattern a family wants.

• Quieter children in groups. In June 2022, larger activities did not consistently include less confident speakers effectively. During a tour, ask how group organisation now gives your child time and encouragement to contribute.
• Drinks and allergies. The June 2022 concern involved juice from home and oral health; the current dietary policy accommodates individual needs wherever possible. Discuss the drinks routine and confirm how your child’s allergy requirements are handled in meals and play.
• Funding and attendance. Funded-only places may be capped, and term-time-only attendance is offered for ages three to four subject to availability. Ask how your intended sessions would combine funded entitlement and paid hours, including the deposit and notice terms.
• Baby care and room moves. Babies have a consistent key person, familiar comfort items and predictable care routines. Book a tour by calling 01772 674 513 and discuss settling, rest and the circumstances that would prompt a room change.

Ribby Hall suits families seeking either full-day attendance or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, especially those who want outdoor exploration woven into play. Woodland, gardening and Wild Discovery provide concrete experiences to support language and curiosity; key-person contact and Tapestry give parents ways to follow that learning.

The Good judgement from June 2022 sits alongside two useful cautions about quieter children in groups and healthy drink choices. Included meals and consumables simplify the charge structure, but funded-only booking rules and the age condition on term-time places deserve attention when matching the nursery to family routines.