Silverdawn Day Nursery

A memory board, individual story sessions and sensory toys give Silverdawn Day Nursery's November 2024 daily life a recognisable character: staff adapted activities to help children take part. This Warton nursery has capacity for 30 children, accepting ages from birth to five.

At its November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) received effective support and made developmental progress. Two improvements mattered: clearer learning targets for parents and more consistent staff supervision and development.

The early years foundation stage sets expectations for children's learning, development and care, bringing play and everyday care into the same educational framework. In November 2024, staff observed children's existing skills and used their next learning steps to shape play.

A memory-board activity encouraged children to describe objects, then work out which had disappeared. Descriptive clues added vocabulary while the missing object gave children a reason to think and remember. Songs with familiar actions provided another way to practise communication.

Participation took different forms. In November 2024, sensory toys helped some children concentrate during group activities; individual story sessions supported children who found listening in a group difficult. Staff also gave individual attention to children whose spoken language was still emerging. These were concrete adjustments to the activity, rather than expecting each child to participate in the same way.

In November 2024, staff talked with children about home and their weekends, helping relationships develop through familiar conversation. They demonstrated manners and encouraged sharing and taking turns. Children practised patience while waiting during group activities.

Individual SEND targets were used throughout the day, alongside work with outside professionals. Daily outdoor access, handwashing and conversations about food also formed part of November 2024 routines; children received healthy meals.

At the November 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that parent partnerships were effective overall, but information about individual learning targets and extending learning at home needed improvement, while gaps in staff supervision and development caused inconsistencies in children's education. Drop-in sessions, parents' evenings and an online application offered communication routes then. The weakness was the precision of the information shared, not simply the number of opportunities to communicate.

The address is 23 Lytham Road, Warton, Preston, PR4 1AD. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with closures on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas.

In November 2024, the nursery provided funded early education. Families considering funded childcare should include the attendance arrangement and any additional charges in their visit discussion.

• Learning beyond nursery. In November 2024, parents did not consistently receive precise learning targets or guidance for home. Ask to see an example of how those targets are now shared.
• Consistency across staff. November 2024 supervision and development gaps affected the consistency of education. A visit discussion should explore how staff receive guidance and targeted development now.
• Attendance and funded costs. The nursery opens across the year, with bank-holiday and Christmas closures. Ask which booking pattern fits your week and how funded hours, meals and consumables would be handled within it.

Silverdawn suits families seeking care across the year who value individual adaptations to activities. Its November 2024 examples show children getting different routes into stories, conversation and group learning. The decision also needs attention to the two improvement points: useful learning information for home and consistent staff development.