Little Stars at The Park

Woodland sessions, food growing and a Zen Zone give Little Stars at The Park a recognisable character. Based at The Park Child and Family Centre in Church, Accrington, it combines outdoor exploration with spaces for yoga, sensory stories and quieter activities. These are useful differences for families who want their child's day to include both movement and time to slow down.

At its November 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged the assessed areas to be at Expected standard and safeguarding standards to be met. The important qualification concerns teaching during freely chosen play: some practitioners missed opportunities to extend individual children's learning, and staff training needed a more precise emphasis on those inconsistencies.

The nursery has capacity for 68 children aged from birth to five. Full-day, morning and afternoon attendance sit alongside term-time and year-round options, giving families several ways to arrange care.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play helps children develop communication, physical skills, relationships and increasing independence. Forest School adds regular outdoor learning through exploration of nature. At The Park, that sits alongside growing food and herbs in the community allotment, so the outdoors includes both discovering natural materials and tending things that grow.

In November 2025, books were an active conversation between adults and children. Practitioners left room for children to supply familiar words, offered opportunities to guess what might happen next and introduced vocabulary through stories. This gives a clearer picture of the learning than a general promise about school preparation: children were encouraged to speak, listen and contribute their own ideas.

Mathematical language also appeared in ordinary play that November. Adults discussed towers using words about dimensions and shapes, while children counted pictures in books and described the leaves they collected. Dough activities involved rolling, squeezing and using scissors, giving children practice in the hand movements needed for later writing. Learning was threaded through things children were already interested in doing.

The limit was consistency. In November 2025, planned activities had clear purposes, but some adults were less effective at extending learning when children chose their own play. A busy activity and a purposeful teaching interaction are different things; the practical question is how staff recognise what an individual child could learn next and help that happen.

Outdoor and Community Life

Regular Forest School sessions make outdoor learning a recurring part of the offer. The community allotment adds another practical experience: children spend time learning about food and herbs while growing them. For families who value contact with nature, these are concrete activities rather than simply access to an outdoor space.

The Wellness Space and Zen Zone provide a different pace. Children's yoga, mindful exercises and sensory storytelling can take place in these areas, giving quieter experiences their own setting alongside more active play. Their value lies in the variety of experiences they make possible, rather than any assumed therapeutic outcome.

In November 2025, children explored leaves in the forest area, noticing their colours, shapes and sizes. Babies had activities that encouraged them to move and pull themselves upright, with instruments offering another reason to explore. These observations show how physical movement and discovery were adapted to different stages of development rather than confined to one kind of activity.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is allocated a key person. Home routines for younger children, including sleep and bottle feeds, continue at nursery, helping care fit around the child rather than requiring every baby to follow the same pattern. A daily diary records sleeping, toileting and food and fluid intake, giving parents practical information about the day.

Learning Journeys collect photographs and examples of children's activities and early development work. Families receive these when their child leaves. That makes communication about development more tangible than a brief verbal update, while the daily diary serves a different purpose: keeping home and nursery informed about care routines.

In November 2025, flexible settling arrangements helped staff learn about children and families before tailoring their care. Adults responded closely to babies waking from sleep, and older children brought staff into their play. Familiar routines also helped children know what came next, including washing hands before meals. The emphasis was on relationships and repeated everyday experiences.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that support for children with SEND included individual teaching plans, shared strategies, specialist advice and effective use of additional funding, helping children make progress from their starting points. This is a useful combination of mechanisms: plans identify the approach, staff share it, and outside advice can inform adjustments to activities.

That November, leaders also used services within the centre to help families access support, and maintained contact with other agencies. Parents of children with SEND took part in regular meetings. For a family managing several professionals or services, coordination matters alongside what happens during the child's nursery session.

Everyday independence was visible in November 2025. Children practised feeding themselves and managing coats, while older children used cutlery and cut up their food. Staff sought children's permission before tasks such as face wiping and putting on bibs, and helped them put feelings into words. Daily toothbrushing added a practical health routine.

Meals are prepared by the Sure Start Hyndburn Community Café kitchen, using a menu based on fish and vegetarian dishes. The food arrangements require parents to tell the nursery about allergies, with further guidance through its Food and Drink Policy.

Sessions and Attendance

Monday to Friday opening runs from 8am to 6pm. Full Day Sessions cover 8am to 6pm, Morning Sessions run from 8am to 1pm, and Afternoon Sessions run from 1pm to 6pm. These are separate booking patterns, making a morning or afternoon session a practical alternative to a full day.

Attendance can be term-time only or across the year. The nursery closes for bank holidays and Christmas. For families comparing childcare with work or study commitments, the distinction between the weekly session pattern and the annual attendance pattern matters: both affect how care fits into the household calendar.

The address is The Park Child and Family Centre, Norfolk Grove, Church, Accrington, BB5 4RY. Nursery enquiries can be made by telephone on 01254 387757.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with 15 and 30 hours applied flexibly at The Park. Term-time and year-round attendance options are available, alongside fully paid places and additional paid hours or sessions. Funding entitlement and the attendance arrangement are separate decisions; a family should have the agreed pattern set out alongside its charges.

Meals are included in private session fees, while meals during funded provision are charged separately. Parents supply nappies and bottle feeds. This separates the food charge from the items a family needs to bring, avoiding the assumption that a funded place includes every part of the nursery day.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The session and fees page sets out the distinction between private sessions, extra paid hours and funded-place meals. A refundable deposit is subject to there being no outstanding fees when the place ends, and at least two weeks' notice is required to close a place.

In November 2025, leaders worked with the schools children were moving on to, supporting preparation for that change. This is transition work rather than a promise about admission to any particular school.

• Teaching during free play. In November 2025, some staff did not consistently extend children's individual learning during self-chosen activities, and training needed to address this more precisely. On a visit, ask how practitioners now identify and develop learning in those moments.
• The first separation. Home sleep and feeding routines continue at nursery, and children have a key person. Discuss how settling visits will introduce your child to that person and how their familiar routines will be carried into the nursery day.
• Funded-place budgeting. Private session fees include meals, but funded provision carries a separate meal charge; nappies and bottle feeds come from home. Request a written quotation for the attendance pattern you intend to use, and discuss current allergy arrangements if these affect your child.

Little Stars at The Park suits families looking for full-day care or morning and afternoon sessions, with a choice between term-time and year-round attendance. Its strongest practical appeal is the combination of regular Forest School, food growing and the Wellness Space and Zen Zone. Children have several different ways to explore, move and pause.

The November 2025 position gives a balanced basis for choosing: Expected standard across the assessed areas and safeguarding standards met, alongside a specific weakness in teaching during free play. Families who value outdoor learning and coordinated support may find much to like here. How consistently adults extend children's chosen activities is the point to explore most closely.