The Magical Kingdom Nursery & Pre School

A garden with tunnels and a mud kitchen gives The Magical Kingdom Nursery & Pre School a clear emphasis on hands-on play. Indoors, sensory rooms and nursery gyms add different ways to explore and move, while sleep and quiet corners make space for rest. This Accrington setting caters for children from birth to five at 43 Church Street, BB5 2EN.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 22 May 2025. The practical detail behind that judgement matters: children experimented with colour, grew food outdoors and used stories and pretend play to develop conversation. Two improvement points also deserve attention: preparation for activities and stronger links between learning at nursery and at home.

Morning, afternoon and full-day care run across 51 weeks of the year. That choice makes the nursery relevant to families arranging shorter sessions as well as care across a working day.

Rooms and Ages

Three rooms have designated places for sleeping or quieter activity, giving children who still nap space to rest.

In May 2025, children in the toddler room combined paints to explore colour, while the pre-school room's children cared for herbs and vegetables outdoors. These were different routes into learning: immediate experimentation for the younger group and responsibility for something growing for the older children. Neither depends on a worksheet.

Indoor sensory rooms, a sand pit and nursery gyms give children choices between exploring materials and physical activity.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework: children learn through exploration, movement and play, with language, physical development and relationships among the early priorities. As children grow, literacy, mathematics, creative expression and understanding the world become part of that work too. These are the shared foundations of early years education, rather than an extra programme unique to this nursery.

Communication has concrete examples behind it here. In May 2025, adults described what younger children were doing and used questions with older children to extend their thinking. Stories and role play gave children further opportunities to speak and listen. Staff also picked up words from children's other languages, offering a practical bridge for children learning English alongside another language.

At that time, activities returned to skills children had already encountered, helping them practise and build on their learning. Organisation sometimes got in the way: furniture was rearranged or tables cleaned as activities began, leaving children distracted while they waited. The distinction is important for parents. An appealing activity still needs a ready space and a clear start if children are to stay involved.

Outdoor and Community Life

Ride-on toys, tunnels, water play and a mud kitchen give children ways to move and investigate materials in the garden.

In May 2025, children played outdoors daily and joined dance activities. They also made fruit kebabs and talked about toothbrushing and food choices. These examples connected movement and health with things children could actually do, giving everyday routines an educational purpose.

Community experiences in May 2025 included assembling hampers for care-home residents, visiting shops and the library, and attending a Christmas pantomime at the theatre. Children explored Eid and Ramadan and marked Remembrance Day with silence. The value was in encountering people, places and occasions beyond their own room, with opportunities to talk about different lives and traditions.

Relationships and Communication

Settling sessions bring the child, parent and key person together before attendance begins. Parents share their child's interests, needs and preferences through an all about me account, and home visits can be used where necessary. That gives the relationship a starting point in the child's familiar life, rather than beginning only once care starts.

The key person keeps an individual learning journey, with observations and reports shared at parents' evenings. The two-year check involves parents and health visitors. These mechanisms give families specific points at which to discuss development, alongside ordinary conversations about their child.

In May 2025, staff helped children persevere with everyday tasks such as doing up their coats and talked through changes at home, including the arrival of a sibling. Children were encouraged to share and consider one another. Communication about care and learning took place, but a structured way to involve parents further in learning at home needed development. Families wanting ideas they can use between nursery days should give that point weight.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified SEND provision as a strength, with staff recognising needs, involving other professionals and using individual strategies to support good progress.

The support arrangements include a SENCO role, targeted learning plans and requests for specialist advice made with parental consent. Staff can work with speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and other professionals. The important mechanism is the link between observing a child's needs, agreeing strategies and reviewing their development with the family.

Security arrangements include controlled door entry, indoor and outdoor CCTV, and collection restricted to people nominated by parents.

Food is prepared in the nursery kitchen by a nursery cook, with meals based on a seasonal menu. Dietary needs are addressed individually, while the registration form records allergies and reactions so families can explain the details of their child's requirements.

Moving towards school includes transition documents, contact with schools and a photograph book showing features of the schools children will attend. Role-play spaces can also become school settings. These activities introduce the next stage through familiar play and information about the individual child.

Sessions and Attendance

Full-day care runs from 7.30am to 6pm. Morning sessions are 7.30am to 12.30pm, and afternoon sessions run from 1pm to 6pm. Opening days are Monday to Friday, with care across 51 weeks; closures include bank holidays and a week at Christmas.

Getting There

The address is 43 Church Street, Accrington, BB5 2EN, in the former Old Bridge Inn. Off-road parking and a Buggy Bay support the practicalities of bringing young children and their equipment.

An online enquiry form provides a contact route. Registration uses a completed form returned by email to info@themagicalkingdom.co.uk, with the parent contract setting out attendance and payment terms.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15-hour and 30-hour arrangements: the nursery offers 15 hours for qualifying two-year-olds, a minimum of 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds starting from the term after they turn three, and 30 hours for eligible working parents of three- and four-year-olds. Entitlement depends on the relevant conditions; attendance across 51 weeks does not itself establish how a family's funded hours are allocated.

Private sessions include meals and snacks; for funded care, meals are charged separately while morning and afternoon snacks remain free. Parents supply nappies and powdered milk, while wipes are supplied by the nursery.

The contract includes a non-refundable registration charge and a deposit linked to the booked hours, refundable when the child leaves for school but retained if they leave earlier. It also requires four weeks' notice to end sessions, and current prices belong in the nursery's written quotation alongside the fees and funding terms.

• Activity preparation. In May 2025, setting up spaces after activities had begun interrupted children's attention. On a visit, ask how activities are prepared now and observe how children move into them.
• Learning at home. Further parental involvement was an improvement point in May 2025. Ask what practical ideas and feedback now connect your child's nursery learning with home.
• Funded sessions and meals. Funded care carries a separate meal charge, while snacks are free. Ask how the funded hours would fit your chosen morning, afternoon or full-day pattern and what the written quotation includes.
• Dietary needs and leaving terms. Allergies are recorded individually, and the deposit's refund depends on leaving for school. Families should confirm current dietary practice and understand that condition before signing.

The Magical Kingdom suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with an emphasis on physical play, sensory resources and outdoor exploration. Quiet spaces give rest a place alongside that activity.

The May 2025 assessment provides a positive basis for considering it, with practical strengths in communication and individual support. Activity organisation and learning links with home are the two points to examine closely. For parents, the decision combines the child's daily experience with the fit of the session times and the funded-care charges.