Bright Horizons Moortown Day Nursery and Preschool

A leisure-club setting gives Moortown an unusual practical advantage: preschool children have access to swimming and tennis lessons, while a garden divided by age provides outdoor space for younger children too. Bright Horizons Moortown Day Nursery and Preschool occupies premises at the David Lloyd leisure club on Tongue Lane in Leeds. Its offer extends from babies aged 3 months to children aged 5 years, with capacity for 56 children in total.

At its 20 May 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found targeted support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. That assessment needs to be read alongside the later organisational safeguarding notice dated 22 June 2026, explained below. The earlier judgement is a dated assessment, rather than an assurance about the position after that notice.

Weekday opening runs from 7.30am to 6.30pm, with stretched funded childcare.

Rooms and Ages

The under 2s room combines sensory exploration with support for emotional, personal and social development, giving the youngest children experiences that address relationships as well as discovery.

In the 2 to 3s room, a bright, airy space accompanies work on emotions and self-awareness, with stories and rhymes supporting communication and language.

Preschool academy emphasises preparation for school through the Ready for School growing Programmes, with teaching from a qualified preschool teacher and a dedicated garden containing a hideaway den, gardening space and play equipment.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care. In parent language, that means learning through play and everyday interactions, with attention to communication, movement, relationships and understanding the world. It is the common foundation for nursery education, rather than a special programme belonging to this branch.

Moortown's ready to read lending library covers the age groups. Borrowing books supports shared reading at home. Preschool swimming and tennis lessons add another kind of experience, drawing on the leisure-club setting. These are access arrangements for preschool children, rather than activities promised to every age group.

In May 2025, babies explored their reflection through peekaboo, while older children used hospital role play, dressing as medical staff and looking after dolls. Magnet experiments prompted children to predict what would happen. The examples connect self-awareness, imaginative play and early scientific thinking to activities children can understand and discuss.

Books and songs also featured in May 2025, with fiction and factual books introducing language and experiences. Children voted on which stories to hear, giving them an opportunity to express a preference and take part in a shared decision. These activities connected language and shared decision-making with familiar play.

There was a clear limitation in May 2025: staff did not consistently adapt their conversations and involvement to children's immediate interests, and resources were not always easy to identify or reach. Stronger planning and engagement were required so activities would extend learning more consistently.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large garden is divided into spaces for the age groups. Preschool children have their own area, with a secret hideaway den and a planting area for gardening. The branch also has a Mud Kitchen, Water Play and a Vegetable Garden. These physical features give outdoor play several purposes, from imaginative activity to exploring materials and growing plants.

Moortown holds an Eco-Schools Green Flag Award, an environmental scheme recognised through the award. In May 2025, recycling projects, growing activities and the adoption of a donkey at a nearby sanctuary gave children concrete examples of caring for their surroundings. Stepping stones and obstacle courses also helped them practise movement and consider physical risks.

Relationships mattered in May 2025: children developed close connections with staff and became accustomed to the nursery's routines. Staff encouraged persistence and collaboration during tasks. Parents also took part in a committee and received information about activities and ways to continue learning at home, creating routes for both feedback and practical involvement.

Today, the group-wide Family app connects parents with children's daily experiences and development. The branch team also works with external agencies in supporting children with special educational needs. In May 2025, this included identifying areas needing attention early and involving inclusion specialists.

In a notice dated 22 June 2026, Ofsted reported organisational weaknesses in safeguarding leadership, oversight and practice across some Bright Horizons settings and served a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring action by 1 August 2026. Its scope matters: the notice concerns organisational arrangements and explicitly does not identify concerns at every individual nursery, but the organisation had not demonstrated consistently effective safeguarding across its provision.

The required actions addressed senior leaders' oversight, consistent implementation of safeguarding procedures, recognition and escalation of concerns, handling allegations against staff, and the effectiveness of training and supervision. The latest published position is that dated notice. It should not be treated as evidence that Moortown itself had every weakness described, or as evidence that the required actions were subsequently completed.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is c/o David Lloyd Club, Tongue Lane, Moortown, Leeds, LS6 4QW. Weekday opening is 7.30am to 6.30pm. Care runs across the year, with closures for an inset day, bank and public holidays, and the period between Christmas and New Year. Those exceptions matter for families matching nursery attendance to work commitments.

Private childcare is priced by the number of days booked each week. Funded care uses 10-hour sessions beginning at nursery opening time; extra attendance beyond that funded session is charged separately. Buying additional hours is not a condition of taking a funded place.

Onsite parking supports collection and drop-off, and the premises sit beside the A6120 Moor Allerton. Enquiries can be made directly to the nursery, while a personal tour can be booked through its visit form.

Funding and Paid Extras

The funding arrangements include 30-hour bands for eligible children from 9 months and at age 2, plus 15-hour and 30-hour bands for children aged 3 to 5. Funded hours are spread across 50 weeks, rather than taken entirely during term time. Eligibility conditions apply. Private fees are invoiced over 51 weeks across 12 months, so the private billing period and the funded-hours arrangement use different annual patterns.

Meals and snacks are included in private fees, while funded attendance has a separate food charge covering meals and snacks; that charge is non-mandatory and is not a condition of accessing a funded place. Food is freshly prepared and the nursery has an onsite chef.

Nappies and wipes are included in the private fee, as is formula for babies under 1 year; the funded-hours terms also provide the associated consumables. A registration charge applies, and payment is by monthly direct debit in advance. Families receive current prices in the nursery's written quotation, which should distinguish funded childcare, extra hours and food rather than presenting them as one undifferentiated cost.

• Organisational safeguarding action. The 22 June 2026 notice required changes to oversight, escalation and safeguarding practice by 1 August 2026. Before joining, ask what response followed that deadline and how the changes operate at Moortown.
• Depth of learning. In May 2025, staff involvement and accessible resources needed greater consistency. During a personal tour, ask how planning now responds to children's interests and how practitioners extend an activity once a child becomes engaged.
• Funding and the working day. Funded sessions last 10 hours and begin at opening time, with additional attendance charged separately. A written quotation for the intended weekly pattern will help families distinguish childcare hours, the non-mandatory food charge and the separate registration charge.
• The leisure-club offer. Swimming and tennis access is for preschool children. Ask how those lessons fit into the preschool week and the arrangements for taking part, so this attractive feature can be weighed against the child's actual attendance.

Moortown suits families seeking care across the year, including those booking paid days each week and those using stretched funded sessions with separately purchased additional hours. Its leisure-club location, preschool sports access, age-divided garden and lending library give parents concrete reasons to consider it.

The decision also carries two substantive qualifications: the May 2025 weakness in consistently extending learning, and the later organisational safeguarding notice. The physical offer is appealing. A joining decision should give equal weight to how learning is delivered and the response to the dated safeguarding action.