First Footsteps, Anfield

A shopping list became a practical learning tool at First Footsteps, Anfield in March 2025: children bought items at the local shop and handled the payment themselves. Everyday experiences gave them something concrete to talk about and practise. Babies also explored the neighbourhood in prams, including outings to feed ducks.

At its 19 March 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children were making good progress through an established curriculum. The useful detail beneath that judgement is a day built around conversation, play and growing independence, with improvements needed in younger children's self-care and the speed of support when learning gaps emerge.

At 17 Oakfield, Anfield, Liverpool, L4 2QH, the nursery has capacity for 68 children aged four months to four years. Attendance is term-time only, an important practical distinction for families arranging childcare around work.

Rooms and Ages

Four spacious, bright rooms organise the setting: Babies' and Tweenies' within the Baby Unit, followed by Annexe and Pre-School. Transitions between rooms are planned around children's development, extending to preparation for Reception. That gives the move into a new stage a place in the nursery's planning rather than treating it simply as a change of room.

In March 2025, babies joined actions during songs, toddlers enjoyed a game built around anticipation, and preschool children experimented with mixing colours and discussed the results. These examples show different ways of engaging children at different stages: movement and repetition for babies, shared excitement for toddlers, and investigation with conversation for older children.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage covers children's learning, development and care; here, its areas of learning are planned around individual needs and developmental stages. For parents, that means the nursery day brings together play, communication and practical skills rather than separating learning from ordinary activities.

In March 2025, practitioners added vocabulary while children played and used questions that invited more than a brief answer. Describing actions such as squeezing gave children words for what they were doing. Conversations also encouraged them to explain their ideas, making language part of the activity itself.

At the March 2025 inspection, the nursery's activities included learning about Christmas, Easter and Pancake Day. Chinese New Year connected a visit to a local Chinese takeaway with pretend play, cooking and tasting food. The link between an outing and subsequent activities gave children several ways to revisit the experience, rather than leaving the celebration as an isolated event.

Outdoor and Community Life

In March 2025, local outings included shopping and neighbourhood sights, alongside the babies' duck-feeding trips. These were small-scale encounters with the surrounding area, with practical opportunities to recognise places, make choices and communicate beyond the nursery.

Work with local services also addressed dental health that month, responding to difficulties families faced in accessing dental provision. Toothbrushing was part of that work. It connected children's health education with a local concern affecting families.

Relationships with key children were well developed in March 2025, with calm, approachable staff who knew them closely. Visual timetables helped children understand the sequence of their day, while reminders about sharing, turn-taking and considerate behaviour supported group activities. Predictable routines gave children a way to understand what would happen next.

At the March 2025 inspection, Ofsted found SEND support effective overall, but identified delays in some referrals to outside agencies and called for stronger assessment so children with possible learning gaps received help sooner. This is a material qualification to the positive judgement: support within the nursery and timely access to specialist help are separate questions.

In March 2025, children practised putting on coats and shoes, preparing the table and pouring drinks. Younger children's self-care needed more deliberate teaching, including learning to use an open cup. The issue was how staff helped children acquire a skill, rather than simply whether opportunities for independence existed.

Parents received information about children's learning that month, including the book being explored and related activities to try at home. That offered a concrete connection between nursery experiences and family time. Current transition planning also covers movement between rooms and preparation for Reception, keeping the next developmental stage in view.

The nursery operates during term time at 17 Oakfield, Anfield, Liverpool, L4 2QH. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Families can contact the branch by telephone, email or its contact form.

Term-time attendance is the central planning point here. The opening window gives scope for childcare across the working day, while the term-time calendar needs to fit the family's wider arrangements. In March 2025, the nursery provided funded early education entitlement for children.

• Term-time planning. Attendance is term-time only. At a visit, ask for the term dates and discuss how the calendar fits your childcare needs.
• Early support. The March 2025 findings included delays in some outside referrals. Ask how concerns about learning now lead to assessment, referral and follow-up.
• Younger children's independence. In March 2025, teaching self-care skills needed further development. A useful visit question is how practitioners help younger children learn to drink from an open cup.

First Footsteps, Anfield suits families seeking term-time childcare, with provision spanning babies through to preschool children. Its March 2025 strengths were concrete: conversational play, useful local outings and learning shared with parents. Room transitions and preparation for Reception also form part of its current planning.

The Good judgement deserves to be read alongside its qualifications. Faster intervention when learning gaps arise and more deliberate teaching of younger children's self-care are the two points that should shape a family's visit.