Larkfield Daycare

Sensory play in the Rainbow Room, outings to Calderstones Park and visiting phonics teachers give Larkfield Daycare a recognisable mix of small-child routines and experiences beyond the nursery. There are 27 places in total at this Aigburth Road setting in Liverpool. Its three rooms cater for babies, toddlers and preschool children, with different expectations for each stage rather than one activity plan applied throughout.

At its March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Larkfield Good and judged its safeguarding arrangements effective. That judgement sits alongside two clear development points: making the intended learning in activities more precise and tailoring staff development more closely to individual teaching needs. Both matter when assessing how an enjoyable activity becomes a useful next step for a child.

Full days and half days sit alongside term-time and year-round attendance. The practical attraction is choice, but the funding contract deserves close attention: meals, personal-care supplies and additional experiences sit outside the funded childcare itself.

Rooms and Ages

Rainbow Room is the baby room, where textured sensory materials, songs and movement on the floor support early communication and physical development. Predictable routines and close relationships are central to its approach, with progression to the toddler stage planned alongside families. The emphasis is on familiarity before greater independence.

Caterpillar Room serves toddlers, using sensory stations, role play and practical tasks such as preparing snacks to develop language, social confidence and self-care. Children can move between activities and participate in short bursts. That gives a child who needs movement a different way to engage from remaining at a table for a prolonged activity.

Butterfly Room is the preschool room, combining early number work, phonics and small-group activities with everyday independence. Pouring drinks, managing handwashing and using cutlery are part of preparation for school, alongside listening and taking turns. School readiness here includes practical competence, rather than letters and numbers alone.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS framework shapes learning through play and routines, developing communication, physical skills, social understanding and early knowledge. Development Matters supports planning. Monthly topics cover nature, cultures, science and creative expression, adapting to children's interests and family experiences.

Children choose between tuff trays, small-world play and investigations such as building a bug enclosure. Staff extend conversations, respond to discoveries and use observations to plan next steps. In March 2022, babies explored touch and sound, toddlers investigated shapes, and older children mixed colours; block counting and weight comparisons brought mathematics into play. Some activities needed clearer learning intentions.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outings include Calderstones Park, buses, libraries and Aigburth Station, with destinations chosen by age and interests. They bring transport and public places into children's learning.

On 24 April 2026, preschool children visited Central Library for the Funzo Phonics Book Launch, practising phonics at the event. Visiting teachers also teach phonics weekly at the nursery.

The nursery contract includes outing permission. Trip procedures cover risk assessments, headcounts, first-aid cover and reins on walking outings.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with a suggested 30-minute session, then two two-hour sessions, with more time arranged as needed. Leaving during sessions is recommended, rather than required.

Key workers plan next steps from observations and previous targets. Famly, the app holding learning records, stores a main monthly observation and additional observations, linked to EYFS areas of learning. Monthly management reviews with key workers and parents provide a point to discuss support.

In March 2022, staff gathered family information before children started to understand their starting points. There were 10 childcare staff at that time.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND support follows an Assess – Plan – Do – Review cycle: staff gather information, agree targets and strategies, put support into daily routines, then review progress with families. WellComm is used as a screening tool to help identify communication needs. Speech and language therapists and occupational therapists are among the professionals whose advice can inform the support plan.

Visual timetables, quiet spaces, sensory breaks and adapted activities are practical parts of that offer. For children learning English as an additional language, repeated routines, gestures and visual prompts help understanding, while families are encouraged to continue using their home language. English-language development is considered separately from additional learning needs.

At the March 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that the special educational needs coordinator worked with external agencies on agreed support plans and that children with SEND made good progress. Current arrangements include individual medical-care plans developed with parents and professionals, alongside procedures for medication storage and recording. These describe how support is organised, rather than promising the same provision for every child.

Transition support can include photographs, social stories, gradual visits and information shared with a receiving room or school. This is useful for children who find change difficult: preparation can be tailored before the move happens.

Meals and snacks are provided, with staff joining children and encouraging independent eating; where possible, food for different dietary needs is made to look similar. On funded attendance, food and personal-care supplies are covered through a separately requested voluntary contribution, with parents supplying them if they opt out.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 672-674 Aigburth Road, Liverpool, L19 0NY. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email through the nursery's contact route.

Funded attendance is organised into full days lasting 10 hours or half days lasting five hours. Paid full days, half days and additional hours are also offered. The detailed funding timetable gives opening hours of 8am to 6pm, Monday to Thursday, and 7.30am to 5.30pm on Friday; these are opening windows, rather than published clock times for each half-day booking.

Year-round places cover 52 weeks, while term-time places cover 38 weeks. Some funded places are restricted to term time, with that condition discussed before the child starts. Term-time attendance follows Liverpool City Council's pattern apart from five INSET days. The choice therefore concerns both the length of each booking and the weeks attended.

Funding and Paid Extras

Larkfield offers 15-hour funding for three- and four-year-olds beginning the term after their third birthday, up to 30 hours for eligible working parents with children from nine months until they start school, and 15-hour support for qualifying two-year-olds. Funding can normally be taken over 38 weeks or stretched across 52 weeks, subject to the nursery's term-time restrictions for certain funded places. Receiving a funding code does not guarantee a nursery place.

Funded childcare is free, while attendance beyond the entitlement is charged separately. The voluntary Essentials and Extras contribution supports food, nappies, wipes, creams, outings and additional activities. A family can decline it and still use funded childcare, but must agree the opt-out when signing the contract before starting and supply the necessary food, drinks and care resources each day.

When a paid trip, activity or event takes place, children whose families opt out receive alternative EYFS activities. Changes to an existing contribution agreement require one term's notice. Early Years Pupil Premium covers the contribution where a child qualifies. The fees and funding terms explain this structure; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Opening-hour discrepancy. The detailed funding timetable gives different weekday hours from the homepage's Monday-to-Friday 7.30am to 6pm window. Confirm the contracted hours for your intended days before arranging work or travel.
• Funding and supplies. Declining the voluntary contribution means providing daily food, drinks and personal-care resources, with alternative learning during paid extras. Decide which arrangement works for your family before signing the contract.
• Teaching next steps. In March 2022, activity intentions and individual staff development needed greater precision. During a visit, ask how a child's observations now lead to a specific activity and how staff refine their teaching.
• Room progression. Baby-to-toddler moves are planned with families, and preschool preparation includes practical independence. Ask how the settling pattern and room transition would be adapted to your child's routines and needs.

Larkfield suits families seeking full days or half days, with term-time and year-round options. Sensory stations, community outings and weekly phonics teaching give substance to learning; structured SEND plans and monthly progress discussions support work with parents.

The March 2022 Good judgement includes teaching-development points. For funded attendance, the practical decision is how meals, care supplies and paid experiences fit the family's needs, alongside the contracted weekday hours.