Littleways Day Nursery Daisy Bank

A forest school within the outdoor grounds and a sensory room give Littleways Day Nursery Daisy Bank two quite different spaces for children to explore. Its purpose-built children’s centre provides room for outdoor activity alongside a place for quieter sensory experiences. That combination gives families a concrete reason to look closely at this Manchester setting.

The overall judgement on 5 August 2022 was Good. The judgement came with clear teaching priorities: learning needed to respond more closely to individual children, and staff needed to develop skills in the right sequence. Those points matter alongside the appealing physical surroundings.

The nursery accepts children aged 8 to 57 months. It opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, across the year, closing on bank holidays.

Daisy Bank’s outdoor space includes its own forest school, an area for learning outdoors within the nursery grounds. The sensory room offers a different pace, with opportunities to relax and explore sensory experiences. These are useful spaces to consider together: energetic physical exploration and quieter activity both have a place in the setting’s environment.

The nursery follows the early years foundation stage, the framework for children’s learning, development and care. In everyday terms, this connects play with developing communication, movement, independence and other early skills, rather than treating activities as entertainment alone.

In August 2022, toddlers investigated ice while adults introduced vocabulary connected with what was happening to it. The activity linked a physical experience with new language: children could feel and observe a change as they learned words to describe it. Babies’ gestures also received responses from staff, giving children who were not yet speaking a way to participate in communication.

Outdoor play had a practical, hands-on character in August 2022. Children constructed dens using tarpaulin and poles, handling materials and working out how to put them together. Feeding the resident chickens and gathering eggs were daily activities then. These experiences connected play with looking after living things and doing purposeful tasks.

For babies, the August 2022 environment included resources for crawling, balancing and pulling themselves upright. Coracles used for sleep could be accessed independently by the children. These details give a more useful picture of the youngest children’s day than a general promise of stimulating play: movement and self-directed exploration were built into the physical arrangements.

The teaching weaknesses were equally specific. In August 2022, some children were attempting letter formation before developing the pencil control they needed, and adults sometimes asked too many questions, leaving children insufficient opportunity to process what had been said. The practical issue was sequencing and time to respond. An attractive activity still needs to match what a child can do and give them time to respond.

At the August 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged safeguarding effective and found that managers worked with parents to obtain support for children with additional needs, while also recording a dietary incident after which staff changed procedures. This is a dated assessment, and the food incident belongs in the account alongside the positive findings.

In August 2022, staff recognised possible signs of abuse and understood how to raise concerns about a colleague. Regular safeguarding updates helped maintain their knowledge. Children also took part in recognising risks in their play environment, bringing safety into practical decisions rather than leaving it solely to adult instruction.

Communication with families had a tangible learning element in August 2022. Children borrowed books and story sacks to use at home, creating an activity that parents and children could share. This connected nursery experiences with family time and gave parents something concrete to join in with.

The August 2022 menu was vegetarian, and children discussed food in relation to health. Staff responded promptly when a child’s dietary requirements were missed and revised their procedures to prevent a recurrence. For a family managing dietary needs, the important detail is how information reaches the adults serving food and how those arrangements work in practice.

Staff wellbeing also received attention in August 2022. A member of the team worked with management to identify colleagues’ worries. This was a practical support mechanism within the nursery, although the teaching-development systems still needed to do more to help staff build children’s skills progressively.

The address is Daisy Bank Road Childrens Centre, 78a Daisy Bank Road, Manchester, M14 5GL.

Opening hours run from 7.30am until 6pm on Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year and closes for bank holidays. These are opening hours; families should distinguish the nursery’s operating day from the attendance arrangement they choose for their child.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0161 248 5889, by email or through the contact form.

In August 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

• Teaching sequence. The August 2022 improvement priorities concerned individual learning and the progression of skills. At a visit, ask how practitioners decide when a child is ready to move from preparatory skills to activities such as letter formation.
• Dietary procedures. By August 2022, staff had changed procedures following an incident in which a child’s dietary needs were not met. Families with allergies or other dietary needs should discuss how their child’s requirements are communicated and followed at mealtimes.
• Outdoor and quieter spaces. Daisy Bank has both a forest school and a sensory room. During a visit, explore how children use these spaces and how staff balance physical activity with opportunities for a calmer pace.
• Attendance and costs. The nursery opens across the year and closes on bank holidays. Ask which booking arrangements and funded entitlements fit your child, and how meals and non-food consumables affect the total cost.

Daisy Bank suits families seeking care across the year who value substantial outdoor space and a sensory room within a purpose-built children’s centre. Its physical offer is clear, and the August 2022 examples give the setting character: ice exploration, den construction and caring for chickens were meaningful parts of children’s experiences then.

The decision should also take account of the teaching priorities. Matching activities to each child’s readiness, allowing time for responses and developing skills in order are central questions here. For families weighing this nursery, the strongest combination is its current environment and a close look at how practitioners now put individual learning into practice.