Edenfield Nursery

Language, stories and outdoor exploration give Edenfield Nursery its character. Children revisit familiar books, practise listening through Letters and Sounds Phase 1 games, and learn outdoors each day. For parents, that brings a clear emphasis: conversation and practical play run through the curriculum rather than sitting in separate lessons.

At its February 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Edenfield Outstanding overall and across all four areas assessed. That judgement belongs to a dated visit, but the detail behind it is useful: learning activities progressed from simple construction tasks to using real tools, while outdoor equipment offered physical challenges.

Based in Nelson, the nursery has capacity for 100 children aged two to four. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions operate during term time, giving families a choice between shorter attendance and a day spanning both sessions.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning, development and care, covering language, movement, relationships, mathematics, literacy, creativity and understanding the world. Edenfield combines children's chosen play with practitioner-led activities, adapting annual topic plans to their interests and needs.

Conversations, songs and shared stories run through the day. Familiar books are revisited to build vocabulary and encourage retelling, while a weekly rhyme gives children recognisable language to sing or chant together.

Letters and Sounds Phase 1 adds early listening and phonics games, individually or in small groups. Children distinguish sounds, explore rhyme and play with words, practising the listening skills that precede sounding out words. These activities sit alongside play in the curriculum.

Mathematical resources support counting, calculation and exploring shape and measurement. Physical activities include hopping, cycling and skipping, alongside smaller movements such as threading beads and building with blocks. Painting and drawing give children ways to express ideas while practising the movements needed for later mark-making. These are hands-on experiences, with language and coordination woven into the activity.

In February 2022, toddlers hammered golf tees into foam; preschool children built on that skill by making a wooden toy with real tools. Reading spaces included cushions, seating, drapes and gentle lighting for shared stories and looking at books alone.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor learning is a daily part of the curriculum, with children using both indoor and outdoor spaces during adult-led activities and their own play. The large outdoor creative area supports exploration and physical activity. Families are asked to supply wellies that stay at nursery and clothing suited to changing weather, making outdoor participation a practical part of the routine.

In February 2022, outdoor play included a climbing tree with steps and a rope ladder, a giant sandpit, listening walks and growing vegetables and plants. Children could practise climbing, notice sounds around them and follow living things as they grew. Those concrete experiences help explain the outdoor emphasis more clearly than a general promise of fresh air.

Edenfield's LCC Step into Quality Award involves team reflection on routines, learning spaces, interactions and relationships with parents. Its Lancashire Quality Award - Maths in Early Years considers mathematical opportunities in everyday routines as well as resources indoors and outdoors.

Relationships and Communication

Each child's key person and key team plan activities around individual needs and support settling and preparation for school, giving families a recognisable point of contact.

Advance settling sessions help children become familiar with nursery. Parents can share home-language words for staff to use and telephone for updates; staff also let families know if settling is difficult.

Class Dojo carries updates and reminders; Tapestry records development through photographs, videos and diary entries. Daily conversations and parents' evenings add opportunities to discuss progress beyond the online journals.

Family involvement extends beyond updates. Social gatherings take place at least once a term, with a garden picnic and a fun run in summer. An initial key-person consultation is offered six to eight weeks after starting, followed by further discussions when needed and a final consultation in the child's last term. Before a child moves to school, families can comment on a transfer document drawn from the Learning Journal before it is shared to help the receiving teacher plan.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Practitioners raise developmental concerns with the SENCO, who agrees an approach with parents and the key person. Families participate in decisions, with consent sought before outside professionals become involved.

At the February 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, exceptional progress in communication and language, and staff helping families obtain professional support for children with SEND. At that visit, practitioners used children's home languages alongside English and learnt unfamiliar words when needed. Children also used emotion jars to express how they felt, creating a starting point for conversations about feelings.

Current safeguarding arrangements include a child protection co-ordinator and training for staff. Collection is restricted to parents, guardians or people authorised by the family. Health communication is also specific: a head injury prompts an immediate telephone call, while other accidents are recorded for parents to acknowledge.

For severe allergies, the manager and key person assess risks during settling visits, then agree a care plan and emergency procedures with the family. This is an individual planning process, with medical professionals involved when required. Toilet training is coordinated with the key person, including the words, signs or pictures the child uses at home, so familiar communication can continue at nursery.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8.30am to 11.30am, afternoons from noon to 3pm, and full days from 8.30am to 3pm. Attendance is Monday to Friday during term time only. The 3pm finish and holiday closures are important planning points for parents arranging work around childcare.

Applications can be made online, with enquiries by telephone on 01282 931 354 or email to admin@edenfieldnursery.com. The application includes language, dietary, medical and additional-support information, allowing families to pass on these details together.

Getting There

The address is Fountains Of Knowledge, The Innovation Centre, Brunswick Street, Nelson, Lancashire, BB9 0PQ. Free car parking is provided, which is useful for families travelling by car.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for children aged two, three and four, delivered within the term-time attendance model. The funding options include 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds, 30 hours for eligible families, and 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds. Eligibility is a condition of the additional and two-year-old offers, rather than a promise that every family can use them.

Private sessions are offered for families without funding, and additional private hours can be purchased. Private session charges exclude lunch, snacks and trips; the charges page sets out that structure, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Children attending full days bring a packed lunch; the nursery provides snacks and drinks. Parents supply nappies and wipes when needed, including during funded attendance; the funded-hours offer also excludes meals, additional hours and activities such as trips.

Payment is by standing order, with fees due at the beginning of each month. Cancelling a place or reducing sessions requires a month's written notice, with fees payable in lieu if insufficient notice is given. That makes changing attendance a contractual decision as well as a timetable adjustment.

• Term-time attendance. Sessions finish at 3pm and the nursery operates during term time only. Families needing care through school holidays or later afternoons will need an arrangement that covers those periods.
• Outdoor play and settling. Daily outdoor learning and advance settling sessions are part of Edenfield's routine. During a tour, discuss how your child will join outdoor activities and how the key team will use familiar words and comforts while they settle.
• Lunch, snacks and funded hours. Full-day children bring lunch and parents supply nappies and wipes. Request a written quotation separating private session charges from funded hours, and clarifying snack arrangements during funded attendance.
• Individual allergy planning. Severe allergies are addressed through a settling-stage risk assessment and agreed care plan. Families affected should confirm current food handling and emergency arrangements before their child starts.

Edenfield suits families seeking morning or afternoon nursery sessions, as well as those wanting a full term-time day. Its appeal is specific: listening games, repeated stories, daily outdoor learning and a key team that connects activities with individual needs. The February 2022 Outstanding judgement adds weight, while the current offer gives parents concrete attendance choices and communication arrangements to assess. The practical fit rests on the 3pm finish, term-time calendar and willingness to provide lunch and personal consumables.