Evergreen Early Years, Ladyewell

A listed former school, a covered outdoor area for babies and countryside walks give Evergreen Early Years, Ladyewell a clear identity. Its setting on Fernyhalgh Lane combines substantial indoor rooms with outdoor space, including an allotment. For families who value room to explore, those are useful, concrete attractions.

The nursery has 72 places in total for children aged 0 to 60 months. At its 18 May 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged it Good, found safeguarding effective and recognised that individual plans and professional links supported children with SEND to make progress. That judgement needs to be read alongside the later supervision incident described below.

Attendance choices include full days, shorter days and morning or afternoon sessions, with both year-round and term-time arrangements.

Rooms and Ages

Buttercups, for ages 0 to 2, occupies a double room with cots in a designated sleeping area and has its own outdoor space with soft flooring beneath an all-weather cover. This separates babies' outdoor play from the older children's areas and gives sleep a defined place within their room.

Sunflowers, for ages 2 to 4, has substantial space indoors and outside for learning and play. Pre-schoolers use a renovated double classroom, where an early years teacher combines planned learning with children's own play to prepare them for school.

Elsewhere in the Ladyewell layout, the room for children aged 2 to 3 opens directly into a fenced garden and an enclosed allotment. Preschool children also spend time outdoors, while the baby garden provides an enclosed area with resources suited to younger children. These are different outdoor arrangements for different stages, rather than one shared space serving every age.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the required foundation for children's learning, development and care: everyday play and planned activities develop communication, physical skills and relationships alongside other areas of learning. Ladyewell's preschool teaching combines structured activities with free play, giving children opportunities both to follow their interests and to encounter something an adult has planned.

In May 2023, younger children explored dough using their fingers and toys to make impressions. Children also practised using scissors safely, then tried those skills for themselves during play. These examples show how practical tasks can build independence through repeated use, rather than through instructions alone.

Language teaching needed more attention at that time. Stories introduced vocabulary, but frequent adult questions sometimes crowded out children's responses and interrupted play. The improvement priority was more sustained conversation, with space for children to contribute. Staff also needed to explain rules and expectations more consistently so children understood the reasons behind them.

Outdoor and Community Life

Ladyewell shrine is a named destination down the lane, alongside countryside walks and visits to nearby woodland. The setting's semi-rural position therefore adds places to explore beyond its garden.

In May 2023, children rode bikes outdoors to practise balance and coordination, and outings included a local farm and nature walks. Those activities connected physical play with experiences beyond the nursery grounds.

The Buttercups sleeping area is a practical consideration for families with babies: cots and soft furnishings sit within their double room. Its separate covered outdoor area also gives the youngest children an outdoor space designed for their stage.

In May 2023, support for children with SEND included individual plans and contact with professionals involved in their care. This gave staff a way to coordinate support around a child's needs. The same month's communication arrangements needed further development so every parent received a sufficiently detailed exchange of information.

Supervision deserves direct attention. Before the 18 May 2023 inspection, a child had been left alone in the secure outdoor area; changes followed to transitions, risk assessment and staff deployment. On 17 June 2024, Ofsted's regulatory visit found a requirement had not been met following an April 2024 notification that a child had been left outdoors in the garden for about fourteen minutes, and recorded immediate corrective action, including staff briefings, clearer communication, high-visibility vests, a whiteboard tally and repeated headcounts.

The later event matters because it repeated the central supervision concern. The corrective measures are concrete, but families should examine how they work during movements between rooms and outdoor areas, especially when a member of staff is unfamiliar with the setting.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Fernyhalgh Lane, Fulwood, Preston, PR2 5ST. Opening hours are 7.45am to 5.45pm, Monday to Friday, with year-round attendance across 51 weeks and a Christmas closure; weekends and bank holidays are also closed.

Full days run from 7.45am to 5.45pm. Morning sessions run from 7.45am to 12.45pm, while afternoons run from 12.45pm to 5.45pm. Privately paid shorter days run from 8am to 4pm or 9am to 5pm. These choices serve different working patterns, so the shorter-day arrangements deserve as much attention as the full-day window.

Funded shorter days have their own times: 8.30am to 4pm or 9.30am to 5pm. The earlier option can start at 8am with separately paid additional care. Funding patterns include two shorter days, or one longer day plus one session, for 15-hour funding; 30-hour funding can use four shorter days or three longer days.

Bookings can be made no more than 9 months ahead. A paid-days booking carries an administration charge; a term-time funded-only booking carries a refundable deposit, returned within 4 weeks of starting. These are different arrangements for different types of place.

Getting There

The nursery is close to M6 junction J32 and has a large car park beside the building. The front entrance has one step, with side access for wheelchair users.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 9 month, FEE2, 2yr, universal 15 and extended 30 hours funding. Entitlement is used during 38 term-time weeks; children attending for 51 weeks pay for their chosen sessions during the additional 13 weeks. Spreading invoices across the year does not turn this into stretched funding.

Privately paid fees include food, milk, nappies and consumables; funded days carry separate food, non-food consumables and activity charges. Funded families can request to opt out by emailing the manager, with alternatives including specified shorter-day patterns, bringing lunch and snacks under the packed-lunch policy, and individual consideration of charges.

Invoices separate entitlement hours from paid care and extras. The fees page links to Ladyewell's terms; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Repeated supervision concern. The June 2024 action followed another outdoor supervision incident after the changes made before the 18 May 2023 inspection. On a visit, ask staff to demonstrate how headcounts, handovers and briefings operate when children move outdoors.
• Conversation and expectations. In May 2023, children needed more opportunity for reciprocal conversation and clearer explanations of rules. Ask how staff now leave space for children's responses and make expectations understandable.
• Different shorter-day clocks. Funded and privately paid shorter days use different hours. Match the precise funded or paid pattern to your working day, including any additional care at the beginning.
• Baby sleep and settling. Buttercups has a defined sleeping area within its double room. During a visit, discuss how your child's sleep routine and settling needs would fit that arrangement.

Ladyewell suits families seeking countryside experiences and substantial indoor and outdoor space, whether they need full days, shorter days or morning and afternoon sessions. Buttercups' covered outdoor area and the older children's garden and allotment give the physical setting substance.

The Good judgement from May 2023 provides a dated assessment of quality. The repeated supervision concern makes present-day handovers and outdoor checks a central part of the decision, alongside the exact attendance pattern and funded extras.