Little Achievers Day Nursery

Recycled tyres, vegetable growing and preschool access to Little Achievers Urban Forest School Nursery give Little Achievers Day Nursery in Ribbleton a clear outdoor identity. Its Reggio Emilia Approach puts children's interests at the centre of learning, with practitioners developing activities around what catches their attention. This is a nursery for families who value exploration and a day shaped partly by their child.

Children aged 3 months to 5 years attend the Chatburn Road setting. At its July 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, while identifying improvements needed in language teaching, independence and the consistency of curriculum delivery. Those qualifications matter alongside the grade.

Full daycare and flexible paid sessions serve different attendance needs. Funded childcare can be taken during term time or spread across the nursery year.

Rooms and Ages

Age groups have separate rooms, with spaces connected to ease movement between them. Each room has a lead or senior practitioner. For children moving up, the physical connection between rooms is supported by a handover between key people, rather than treating the change as simply a new place to play.

Pre-school has bi-folding doors and natural light, giving children an accessible connection between inside and outside. Elsewhere, the outdoor space adjoining the younger children's room combines bark, grass and paving with a climbing frame. These are different environments for movement and play, rather than one outdoor space serving every stage in exactly the same way.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning and care, covering communication, physical development, relationships and learning through play. Alongside it, the Reggio Emilia Approach gives children's interests a central role in deciding what happens next. Practitioners observe what children enjoy and introduce related opportunities to extend their exploration.

Construction, role play, water and mark making are among the play areas. A quiet area provides a different pace. Resources can be rearranged, and children can take part at a table or on the floor, allowing the activity's presentation to change around individual needs.

Learning journeys bring together photographs, written observations and communication about each child's development. Their value is practical: parents can see examples of what their child has been doing, rather than receiving only a broad account of progress. Termly reports and discussions with the key person add another opportunity to review development.

In July 2023, children investigated insects with collecting pots and magnifiers, while staff adapted play spaces around favourite stories and characters. However, vocabulary teaching varied between practitioners, and questions sometimes gave children little room to develop a longer answer. Group activities also lacked consistently clear learning intentions, with the manager's curriculum approach still becoming established.

Outdoor and Community Life

Raised planters let children grow vegetables, while bikes and toys use the preschool outdoor area's hard surface. A sensory garden offers another setting for exploration. Reused wood and tyres add materials to investigate, making the outdoor offer about more than exercise alone.

Preschool children can attend forest school at Little Achievers Urban Forest School Nursery during their nursery attendance. Forest school is an outdoor learning approach; here, access to another setting extends the environments children experience. It is a specific part of this branch's offer, rather than an assumption based on the wider group's name.

In July 2023, regular swimming lessons added another physical activity. Children also used climbing equipment and wheeled toys outside. These are dated examples of the nursery day, separate from its current forest school arrangement.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who monitors development and acts as the family's main contact. Observations inform planning, and an initial assessment follows a settling period. That connection gives parents someone who can discuss their child's interests, changes and concerns in detail.

Communication works in both directions through the parent app: practitioners share the day's activities and eating, while families can add information from home. Parent information weeks take place each term, with appointments at other times for families who cannot attend. Regular stay and play events give parents a way to take part in activities alongside their children.

Room moves have their own preparation. An internal transition document sets out visits to the next room, and the existing key person passes information to the new one. School transitions include a document for the receiving school and invitations for teachers to meet children in familiar surroundings. This supports continuity of information as well as familiarity with new adults.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND support has a defined route: concerns go from the key person to the SENCO, with targeted learning plans and specialist advice where appropriate. Parents receive the plans, and their permission is sought before a specialist teacher becomes involved. This describes how support is organised, rather than promising the same intervention for every child.

Picture labels help children identify resources. Visual aids and advance warning of changes can support daily routines, while provision mapping distinguishes everyday support from additional or more intensive intervention. Planning for outings includes accessibility and the needs of the children taking part.

The single-storey building has wheelchair access, ramps to outdoor play and an accessible toilet for adults and children. Resources can move to accommodate activities in different positions. These physical arrangements give families concrete points to consider alongside individual support planning.

In July 2023, adults sometimes stepped in too quickly with coats, handwashing and construction play. The resulting improvement priority was to give children more opportunities to do things themselves. For parents, that is a useful distinction: attentive help should also leave space for a child to practise.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Chatburn Road, Ribbleton, Preston, PR2 6BJ. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. Closures include bank holidays and a week at Christmas.

Full daycare is offered, and paid sessions can be flexible for parents working shifts. Funded sessions follow a set arrangement to accommodate the 30-hour entitlement. The difference between flexible paid attendance and a structured funded pattern matters when planning a working week.

Enquiries can be made through the nursery's contact form or by telephone on 01772 704664. A pram store supports families bringing children by buggy. Wide parking spaces and wheelchair access are practical features of the site; its position also has links to the M6.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible children aged 2, 3 and 4, including 30 hours. Families can use the entitlement during term time or spread it across 51 weeks while the nursery is open. These are different ways of arranging attendance, so the chosen pattern needs to fit the family's childcare week. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Language and independence. The July 2023 improvement priorities included extending vocabulary, allowing children to do more for themselves and making group teaching more consistent. On a visit, ask how practitioners now put those priorities into everyday play.
• Shift work and funding. Paid sessions can be flexible, while funded sessions follow a set pattern. Discuss a typical working week alongside the intended funded attendance before choosing a booking arrangement.
• The complete cost. Term-time and stretched funding are offered. Ask for the current written quotation to separate additional hours, meals and non-food consumables for your chosen pattern.
• Show-around arrangements. Nursery tours are arranged after 4pm and require photo identification. Plan the visit around that timing, with particular attention to the room your child would use and its outdoor access.

Little Achievers suits families seeking either full daycare or flexible paid sessions, with an interest in child-led activities and outdoor learning. Vegetable growing, accessible indoor and outdoor spaces, and preschool forest school access give that offer substance. The key-person system and detailed SEND procedures also provide concrete ways for families to stay involved.

The Good judgement from July 2023 comes with clear teaching priorities. Language development, independence and consistent group learning deserve as much attention as the outdoor attractions when deciding whether this nursery fits your child.