The Rainbow Nursery

Natural resources in Sunbeam Room, speech and language tracking through Welcomm and ICan, and occasional use of the neighbouring primary school’s play area give The Rainbow Nursery a recognisable character. Babies have textured spaces and wooden cots; older children have opportunities to use bikes, trikes and scooters when circumstances allow. The practical appeal is a combination of separate rooms for different stages and ways for parents to follow their child’s development.

Based at Preston East Children's Centre on Watling Street Road, Preston, PR2 6TU, the nursery has capacity for 43 children, with an accepted age range of 3 to 60 months. It shares premises with Brookfield Community Primary School. That setting matters to the daily experience, but nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place.

At its October 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), were making good progress. There were also specific weaknesses in staff development and the way some practitioners supported communication. Those details deserve as much attention as the headline grade.

Full days, morning and afternoon sessions, and flexible hours give families several attendance patterns to work with.

Rooms and Ages

Sunbeam Room serves babies: natural materials encourage exploration, while textured cosy areas, sensory lights and wooden cots support a day that follows familiar home routines.

For toddlers, Blue Bell Room provides an open-plan space, with responsive care intended to help children feel included and ready to participate. Rainbow Room is the preschool space, where observations inform activities across communication, physical development, personal and social development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for learning, development and care, bringing together language, relationships, movement, early literacy, mathematics and creative exploration. In Rainbow Room, the key person uses observations to plan a child’s next learning experiences. Planning follows each child’s development.

The nursery uses 2simple toolkit for observations, with Welcomm and ICan supporting speech and language tracking. Parents can discuss these observations with the key worker.

In October 2023, pretend medical play involved a stethoscope and vocabulary associated with medicines and pharmacies. Children also practised hand control by retrieving toy spiders with tweezers and manipulating dough. These examples show how an ordinary play activity can combine conversation, coordination and imaginative roles. They are examples from that period, rather than a timetable of activities promised today.

Communication was also the clearest area needing attention in October 2023. Some adults moved on before children had enough time to answer, failed to establish whether instructions had been understood, or modelled inaccurate language. Training needed to respond more closely to individual practitioners’ development needs. For families, the important distinction is between tracking language development and consistently supporting it in everyday conversation.

Outdoor and Community Life

Bikes, trikes and scooters are used when circumstances allow, and children sometimes use the primary school’s play area behind the nursery building. Sports day brings children and family members into a shared activity.

In October 2023, outdoor balancing equipment, yoga and block-building were among the activities children used to develop coordination. The examples covered both whole-body movement and careful hand movements. The current curriculum also includes cultural exchanges through pictures and other shared material, with visits to places of worship encouraged as part of learning about other cultures.

Relationships and Communication

A learning journey book holds observations, artwork and photographs, and parents can contribute accounts or pictures of experiences at home. Key-worker observations take place daily, with tracking each term. Families can look at the book or take it home, making it a usable record of development rather than something kept solely for staff.

In October 2023, settling sessions were adjusted to help children become familiar with nursery life. Staff also gathered information about the previous evening and changes that might affect the day ahead. That exchange has a clear purpose: a child’s tiredness, mood or recent experiences can shape the support they need that morning.

The health policy asks parents to share significant family changes, including a move or a new baby. It also requires written permission and a doctor’s prescription before staff administer medicine. Families managing regular medication need to plan around that condition, including the requirement for a prescription label on medicines such as Calpol.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support for children with additional needs includes working with outside agencies and gathering information about each child’s circumstances. This describes a mechanism for organising support. It gives parents a specific starting point for discussing how information from home and other professionals will be used.

In October 2023, staff worked with the children’s centre and school teachers to coordinate care and learning. Additional funding had also supported fresh fruit for families and discussion of healthy food. These were practical examples of support extending beyond an activity within the nursery room.

Food arrangements offer a choice: a hot lunch carries a separate charge, while families can send a named lunchbox; menus are displayed in the rooms each week, and children are offered snacks, fruit or vegetables, milk and water. Dietary requirements must be supplied in writing, and the lunchbox policy excludes nuts and foods containing them.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The full-day session uses that window; mornings run from 7.30am to 1pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. Half-day attendance is offered through those morning and afternoon options. Flexible hours also include school-hours attendance for preschool children, giving families another pattern alongside the fixed sessions.

The nursery operates for 51 weeks each year, closing on bank holidays and for a week between Christmas and New Year. Bank holidays still attract normal charges.

The address is Preston East Children's Centre, Watling Street Road, Preston, PR2 6TU. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 01772 793377, and visits can be booked. A visit is an opportunity to discuss the fit between the rooms, the child’s routine and the intended attendance pattern.

Funding and Paid Extras

In October 2023, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. Private childcare is also offered. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, with the fees page setting out the charge structure and withdrawal terms.

Nappies, wipes and sun cream fall outside the childcare price, and any nursery-supplied consumables are invoiced separately. There is no registration charge to book a place. Withdrawal requires at least four weeks’ notice, and late collection can attract an additional charge. These terms matter alongside the session choice when assessing the ongoing arrangement.

Sharing premises with Brookfield Community Primary School does not secure a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process. Occasional use of the school’s play area is a nursery experience, rather than an admissions advantage.

• Language support in practice. October 2023 highlighted uneven conversational support and training that needed closer tailoring. During a visit, ask how practitioners now give children time to respond and use the speech and language tracking tools in daily activities.
• The funding arrangement. Funded early education was offered in October 2023. Ask which entitlement and attendance pattern would apply to your child, and how meals and consumables would be treated within that booking.
• Food and allergies. Hot lunches are charged separately, and the lunchbox policy excludes nuts and nut-containing foods. Families affected by allergies should confirm the current arrangements for their child’s meals and snacks.
• Closures and withdrawal. Normal charges apply on bank holidays despite the nursery being closed, and withdrawal needs at least four weeks’ notice. Build both terms into the comparison with your family’s calendar.

The Rainbow Nursery suits families seeking full-day care, morning or afternoon attendance, or flexible preschool hours. Sunbeam Room’s home-routine approach, parent-accessible learning journeys and the outdoor equipment give that choice substance. The October 2023 Good judgement is useful context, alongside its specific concerns about language support and staff development. For a family choosing this nursery, the most useful visit discussion is how those everyday interactions work now.