Branching Out

A large garden, a separate baby room and a kitchen within Sabden Baptist Church give Branching Out a clear identity: outdoor exploration with a quieter space for its youngest children. Growing plants and daily outdoor play sit alongside creative work indoors.

Branching Out has 24 places in total for children aged 12–60 months. At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and found safeguarding effective, with strengths in communication, independence and learning through everyday activities. That judgement is dated; the current offer includes weekly Spanish lessons and dance sessions, plus app communication that connects families with the nursery day.

Funded core hours can be used during term time or stretched across the year, with separately charged additions before and after them. The practical distinction is Friday: closing time is earlier than on the other weekdays.

Rooms and Ages

The church venue combines a well-equipped hall with a separate, calmer baby room. Younger children have their own space alongside the hall used for indoor activities.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guides learning through play, exploration and practical experiences, helping children develop their communication, physical skills and understanding of the world. Branching Out adds inspiration from Forest School, an approach centred on learning through contact with nature. Here, the concrete expression is a garden developed for exploring, planting and outdoor learning every day.

Weekly Spanish lessons introduce another language, while dance provides a recurring movement activity. Spanish takes place on Tuesdays and dance on Wednesdays; both carry separate charges, with an opt-out on request. Families choosing particular attendance days should therefore consider whether these sessions are part of the experience they want.

In June 2022, children prepared vegetables for lunch, mixed dough and painted butterflies, combining practical independence with creativity and hand control.

During that same period, counting, shapes and the ideas of whole and half were woven into everyday activities. Staff also drew on families' cultural backgrounds, introduced languages and used simple signing. The improvement point was equally specific: adults sometimes stepped in before children had enough time to think through a problem and express an answer. Patient conversation mattered as much as the activity itself.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily garden use combines plant growing with active play, making contact with nature part of the routine.

In June 2022, the outdoor experience included a field, a low wall, a tractor tyre and pallets used in physical challenges. Children devised obstacle courses, practised yoga and watered herbs and vegetables they had planted. These details show how movement and responsibility were combined: children could test their balance and then take care of something living.

Relationships and Communication

A consistent key person approach gives relationships a defined place in the current offer.

In June 2022, extra time was being devoted to helping children settle and learn to socialise following the pandemic. Close relationships with staff helped children communicate their feelings. This is historical practice, but it gives parents a concrete topic for a visit: how the nursery adapts the settling process to an individual child now.

Ovivio, the nursery's parent communication app, brings daily care and learning information together. Parents receive diary updates covering sleep, meals, routines and activities, alongside photographs and developmental observations. Golden Moments are staff-shared learning updates within that system. The value is practical: families can follow both the care routine and the experiences that mattered to their child.

Two-way messaging, news and announcements keep communication in the app alongside booked sessions, extra-session requests and payment information.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The current approach is responsive to children's individual interests and needs. The team includes early-years and special-needs degree expertise and a qualified Forest School Leader. Those are useful areas of experience alongside the nursery's nature-based approach; they do not, by themselves, establish how support will be arranged for a particular child.

In June 2022, books about emotions and mindfulness activities helped children recognise feelings and practise calming themselves. This gave emotional vocabulary a practical use during the day. The emphasis was on helping children understand and express what they felt, alongside learning how to behave with others.

Meals are prepared by a chef in the church venue's kitchen. Branching Out operates a published peanut-free policy and asks families to keep food containing peanuts off the premises.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at Sabden Baptist Church, Clitheroe Road, Sabden, Clitheroe, BB7 9HD. Opening hours run from 7:30am to 5:30pm on Monday to Thursday, with Friday finishing at 4:00pm.

Funded core hours run from 8:30am to 4:00pm. Eligible families can use funding across 38 school weeks or stretch it over 48 weeks; term-time use is available on request. This offers two different attendance arrangements, but the funded window and the nursery's overall opening hours are separate things.

Additional AM sessions run from 7:30am to 8:30am; the PM addition has a 4:00pm to 5:30pm window where offered. They are separately charged and booked through Ovivio, subject to availability. Hours beyond a family's funding entitlement are paid hours, so a written quotation should match the child's intended attendance rather than simply the opening window.

Closures include Easter, Christmas and summer, plus occasional church funerals with at least one week's notice. Contingency care involves another venue or a day out, so the shared premises affect childcare planning.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form. Once a child is enrolled, the nursery provides app access and support with getting started, linking the joining process to the communication system used during attendance.

Funding and Paid Extras

Branching Out accepts 15 and 30 hour funded childcare, subject to eligibility, as well as childcare vouchers and Tax-Free Childcare. Additional private hours sit alongside the funded entitlement. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the sessions and fees page explains the charge structure.

Meals, snacks and items such as sun cream and nappy cream are covered by a separate voluntary charge, including during funded attendance. Families may opt out and supply their own under the Healthy Eating policy; nappies are supplied by parents. That distinction matters when comparing the attendance quotation with the everyday items a family will still send from home.

Payments are made in advance at the beginning of the month through Ovivio or Tax-Free Childcare. Separate charges also apply to unpaid fees and late collection. Spanish and dance have their own charges, with an opt-out available on request, so the total arrangement depends on both attendance and chosen activities.

• Friday collection. Friday's 4:00pm closing time conflicts with the PM addition's 4:00pm–5:30pm window. Ask which days that addition operates before planning collection across the working week.
• Shared church premises. Holiday closures and occasional funerals affect the calendar, with contingency care at another venue or a day out. Discuss how those arrangements work for your child's routine.
• Settling and thinking time. In June 2022, children received extra settling support, but adults sometimes intervened too quickly during learning. On a visit, ask how settling is personalised and how staff give children space to formulate their own answers.
• Food from home. Opting out of the voluntary meals and consumables charge involves supplying your own under the Healthy Eating policy. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice against the nursery's peanut-free policy.

Branching Out suits families who want daily garden learning, practical creativity and a separate space for younger children. Term-time funded attendance and stretched funded attendance serve different family routines, with paid AM and PM additions extending the core window where booked.

The strongest practical features are easy to identify: a garden used every day, meals prepared on site and Ovivio updates that connect parents with care and learning. The earlier Friday finish and church-related closures deserve equal weight in the decision. Its Good June 2022 judgement provides a dated quality reference; the best fit is a family whose childcare calendar works with this particular venue and attendance structure.