Laroche Day Care Nursery

Sensory play for babies, a ground-floor Toddler room and preschool access to the garden give Laroche Day Care Nursery a clear progression through the early years. This Oldham Road setting in Rochdale combines free-choice play with organised activities, while a key person follows each child's development and keeps a learning journey that parents can contribute to. The practical emphasis is on continuity between home and nursery.

At its 8 October 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, with teaching needing to leave more room for children to investigate their own ideas and routines needing to encourage greater independence. That dated judgement gives families a useful starting point, rather than a description of today's practice. Laroche has capacity for 63 children, with an age range of 0 to 59 months.

Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings sit alongside funded attendance arrangements. The choice is useful, although the different funded session timetables deserve attention before a family settles on a pattern.

Rooms and Ages

Babies (under 2's) have sensory activities including Treasure Baskets, which contain objects with contrasting smells, sounds and textures, alongside books, water play and simple interactive games; staff maintain familiar home routines, and outdoor experiences include supervised exploration of grass, leaves and stones.

The Toddler room occupies the ground floor, with sections that can support individual work or open up for group activities, and an emphasis on construction, small-world play, sand and water. Activities are planned around children's interests.

The Preschool room combines early literacy and numeracy, physical activity and creative play with opportunities to choose activities and access the garden throughout the day. The change of stage brings more grown-up resources, with practitioners planning the move between rooms. School preparation here includes social confidence and independence as well as learning about letters and numbers.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework: children learn through play, conversation, movement and exploration, developing language, social skills and early understanding of reading and number. This is the shared early-years foundation, rather than a special programme unique to Laroche. Its curriculum information connects those areas with everyday experiences, from expressing ideas to investigating materials and making sense of the surrounding world.

The daily plans mix organised activities with opportunities for children to choose their play. For younger children, songs and circle time sit alongside meals, nappy care and rest; older children have indoor and outdoor activities, stories and creative work. That combination gives the day a recognisable structure while leaving space for different interests.

In October 2021, children investigated vegetables, helped cut them and used them in pretend cooking. They also mixed their own dough and experimented with mint to change its smell and colour. These examples make the learning tangible: everyday ingredients became materials to compare, manipulate and discuss. The same visit identified a limitation, however: children sometimes lacked time and space to investigate problems or test their ideas, and some moved on quickly from activities.

Outdoor and Community Life

In October 2021, outdoor play included scooters and bikes, with children balancing on ramps assembled from tyres and wooden planks. Shopping outings involved making ingredient lists before visiting a shop, while another experience involved watching construction machinery building houses. These were practical connections between nursery play and work happening beyond it, not simply changes of scenery.

Relationships and Communication

Free settling sessions give children an introduction to nursery. Each child has a key person who tracks their needs and keeps a detailed learning journey; parents can look at it whenever they wish and add experiences from home. The arrangement gives families a continuing point of contact and a way to connect learning across both settings.

Communication also has several everyday routes. Home daily books summarise activities, staff share news about the day, and an entrance-hall notice board carries menus, activity information and events. Parent evenings take place twice a year for an individual discussion about progress. Together, these offer both brief daily information and a more deliberate opportunity to discuss development.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2021 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well supported through activities adapted to their needs and links with other professionals.

For babies, maintaining familiar routines is an explicit part of care, and the timetable recognises that young babies may need morning as well as afternoon sleep. Meals are cooked on the premises, with parents involved in discussing what their children eat and drink. This makes food part of the continuing conversation between family and nursery.

Medication requires a Medication Consent Form, appropriate labelling and information about the previous dose; staff need the original packaging and prescribing information before administering it. If a child becomes unwell during attendance, staff comfort them separately while arranging collection. These procedures give parents concrete responsibilities to prepare for, alongside the nursery's response when a child needs care.

Sessions and Attendance

Laroche's address is Oldham Road, Rochdale, OL11 2HB. Telephone, email and an enquiry form provide contact routes, and families can book an appointment to look around. The nursery operates across 51 weeks, with bank holidays and Christmas closures.

Paid bookings include morning, afternoon and full-day attendance. Under the pricing and admission arrangements, 15 funded hours can be taken as three mornings, 8am to 1pm, or three afternoons, 1pm to 6pm; another arrangement spreads those hours across two days, 8.30am to 4pm. For 30 hours, the pattern is three days during term time or two days when stretched across the year.

The age-specific funding arrangements also include a full day combined with a half day and a school-day booking, 9.30am to 2.30pm.

Fees are paid in advance, either monthly or weekly, by standing order or bank transfer. Normal fees continue during holidays and illness, and ending a child's place requires one month's notice. Those terms matter when comparing the cost of a regular booking with the days a child is likely to attend.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both private childcare and funded childcare are offered, including 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements subject to eligibility. Funded attendance can run during term time or be stretched across the year. The pricing and admission information sets out the attendance structure; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Applicable meals and snacks are included in paid session prices, while funded attendance carries separate charges for food and non-food consumables such as wipes and sun cream. The funding terms label these additional charges voluntary and also identify extra hours and trips as outside the funded entitlement; a packed-lunch arrangement can be discussed with the nursery. Keeping these categories separate helps families compare the funded hours themselves with the additional services they intend to use.

• Funded session times. The pricing arrangements give mornings as 8am to 1pm and afternoons as 1pm to 6pm, while the age-specific funding arrangements give 7.45am to 12.45pm and 12.45pm to 5.45pm. Confirm which timetable applies to the intended booking before arranging work and collection.
• Independence in practice. In October 2021, children needed more opportunity to persist with their own ideas and do things themselves during routines, including meals. On a visit, ask how staff now support experimentation and children's participation at mealtimes.
• The complete funded package. Food, wipes and sun cream sit outside the funded hours, with additional charges labelled voluntary. Request a written quotation covering the chosen pattern and any packed-lunch arrangement so that the practical choices and total commitment are clear.

Laroche suits families considering morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with term-time and stretched funding patterns adding further options. For babies, familiar routines and sensory exploration are the strongest practical details; for older children, room progression and preschool garden access give the day a clear shape.

The October 2021 Good judgement is balanced by specific improvement priorities around independent thinking and everyday self-help. Key-person continuity, parent contributions to learning journeys and free settling sessions make this a nursery with concrete ways to involve families. Its attendance choices are useful, provided the applicable funded timetable and extras are settled before booking.