Early Years Centre At Staghills

Coloured ice, animal puppets and familiar songs give Early Years Centre At Staghills a concrete early-years character. At its December 2025 inspection, Ofsted awarded strong standard judgements across achievement, behaviour and routines, welfare, curriculum and teaching, inclusion and leadership, with safeguarding standards met.

The centre is based at Staghills Nursery School in Newchurch and has capacity for 12 children from birth to five. Its December 2025 daily life centred on babies and young children practising small steps towards independence, from joining group activities to finding familiar adults when they needed comfort.

In December 2025, learning combined sensory exploration with conversation and early number work. Children experimented with coloured ice, feeling its temperature and making marks as it melted. Staff used questions to extend the activity, giving children something tangible to discuss rather than treating speaking as a separate exercise.

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, play, stories and everyday routines provided opportunities to practise those skills. Children counted animal puppets and joined repeated lines in familiar stories. Songs, tidying and sitting together also prepared them for the routines of nursery school.

Outdoor play offered opportunities to practise movement in the fresh air. By December 2025, the outdoor area had been developed to give babies more physical experiences. That made movement part of the learning offer alongside language and sensory play.

At the December 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff identified learning gaps promptly, worked with special educational needs coordinators and external professionals on individual next steps, and supported children's rapid learning through purposeful interactions.

In December 2025, familiar adults provided comfort when babies were tired or unwell, and babies had a quiet space for sleep. Children sought staff help with problems, while adults helped them practise sharing and taking turns. These were practical ways of supporting participation in the day.

Home-cooked food formed part of mealtimes in December 2025, and staff shared information about children's dietary needs. Handwashing before eating and learning to blow their noses gave children manageable responsibilities for their own care.

Parents' involvement and attendance were also priorities that month. Leaders worked with families who were harder to engage, while staff development followed children's emerging needs; reduced workloads gave practitioners more time for interaction.

The address is Staghills Nursery School, Top Barn Lane, Newchurch, BB4 7UE. The centre operates throughout the year, closing on bank holidays. This is a useful distinction for families organising care beyond school terms.

• Planning care around work. The centre operates throughout the year. At a visit, what attendance pattern and daily hours would apply to your child, and how would funding, meals and consumables be handled?
• The next level of practice. The December 2025 next steps called for leaders to sustain high standards and pursue a more substantial impact on children's experiences and outcomes. The strong judgements provide a positive starting point, alongside that continuing development goal.

For families seeking year-round care, Staghills offers an encouraging December 2025 picture of learning through close adult interaction, sensory exploration and everyday independence. Its strongest decision value lies in the detail: babies could rest quietly, children practised language through stories and play, and additional support involved individual planning. Families weighing care for a baby or young child have substantial inspection detail to consider.