Ladybird Private Day Nursery, Eccles

A former doctor’s surgery, daily outdoor play and a settling plan built around home routines give Springfield House a clear character. Ladybird Private Day Nursery, Eccles occupies a Victorian building on New Lane, with provision running from babies through to preschool children. Its appeal lies in the everyday detail: a familiar key person, introductory sessions adapted to each child and opportunities to practise doing things independently.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 10 October 2023 inspection. The current age range is three months to five years, with capacity for 87 children in total. That whole-nursery figure should be kept separate from the size of an individual room or the number attending on a particular day.

Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings serve different family routines, alongside term-time and year-round arrangements for funded hours. The strongest reasons to consider Springfield House are its individual settling arrangements, age-related room provision and practical emphasis on growing independence. Communication development and helping parents extend learning at home were the two improvement priorities in October 2023, and deserve attention alongside those strengths.

Rooms and Ages

Babies and Tweenies covers the youngest room stage, labelled 0–18 months, with sensory and malleable play, rhymes, communication and weaning activities. A daily diary gives families an account of their child’s day, while information about activities at home can travel in the other direction. For parents of a baby, that exchange helps connect nursery experiences with familiar routines rather than treating the two as separate worlds.

Tots & Toddlers, for 18 months to three years, is divided between rooms according to children’s age and development, with free play, self-care, mark making and early maths alongside quiet and sensory areas. Preschool & Ladybird Learners, for three to five years, uses open-plan rooms for play that includes early science, literacy, technology and independent dressing. These are practical differences between stages: the toddler provision emphasises expressing feelings and managing personal routines, while the older children encounter activities that support their move towards school life.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care, with play supporting language, physical development, early literacy and maths. It is the foundation here, rather than an extra programme. In the preschool provision, an early years teacher follows children’s progress to support their preparation for school.

Stretch & grow adds an exercise class to the toddler activities. Its value in the daily offer is straightforward: movement has an organised place alongside quieter play, songs and activities involving hands and materials. The class sits within the nursery day, rather than replacing its broader play-based learning.

In October 2023, children returned repeatedly to a book of the month and explored related activities, including an outdoor search for story characters. Repetition gave them opportunities to anticipate the story and join in with its telling. This was a concrete example of reading reaching beyond a single story session.

Independence also had practical expression in October 2023. Babies used spoons to fill containers with sand, while older children helped themselves to food and poured drinks. Other tasks included preparing the lunch table and cleaning a chalk board. These were small, manageable responsibilities through which children could practise coordination and taking care of their surroundings.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play happens daily, with bikes and trikes, planting, balancing, climbing and a mud kitchen among the activities. Sand and water play and group storytelling give the outdoor offer more than a purely exercise-based role. Children can move, explore materials and continue imaginative or language activities outside.

The combination matters more than any single piece of equipment. A child interested in movement has cycling and balancing opportunities; one absorbed in making or pretending can use the mud kitchen or sand and water. The outdoor day therefore connects with several kinds of play already taking place indoors.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with free introductory sessions and visits spread over one or two weeks, adjusted to the child’s age, development and individual needs. Families complete an all about me document so staff can keep nursery routines close to those at home. That gives the settling process a useful starting point: information about the particular child, rather than a single timetable applied to everyone.

A key person is allocated before attendance begins and remains the family’s familiar contact through settling and beyond. For the youngest children, the daily diary adds another means of communication. These arrangements give parents a clear relationship to build and a regular way to exchange information about their child’s experiences.

In October 2023, curriculum information reached families through a monthly newsletter, but the next steps in children’s learning were not explained specifically enough to help parents continue them at home. The distinction matters: knowing what a group has been doing is different from knowing which conversation, story or activity would help your own child next.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support strong, with an experienced coordinator working with other professionals to help children make progress. These are dated judgements about practice, rather than assurances about every future experience.

In October 2023, staff responded to babies’ tiredness by providing somewhere quiet to rest and involved children respectfully in personal care. Children also practised everyday safety, including careful movement on stairs and keeping scissors at the table. The emphasis was on making routines understandable as well as managing them for children.

Breakfast, lunch and high tea are cooked on the premises by a chef, with a nutritionist contributing to menu planning and a four-week menu rotation. Individual dietary requirements, including allergies and religious needs, are accommodated within the nursery’s meal arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

Springfield House is at 110 New Lane, Eccles, Manchester, M30 7JE. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with bank holidays excluded. Families can make enquiries through the contact form or by calling 0161 707 4280.

Full-day attendance runs from 7.30am to 6pm, with bookings for individual days through to a full Monday-to-Friday week. The morning session is 7.30am to 12.30pm; the afternoon session runs from 1pm to 6pm. Those shorter patterns provide a different option from committing to the whole opening day.

Shift patterns may be accommodated, subject to availability, but the requested sessions must be confirmed in writing at least four weeks ahead. That is a useful operational rule for parents whose work schedule changes: flexibility still requires forward planning. Additional hours, sessions or days can also be booked privately in advance.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the council’s two-year-old funding and working-family funding from nine months, subject to eligibility. The offer includes up to 30 hours a week during term time; up to 15 funded hours can instead be taken across 38 term-time weeks or stretched to up to 11 hours a week throughout the year. The attendance pattern and entitlement need to be considered together, since stretching changes the weekly allocation.

Funded morning and afternoon sessions carry additional session charges. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, which should set out the funded booking alongside any extra privately paid attendance.

• Communication development. In October 2023, staff sometimes missed obstacles to speech development, including frequent dummy use. Discuss how staff now recognise and respond to those barriers for your child.
• Learning at home. October 2023 improvement priorities included giving parents more useful guidance about extending learning. At a visit, ask for an example of the individual next steps families receive.
• Funded-session costs. Morning and afternoon funded sessions carry additional charges. Ask for a written breakdown explaining what these cover, including the position on meals and non-food consumables.
• Settling around family needs. Free introductory sessions run over one or two weeks, while shift bookings require four weeks’ written notice. Use the visit to discuss how those arrangements fit your working pattern and, where relevant, your child’s allergy requirements.

Springfield House suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with a settling process that starts from the child’s home routine. Its daily outdoor offer, open-plan preschool provision and practical self-care activities give parents concrete reasons to consider it.

The October 2023 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, but the communication and home-learning priorities remain useful questions for a visit. For families weighing a shorter booking against a full day, the combination of published session choices and a familiar key person is the clearest practical attraction.