Ladybird Private Day Nursery, Folly Brook House

A purpose-built building, an open-plan preschool room and daily outdoor play give Folly Brook House a clear practical character. Tailored settling sessions connect home routines with nursery life.

At its April 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found that children made good progress, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, while safeguarding arrangements were effective. That judgement is dated. Later safeguarding and supervision findings in 2025 are material to a family's decision and are covered below.

Ladybird Private Day Nursery, Folly Brook House serves children aged 3 to 60 months and has 81 places in total. Its address is 99 Parrin Lane, Eccles, Manchester, M30 8AY. Full days, mornings and afternoons give families different attendance options rather than a single booking pattern.

Rooms and Ages

Babies and Tweenies covers the 0-2 Years stage, with communication, sensory exploration, songs and malleable materials shaping the activities, while a daily diary connects the child's nursery experiences with home. These rooms operate with one adult to three children. For parents of younger children, that diary offers a concrete account of the day rather than relying entirely on a conversation at collection. Families are also invited to share activities from home, giving practitioners something familiar to build on.

Tots & Toddlers, for 2-3 Years, combines a quiet area and sensory area with early maths, mark making, toilet training and opportunities to express feelings through play. Independence here means practical steps: managing personal care and gaining confidence with both adults and other children. The usual staffing arrangement is one adult to four children, better than the legal minimum of one to five for this age group.

Preschool, for 3-5 Years, occupies a spacious room with an open-plan layout, where early literacy, science, technology and self-care sit alongside dressing independently and making friends, connecting school preparation with everyday tasks.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) provides the framework for learning and care: children develop communication, physical skills and early literacy and maths through play and planned experiences. It is the shared foundation for early-years provision. At Folly Brook House, the room activities translate it into recognisable tasks, from songs with babies to mark making with toddlers and science with preschool children.

Stretch & grow is a toddler exercise class, adding a movement session alongside free play and self-care.

In April 2022, children drew pictures using flowers as a reference, with adults bringing bees and pollen into the conversation. Other interactions introduced vocabulary through the materials and instruments children were using. These examples show how an everyday activity could become a conversation with more precise words and ideas.

The April 2022 improvement priorities were equally specific. Adults sometimes stopped short of explaining how something worked and why, limiting opportunities to develop children's thinking. Mathematics also relied too heavily on activities directed by adults; children needed more chances to revisit mathematical ideas through play they chose themselves. Counting was present. Applying the learning independently needed more attention.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play takes place daily. A mud kitchen, bikes and trikes, gardening, balancing and climbing provide different ways to explore and move, while sand and water play and group storytelling broaden the outdoor activities beyond exercise alone.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts with free introductory sessions and visits tailored to the child and family over one or two weeks, according to age, development and individual needs.

A key person is assigned before attendance begins and remains a familiar contact for the family. A group-wide all about me document, also used at this branch, helps practitioners understand routines at home. Together, these arrangements give parents a specific person to communicate with and a structured way to explain what their child needs.

In April 2022, making memories sheets gathered experiences from home for children to develop with their key person. Family trees also supported conversations about relatives, and staff paid attention to children's expressions and body language. For a child still developing spoken language, those non-verbal signals were part of the interaction, rather than the conversation depending entirely on words.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In April 2022, staff worked with other professionals to address individual requirements for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The concrete mechanism was collaboration around the child, alongside the key-person relationship. During that same month, children practised independence by choosing fruit and pouring drinks, making personal care and participation part of daily life.

Ofsted's later regulatory document records safeguarding procedure failings at a July 2025 visit, with actions subsequently met through training. At the November 2025 call, the provider had already taken action to put further non-compliance right, introducing additional head-count arrangements to keep children accounted for and within sight or hearing. These repeated concerns about supervision and safeguarding procedures qualify the earlier Good judgement.

Breakfast, lunch and high tea are cooked on site, with menus rotating over four weeks and developed with input from a registered nutritionist, parents and children. The nursery's food arrangements take account of allergies and religious requirements.

Sessions and Attendance

Full days run from 7.30am to 6pm, with bookings for individual days or a Monday-to-Friday pattern. Morning sessions run from 7.30am to 12.30pm; afternoons run from 1pm to 6pm.

The nursery opens Monday to Friday throughout the year, excluding bank holidays. Funded attendance can follow a term-time or an all-year arrangement, so the nursery's opening calendar and a child's funded timetable are separate considerations.

Shift-pattern requests are considered, with the required sessions confirmed in writing at least four weeks ahead. This is a booking condition with a practical consequence: an irregular rota still needs forward planning. Additional hours, sessions or days can be booked privately alongside funded attendance.

Getting There

Folly Brook House is at 99 Parrin Lane, Winton, Manchester, M30 8AY. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by calling 0161 707 1234, and a personal tour can be requested through the visit-booking form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered from 9 months, subject to eligibility, including up to 30 hours a week in term time. The council's two-year-old funding and the working families' entitlement have separate eligibility routes: Salford's Starting Life Well team and HMRC respectively.

An entitlement of up to 15 hours weekly can be taken over 38 term-time weeks, or as up to 11 hours weekly across the year. That changes how the funded time fits around family routines; it does not make every attendance pattern interchangeable.

For funded morning and afternoon sessions, meals and activities carry separate charges. Additional private attendance is charged separately too. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, allowing families to consider their chosen pattern and its funded-session extras together.

• Safeguarding and supervision after the 2025 findings. July 2025 safeguarding actions were met. At the November 2025 call, the provider had already taken action to put further non-compliance right, including additional head-count arrangements. During a visit, ask how head counts and concerns about staff conduct are handled in everyday practice.
• Independent thinking and maths. The April 2022 priorities concerned fuller explanations and more mathematics within children's own play. Ask for examples of how these now work in the toddler and preschool rooms.
• An irregular working rota. Shift-pattern sessions require written confirmation at least four weeks ahead. Consider whether that notice period fits the way your employer issues rotas.
• Funded-session extras. Meals and activities are charged separately for funded mornings and afternoons. Request a written quotation for the intended pattern, including how consumables are handled; allergy-affected families should also confirm current food arrangements.

Folly Brook House suits families seeking full-day attendance or separate morning and afternoon sessions, with a tailored settling period and a key person established before care begins. Daily outdoor play, the toddler exercise class and an open-plan preschool room give the offer concrete substance.

The decision needs more than the April 2022 Good grade. Later safeguarding and supervision findings qualify that grade, while the thinking and maths improvement priorities concern explanations and learning through children's own play. For families whose schedules fit the booking rules, the combination of shorter sessions, full days and different funded attendance arrangements is practical; confidence in current supervision should be part of the final choice.