Yogurt Pots

Community connections give Yogurt Pots its character: family play sessions take place at Salford Sports Village, while its nursery day combines indoor learning with outdoor exploration. This is a setting where the wider family offer matters alongside childcare. At its April 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good overall.

Based at 325 Littleton Road, Salford, M7 3NQ, Yogurt Pots accepts children aged two to five and has 42 places in total. Nursery provision runs during term time, with morning, afternoon and full-day bookings. The separate school-age clubs serve a different purpose and should not be confused with nursery attendance.

The strongest detail from April 2024 is practical: children chose their own play materials, practised managing their coats and explored books in a cosy den. There were also two clear priorities for improvement: keeping children involved throughout the routine and making staff development translate more consistently into better learning.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care. For parents, that means play has an educational purpose: opportunities to communicate, explore, move and develop independence belong within the child's day.

In April 2024, activities were shaped around children's interests. When counting caught their attention, staff introduced further opportunities to practise it. Dough-making combined hand movements and coordination with language, giving children something concrete to do while encountering new words. These practical activities brought counting, coordination and language into children's play.

Independence also had a physical expression. During April 2024, children could reach the materials they wanted and make choices about their play; putting on a coat became another opportunity to manage a task themselves. For a parent weighing preparation for the next stage, those small acts matter as much as a completed activity.

Books had their own inviting space. In April 2024, a cosy den gave children somewhere to share stories, examine illustrations and talk about what might happen next. Staff demonstrated careful page handling, connecting enjoyment of books with the practical skills of using them.

Outdoor and Community Life

Indoor and outdoor learning both form part of the nursery offer. In April 2024, outdoor experiences included wheeled toys, balancing on steps and watching worms in the garden. These examples linked movement with curiosity about living things. A shared water activity also gave children a reason to cooperate, with staff supporting disagreements and turn-taking.

Stay & Play, the family activity sessions for babies and preschool children, adds a current connection beyond the nursery day. During term time, it runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 1.30pm to 3pm, in the Fitness Studio at Sports Village. Attendance is free and booking is unnecessary. It gives family members a place to join in play and meet others, rather than simply handing childcare over.

Community work was another strand in April 2024. Family play sessions at a local library offered parents ideas for activities, while children planted seeds and vegetables with older residents. The value was in shared activity: children encountered other generations through something they could do together.

At the April 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities successful, with early identification and collaboration involving speech and language therapists and a community nursery nurse.

Settling support in April 2024 centred on helping new children understand activities and routines through conversation. A familiar sequence to the day helped children anticipate what came next. However, some transitions involved unnecessary waiting, and children then drifted away from activities or responded less readily to staff. Predictability helped; the pacing of the routine still needed attention.

Tapestry is the secure online learning journal used to share photographs, development updates and important information with parents. It offers a practical way to follow learning beyond a brief conversation, with notifications bringing updates to families.

The family support attached to Stay & Play includes sessions about safer sleep, basic first aid and applying for a school place. An Advice and Guidance Worker can also help with benefits and housing. For families facing several pressures at once, the useful feature is access to support through an activity they already attend.

Sessions and Attendance

Nursery opening hours are 9am to 3pm during term time. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions are offered, allowing families to choose a shorter session or a complete nursery day. Booking begins with an Expression of Interest Form, where parents specify the days and sessions they want.

After School Club serves children aged five to eleven during term time, from 3pm to 5pm. Holiday Club serves the same school-age range during school holidays, from 9am to 5pm. These are separate from the term-time nursery offer; their hours should not be read as an extension of the preschool day.

The nursery is at Salford Sports Village, 325 Littleton Road, Salford, M7 3NQ. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0161 604 7607 or by email to childcare@inspiringcommunitiestogether.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both funded and paid nursery places are offered. The term-time offer includes 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds, 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds, and 30 hours for qualifying working families. Eligibility conditions apply to the relevant entitlement; the attendance pattern and any additional paid hours need to fit the family's arrangement.

Snacks are charged separately through a per-family, per-term consumable charge, which also covers wipes and tissues. Those non-food consumables therefore carry a separate charge too.

Payments are cashless. Invoices and receipts arrive by email, and families can pay by bank transfer or by card at the setting. That gives parents a written payment trail alongside their childcare arrangement.

• Pacing between activities. In April 2024, unnecessary waiting sometimes interrupted children's involvement. During a visit, ask how staff now organise transitions and keep children occupied between activities.
• Staff development. The April 2024 improvement priorities included making training more closely connected to children's learning. Ask for a practical example of how recent development has changed an activity or routine.
• Term-time planning. The nursery day ends at 3pm and runs during term time; the holiday offer is for school-age children. Families choosing morning, afternoon or full-day nursery sessions need an arrangement that fits those boundaries.
• Food and charges. Snacks, wipes and tissues carry a separate termly charge. Ask what lunch arrangements involve and how the charge applies to your chosen funded or paid attendance pattern.

Yogurt Pots suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those wanting a full nursery day between its 9am and 3pm opening hours. Stay & Play and Tapestry add useful ways for parents to participate in and follow children's learning.

The April 2024 picture combines hands-on activities, independence and community contact with specific weaknesses in waiting times and the impact of staff development. The most useful visit will test those practical details against the routine your child would experience.