Croft Corner Forest School Nursery

Ecclesall woods is part of the timetable at Croft Corner Forest School Nursery: Forest School sessions take place weekly from the term after a child turns three. This means repeated opportunities to explore a natural setting, take supported risks and become familiar with the woodland, rather than an occasional outing. Garden access extends the outdoor emphasis to younger children too.

Based at Holy Trinity Parish Centre in Sheffield, Croft Corner accepts children from 6 months, with an upper age of 60 months. Three rooms organise the progression from babies to preschool children, while relationships with a key person provide a link between nursery and home. At its 16 August 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good overall, with Outstanding behaviour and attitudes, and found safeguarding effective.

Families can choose between an 8am to 6pm day and a shorter 9am to 4pm core day, alongside term-time funded arrangements. The practical distinction is the charge structure: enhanced funded provision and meals carry separate charges, while a fully funded basic pattern requires families to supply food and consumables.

Rooms and Ages

The Nest, for children under two, emphasises communication, physical development and social and emotional learning, with key-person relationships supporting the transition from care at home. The Den, for children aged two to three, continues those areas through spaces where children can investigate, make choices and explore materials. The Woodland Preschool, for children aged three and above, combines independence and perseverance with phase one of the letters and sounds programme, introducing early reading and writing alongside speaking, listening and following instructions.

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the educational foundation: children develop language, movement and relationships through play, alongside early mathematics, literacy, creativity and understanding their surroundings. Forest School adds regular woodland learning to that foundation. It does not replace it.

Progression between rooms has a practical purpose. Younger children work on expressing feelings, using language and doing things independently; preschool preparation develops these foundations into managing emotions, helping themselves and making friends. Readiness for school therefore includes everyday abilities as well as early literacy.

Learning and Activities

In August 2022, children made instruments while adults used questions to help them work out how to cover them. During play-dough activities, children exchanged ideas and responded to one another. These examples illustrate a day in which conversation and problem-solving were part of practical play, rather than separate exercises.

Preschool emotion-card activities in August 2022 explored why someone might feel excluded or lonely, then gave children time to explain their own feelings. The emphasis was on understanding an emotion and finding words for it. However, work with toddlers was less consistent: adults did not reliably extend what younger children said, and some explanations of vocabulary were too advanced for their stage.

Current behaviour practice uses HIGHSCOPE RESOLUTION, a mediated approach to disagreements. Adults stop harmful actions, acknowledge feelings, establish what happened and help children agree a solution, with support afterwards. Toddlers receive more language from the adult; older children can contribute their own account and ideas. This gives families a clear picture of how disputes over toys or turns are handled.

Outdoor and Community Life

Weekly sessions in Ecclesall woods begin from the term after a child's third birthday. Forest School involves repeated learning in a natural environment, with children making choices and taking risks suited to their abilities under adult support. The regularity matters: woodland learning is an ongoing part of preschool attendance.

At nursery, every room can use the gardens during the day, and outdoor exploration continues in different weather. Loose materials support imaginative play, while conserving water, reducing waste and leaving flowers unpicked introduce care for the surroundings through everyday actions. Younger children in The Nest and The Den are encouraged to join outdoor experiences too.

In August 2022, preschool children practised using hammers before progressing to smaller pieces of wood and nails as their coordination developed. Younger children used slopes, steps and surfaces with different textures to practise movement and balance. These were concrete physical challenges, with different expectations for different ages.

Community experiences include visits to Henleigh Hall nursing home, the library and supermarket, bringing children into contact with people and places beyond nursery. Growing fruit and vegetables in the garden adds another practical connection with nature. The combination gives outdoor learning more substance than simply spending time outside.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is gradual and responsive to the child. An initial visit usually lasts approximately one hour with a parent or carer; a subsequent visit normally introduces a short separation while the adult remains on site. Further visits are arranged around the family's needs, and the nursery offers a reasonable number of free settling sessions.

Where possible, the key person is allocated before settling begins. Families contribute an All about me form and can provide photographs of important people, information about home languages and details of celebrations. These are useful starting points for a practitioner learning what is familiar and meaningful to a child.

Parents can meet their child's keyworker regularly to discuss development and welfare, and receive notification if that person changes. Verbal progress updates are provided on request. Newsletters cover nursery updates and planned activities, while policies and parent information are accessible through the handbook and App.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCo role coordinates support with the key person, parents and other professionals. Support plans specify intended outcomes, resources, who will carry out interventions and how often they happen; reviews are agreed with parents at least termly. Where medical support is needed, an individual health care plan and risk assessment sit alongside the learning plan.

Croft Corner works with speech and language therapists and the 0-5 SEN team. Its admissions arrangements include reasonable adjustments and preparation for children with more complex needs, such as staff training or a health care plan, before a start date is agreed. At the August 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that staff identified possible SEND promptly and worked with families and professionals to include children with complex needs.

The team includes practitioners with teaching qualifications, early years qualifications, Forest School training and apprenticeships. Safeguarding responsibilities include a designated lead and deputy lead. These are identifiable roles and qualifications, rather than a substitute for the dated inspection judgement.

An in-house cook prepares food from fresh ingredients using seasonal menus. Dietary needs and allergies are recorded with families, shared with staff and checked against food at mealtimes; the terms also caution that the kitchen may be unable to meet every child's individual requirements.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Holy Trinity Parish Centre, 61 Dobcroft Road, Sheffield, S7 2LQ. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks, with closure for bank holidays and a week at Christmas.

Super Full Club runs from 8am to 6pm; Core day runs from 9am to 4pm. Unfunded hours can extend the core pattern, and an Early start add-on runs from 7.30am to 8am. The minimum booking is two days per child each week, so the shorter day still sits within a regular attendance commitment.

A fully funded term-time option runs from 9am to 3pm on five days across 38 weeks. Other funded examples include ten-hour days across either 51 or 38 weeks. These patterns serve different family routines, with the shorter term-time option carrying its own food and provision conditions.

Applications use an enquiry followed by an application form. The waiting-list policy generally follows application order, with priority for children in care and consideration of factors including siblings, entitlement eligibility and the child's needs. A deposit accompanies the application and is returned after the final invoice has been settled.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding includes the working parents entitlement from the term after a child turns nine months, support-based entitlement for eligible children from the term after they turn two, and universal entitlement from the term after they turn three. The nursery stretches funding across 51 weeks, with term-time options across 38 weeks. Eligibility conditions still apply to the relevant entitlement.

Super Full Club fees for private hours include breakfast, lunch, snacks and tea; Core day includes lunch and snacks. On enhanced funded arrangements, meals are charged separately and the enhanced provision charge covers consumables such as nappies, wipes, creams and sun cream, alongside additional experiences. Those charges are described as non-mandatory, with applications considered from families who can demonstrate receipt of additional benefits.

For the fully funded 9am to 3pm term-time pattern, parents supply meals, drinks, snacks and consumables. Children receive the basic EYFS provision rather than the enhanced offer, and food from home must follow the nursery's allergy-management and food policy. The choice therefore changes both what families bring and which additional experiences are included.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Ending the agreement requires one month's notice by email, and reducing booked hours also requires a month's notice; funded-hour cancellations require four weeks, while changes to working-parent funded sessions are considered termly.

• Toddler conversation and digital safety. In August 2022, priorities for improvement were extending younger children's speech more consistently and teaching awareness of internet and digital safety. During a visit, ask for examples of how these areas work now.
• Funded pattern and extras. The fully funded term-time pattern requires food and consumables from home and excludes enhanced provision. Compare that arrangement with the charged enhanced offer when agreeing attendance.
• Allergy arrangements. Dietary planning involves families, but the terms recognise limits to what the kitchen can accommodate. Allergy-affected families should confirm the current plan for their child, including food brought from home.
• Settling and regular attendance. Settling visits can adapt to the child, while booked care has a two-day weekly minimum. Use a visit to discuss how the first separations and the intended weekly pattern fit together.

Croft Corner suits families who want nature to be a regular part of nursery life, with weekly woodland sessions for eligible preschool children and gardens accessible from every room. The offer accommodates both the longer Super Full Club day and the shorter Core day, as well as a funded term-time pattern.

Key-person settling, explicit support plans and a practical approach to resolving disagreements give parents useful detail about care. The dated toddler-language and digital-safety concerns deserve follow-up, and the distinction between basic funded provision and charged enhancements needs careful attention. For families comfortable with those arrangements, the combination of woodland learning, community visits and preparation for independence makes a clear case.