Walmer Bridge Day Nursery & Out of School Club

A former village primary school, a garden with a secret stage and outings aboard the Turtle Bus give Walmer Bridge a recognisable character. Children can investigate growing vegetables, visit Longton Library and take their learning beyond the nursery rooms. For families who value outdoor play and contact with the local community, these are useful parts of the day.

At its May 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefited from tailored support involving families and other agencies. The same visit identified two priorities: helping children understand how healthy habits benefit their bodies, and explaining their learning more clearly to parents.

Early years care covers children from three months to five years, alongside provision for primary school children. Attendance choices include full days, mornings, afternoons and term-time arrangements, with flexible funded sessions also offered.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room has a maximum of 12 babies aged 0-24 months, with textured books, Treasure Baskets for sensory exploration and a cosy tepee, plus a covered outdoor area where play can continue outside. That room cap is a useful starting point for parents weighing the scale of baby care against their child's routines and temperament.

A book corner, construction resources, role play, sand and water give the Toddler Unit several ways to investigate and practise emerging independence; the room accommodates up to 15 children and connects with outdoor play. Children can move between different kinds of activity rather than depend on a single group task.

In the Pre-school room, construction play develops language and small hand movements, while self-serving at lunch and making choices practise independence; the room has direct outdoor access. These everyday tasks give school preparation a practical form: children have opportunities to do things for themselves.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through play across areas including communication, physical development, early mathematics and personal development. Here, practitioners plan activities around individual next steps, while children can also select resources from the room's play areas. Adult teaching and children's own choices both have a place.

Construction involves joining and balancing materials, talking about position and shape, and working alongside others. Reading extends beyond listening to a story: puppets and story spoons support retelling and imaginative play, while non-fiction books introduce another way to find things out. Mathematical play includes sorting objects, comparing quantities and exploring patterns. The practical implication is clear: early literacy and number work are woven into things children can handle, build and discuss.

In May 2025, babies connected farm-animal books with seeing sheep and ducks on community walks. Toddlers listened to the sea during beach visits and brought shells back for sandpit play, while preschool children bought lunch ingredients at a local shop. These outings connected nursery learning with experiences in the community.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden supports several different kinds of play. A bug hotel encourages close observation, the mud kitchen gives children materials to experiment with, and the vegetable garden introduces planting and growing. Climbing equipment and balancing tyres add physical challenge; the secret stage provides a setting for imaginative performance. Outdoor time therefore has substance beyond simply getting fresh air.

Regular local outings use the Turtle Bus, the nursery's transport for walks and visits, with Longton Brickcroft and Dob Lane park among the destinations. Frequent visits to Longton Library bring books into that community connection. These are named, repeat experiences rather than an occasional special outing doing all the work.

Preschool swimming takes place weekly during term time. The arrangements need clarification before families build attendance around it, but swimming itself is an established part of the offer. Nursery vehicles also support visits to places such as Ravenscroft nursing home in Longton, giving children contact with people and settings beyond their immediate age group.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who shares information with parents and follows their development. A buddy arrangement provides continuity when that practitioner is away. This gives families an identified relationship while recognising that the same adult will not be present on every occasion.

Settling usually involves three hour-long induction visits shortly before the start date, with extra visits possible for children who need them. Parents remain for the first visit, and the suggested pattern then introduces time apart gradually. The pace can be adapted to the child. Information about home routines, preferences and starting points helps the key person begin with more than a name and an enrolment date.

Electronic Learning Journeys contain photographs, observations and examples of children's work, and parents can access them on their own devices. Daily electronic diaries also cover care details for children aged 0-2 and children with SEND, including food, sleep and toileting. These serve a different purpose from explaining learning: in May 2025, care information was shared effectively, but explanations of what children were learning were sometimes insufficient to help parents support progress at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO coordinates support, with Targeted Learning Plans introduced when additional needs emerge and reviewed with parents. Referrals to outside services require parental consent, and an Early Help Assessment can lead to Team Around the Family meetings. These mechanisms give families a route from an initial concern to a shared plan with other professionals.

Sensory resources include a light table, an infinity mirror and sensory stepping stones. Each room has a calm area. The ground-floor rooms have accessible changing and toilet facilities, while the Toddler Room is upstairs; the layout deserves attention where mobility or access requirements affect the child's day.

Safeguarding arrangements include designated lead roles, staff training and recruitment checks. In May 2025, leaders had failed to pass required information to the regulator and had not followed their own procedure after an event; the finding explicitly recorded no impact on children. That is a dated management shortcoming to weigh alongside the judgement from the same visit.

A nursery cook prepares food, with special dietary requirements considered and allergens displayed on the nutrition board. Families managing an allergy should discuss the arrangements for their child before starting.

Moving between nursery rooms includes taster visits and information passed to the new key person. Before school, a transition report is shared with parents and, with consent, the new teacher; school uniforms in role play and books about school help children explore the change in advance.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 74 Liverpool Old Road, Walmer Bridge, Preston, PR4 5GE. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 52 weeks, with bank-holiday closures.

Full days run from 7.30am to 6pm, mornings from 7.30am to 12.30pm and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. There is no minimum number of sessions. Term-time-only attendance and School Hour Days from 9am to 3pm offer alternatives to the longer day, while funded arrangements can begin from 8am.

Enrolment uses a completed form and a deposit to reserve a place. The admissions policy operates a waiting list and allows a full-time application to take preference over a part-time one; it also identifies circumstances in which priority may be given, including siblings, local children and children receiving specified support. Flexible attendance choices therefore sit alongside allocation rules that families should consider.

Walmer Bridge Balloon Club provides primary-age wraparound care, including transport to and from Little Hoole Primary School. Breakfast Club runs from 7.30am to 8.40am, and After School Club from 3pm to 6pm. This is a childcare transport arrangement, with no school admissions advantage implied.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the universal 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, support for eligible two-year-olds, and 30 hours for eligible working parents of children under five, beginning from the term after their child reaches nine months. Funding can be taken over 38 term-time weeks or stretched across 52 weeks by reducing the weekly hours used. Eligibility remains a condition of the relevant entitlement.

For privately paid attendance, food is included according to the session: full days and mornings include breakfast and cooked lunch, while afternoons include a snack. Funded hours carry separate meal, snack and consumables charges, with a packed-lunch alternative; those additional charges cannot be a condition of accessing the funded place.

Trips can be optional paid activities. Swimming is separately charged, with badges and certificates charged additionally. Monthly invoices arrive by email, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees and funding page explains the charging structure.

• Learning beyond care updates. The May 2025 improvement priorities concerned explanations of learning and children's understanding of healthy habits. Ask how staff now show a child's next steps and connect food choices with physical health.
• Swimming arrangements. The prospectus places lessons on Monday mornings at Willow View private swimming pool, while the outdoor information gives Tuesday mornings at Longton swimming pool. Confirm the venue and day before choosing sessions around swimming.
• Your attendance pattern. There is no minimum session requirement, but full-time applications may receive preference over part-time ones. Discuss how your preferred pattern fits the allocation rules; nursery viewings need no appointment, with the lunch period from 11.30am to 1pm to be avoided.
• Access and settling. The Toddler Room is upstairs, while lower rooms have accessible facilities. For a child with mobility or additional support needs, use a visit to discuss the room layout and how the adaptable induction programme would work.

Walmer Bridge suits families seeking community outings and active play alongside a choice between full days, morning or afternoon sessions, and term-time attendance. The Baby Room's published cap, the garden's varied play spaces and the key-person arrangements provide concrete reasons to consider it. The reservations are equally specific: learning updates and health education needed improvement in May 2025, and swimming logistics need resolving. Those are useful subjects for a focused visit, rather than reasons to overlook the practical breadth of the offer.