Eccleston Park Day Nursery

Independent toileting, experiments with water and an outdoor wooden ship gave Eccleston Park Day Nursery's September 2021 day a strong practical character. Children had opportunities to explore, make decisions and take responsibility for small routines.

At its September 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, judged safeguarding effective and identified support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) as a strength. Those judgements describe that visit; a later regulatory action also matters to the decision.

The nursery has capacity for 50 children, with an accepted age range of 3 to 59 months, at St Helens Road in Eccleston Park, Prescot.

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, conversation and exploration contribute to learning alongside everyday care routines. In September 2021, two-year-olds investigated water while washing toy cars, discovering how sponges carried it and how it travelled down slopes. The activity connected physical exploration with an opportunity to understand materials.

Other September 2021 activities made language concrete. Cars moving down differently angled slopes illustrated speed, while riding play vehicles brought movement and listening together. Books, stories and listening games gave children opportunities to encounter words; preschool children explored the sounds at the start and end of words.

Independence was practised through ordinary routines in September 2021. Preschool children used a peg system to tell an adult before going to the bathroom, then returned the peg afterwards. On the outdoor wooden ship, children learnt why play needed a limit on numbers. These were specific ways of connecting freedom with responsibility.

In September 2021, adults reassured babies and younger toddlers as they began exploring, and talked about their activities as they happened. For a young child, that connected familiar care with language heard in context. Parents also took part in decisions about additional funding.

The September 2021 SEND arrangements included individual programmes informed by specialist advice, with the special educational needs coordinator explaining children's targets to staff. Individual healthcare plans and children's dietary needs also informed care at that visit.

On 19 December 2023, Ofsted's regulatory visit identified failures concerning complaint records and environmental risk assessments, and required action by 19 January 2024. The published position dated 21 December 2023 was that the response would be monitored; this does not establish whether those actions were subsequently completed.

The address is Eccleston Park Nursery, St Helens Road, Eccleston Park, Prescot, L34 2QE. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The annual schedule includes closures for bank holidays, a week in summer and a week at Christmas.

In September 2021, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. That is a dated account of participation, rather than a statement about today's funding arrangements.

• Environmental checks and complaints. The December 2023 actions concerned recording complaints and making risk assessments clear about checks, responsibility and reducing hazards. Before joining, ask how these requirements were addressed.
• Staff development. In September 2021, individual improvement targets needed clearer measures of success. Ask how practitioners' targets are now set and reviewed.
• Your attendance and costs. With weekday opening from 7.30am to 6pm and summer and Christmas closures, ask which booking pattern and funded arrangements would fit your family, including meals and consumables, and request a current written quotation.

Eccleston Park merits consideration by families who value practical exploration and opportunities for children to become independent. The September 2021 examples give that preference substance. A joining decision should also take account of the December 2023 actions and how the nursery addressed them.