Children 1st Acorns Nursery School

A paddock, a farm shop for pretend play and library trips on a nursery bus give Children 1st Acorns Nursery School its character. Outdoor exploration and connections beyond the nursery are substantial parts of the offer in Upper Tean. There is space for energetic play, alongside opportunities to borrow ideas from everyday community life.

The nursery has capacity for 122 children, with a current age range of 2 to 60 months. At its June and July 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged it Good overall, found safeguarding effective and recognised good progress alongside inclusive access to activities. That is a positive assessment, with clear work still required on the consistency of teaching.

Families can choose morning or afternoon attendance as well as two different day patterns. Those choices matter: this is a nursery that can accommodate a shorter session as well as a working day.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, bringing communication, physical development and learning through play into the nursery day. Alongside that foundation, Acorns offers cookery and yoga, community outings and outdoor learning.

Cookery gives children practical contact with ingredients and opportunities to explore how food grows. It connects something they do with something they eat. Forest School, part of the group's additional activity offering here, takes learning into the natural environment.

During June and July 2025, babies investigated bottles containing materials that moved or made sounds, toddlers assembled blocks, and preschool children constructed models. These examples show different starting points for exploration rather than one activity applied across every age. Small movements also featured in dough cutting, pipette work and drawing, giving children opportunities to practise handling tools and controlling their hands.

Conversation was woven into play during that period. Babies joined simple social games, while older children talked about past events in response to questions. Songs and rhymes added another route into language. Books were accessible for children to choose themselves, and a lending library extended reading into family life.

Ofsted also found during the June and July 2025 inspection that teaching varied in quality and asked leaders to improve both staff interactions across the curriculum and their monitoring of practice. For parents, the important distinction is between an appealing activity and the conversation that helps a child learn from it. The setting has both resources and worthwhile experiences; the improvement priority concerns how consistently adults make use of them.

Outdoor and Community Life

The farm shop supports imaginative play, while the paddock gives children room to move. Pirate adventures add another setting for make-believe. These physical features give outdoor time several purposes, from active movement to inventing roles and stories.

In June and July 2025, outdoor activities included negotiating low obstacles and climbing walls; babies practised pulling up and moving along supports. Outdoor provision therefore contributed to development at different stages, rather than serving only older, more mobile children.

Community links include harvest celebrations with older people and bus trips to the library. Acorns also supports Pink Sisters and Misters, a local charity helping people affected by cancer. Fundraising throughout the year includes sponsored challenges, bake sales and dress-up days, giving families concrete ways to participate in that relationship.

Everyday independence was a visible part of care in June and July 2025. Babies began feeding themselves, while older children served food and looked after their belongings. Staff encouraged handwashing, toileting and making choices. These are useful steps towards managing ordinary routines, rather than preparation confined to a particular learning activity.

During the same period, adults responded to children who needed comfort and helped them recognise and manage emotions. Personal pegs or drawers and photographs gave children recognisable spaces and reminders of themselves within the setting. Such details make belonging tangible.

An online system supported communication about development and next steps in June and July 2025. For families, that links the child's experiences at nursery with conversations and activities at home. It also gives a practical starting point for discussing how learning is progressing.

Sleep arrangements included outdoor naps for babies whenever possible during June and July 2025. This is a specific care practice to discuss alongside a baby's usual routine, rather than assume will suit every child.

An onsite chef cooks meals, using local ingredients where possible, and menus accommodate dietary requirements. Privately paid fees include meals, snacks, milk and infant formula, together with nappies, wipes, nappy cream and sun cream; funded sessions have separate food and consumables charges.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Draycott Road, Upper Tean, Stoke on Trent, ST10 4JJ. Enquiries can be made by telephone or through the nursery's enquiry form, and current prices come in its written quotation.

Business Days run from 8am to 6pm, while Nursery days finish at 5pm after the same 8am start. Mornings run from 8am to 1pm; Afternoons run from 1pm to 6pm. The shorter patterns provide a different attendance option from either day booking, rather than simply a different collection time within the same session.

Acorns operates across the year, closing during Christmas week and for two staff training days. Monthly billing uses the same amount each month, helping families plan expenditure across the year. A non-refundable registration charge applies, and a deposit is credited against the first invoice.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children aged nine months and above can access the Government's 15 Hours or 30 Hours funding offer. Acorns stretches those entitlements over 51 weeks, providing up to 11.18 or 22.35 funded hours a week respectively. Families can use up to 10 funded hours in a day within the regular sessions, with remaining entitlement applied towards other regular sessions.

The distinction between private fees and funded attendance matters. Private fees include food and health and hygiene supplies; funded sessions attract separate charges for both. Additional activities also carry a charge on funded attendance for older children, with no activity charge for under-twos. Charges are adjusted proportionately for half-day or partly funded sessions, and extra hours are paid at the relevant session rate.

The Acorns funding and fees information sets out this structure. A written quotation should match the child's age, session choices and funding position so families can assess the whole bill.

• Consistency of teaching. The June and July 2025 findings identified uneven teaching and a need for closer monitoring of staff practice. On a visit, ask how leaders now assess interactions and help practitioners extend children's play.
• Funded-session costs. Food, consumables and additional activities are charged separately on funded attendance, with no activity charge for under-twos. Discuss alternatives to the integrated offering and obtain a quotation for the exact booking pattern before committing.
• Outdoor care and learning. The paddock and imaginative play spaces are central features, and outdoor baby sleep featured in June and July 2025. Discuss sleep routines and how Forest School is organised for your child's stage.
• Dietary arrangements. Menus accommodate different requirements. Families managing allergies should confirm the current meal preparation arrangements and how their child's needs will be communicated to the team.

Acorns suits families who value outdoor movement, imaginative play and community contact, whether they need mornings, afternoons or either of its day patterns. The farm shop, paddock and nursery bus give that proposition substance. Included food and consumables also simplify privately paid attendance.

The balance is clear: the 2025 assessment was positive, but teaching consistency needs attention, and funded childcare brings a different charge structure. Families comfortable with those considerations have concrete reasons to explore this Upper Tean setting.