Moat House Nursery

A baby’s care and a young mother’s return to education belong together at Moat House Nursery. This Stockport setting sits within Moat House School and accepts only the babies of mothers attending the school. That restriction defines its purpose: childcare supports the mother’s education, while parenting guidance connects the nursery day with family life.

With 16 places in total, it caters for children from birth to two years. At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. Its strongest character comes through the practical support surrounding care: a key person for each child, help with early reading and access to professionals supporting babies and young parents.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guides learning, including children’s communication, physical development and relationships. Here, staff support those areas through individual planning, early reading with parents and activities that develop children’s emerging skills.

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that teaching supported early communication and that learning built on children’s existing abilities, while identifying a need for more precise assessment and better targeted staff development. The useful distinction for parents is between what a child can already manage and the next skill that needs help. Both should shape the activities offered.

In June 2025, staff used expressions and eye contact to engage babies, and talked through activities to help children develop language. Dough play brought together movement and early mathematics: children copied demonstrations with rolling pins and cutters, then explored shapes. These were small, concrete learning opportunities within play, giving children a chance to practise using their hands and understanding new words.

Reading for All includes nursery staff demonstrating early reading alongside young parents. Its practical value extends beyond the nursery: mothers receive encouragement to continue sharing books with their babies at home. The emphasis is on involving the parent as well as the child.

Outdoor and Community Life

The nursery’s connections include Startwell Stockport, whose support covers parenting, early years work and health visiting. Moat House also works with the Family Nurse Partnership and the Stockport Family School Nursing Team for the benefit of young parents and babies. These links give family support a place alongside children’s learning and care.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key member of staff responsible for individual planning and Learning Journey profiles, which record their learning. Parents can share information through an open-door approach and are encouraged to participate in their child’s learning. For a mother combining education with caring for a baby, that relationship provides a regular connection between the two parts of the day.

In June 2025, home visits helped staff get to know families before children settled into nursery. Staff responded to tired children with close comfort and adapted routines to changing needs. The detail matters for this age group: settling involved getting to know the family, and care responded to the child’s signals.

Nursery staff hold first aid or paediatric first aid certificates and contribute to Child Development courses and practical parenting skills. Parenting support also includes Baby Days, a five-week programme covering baby massage, sensory play, reading and singing, dental hygiene and weaning. Preparing for your new arrival is a two-week programme addressing feeding, baby care and safety. These are parenting learning opportunities, with participation subject to capacity for pregnant teenagers and teenage parents aged 14–19 who are outside educational provision.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In June 2025, parents had a space within the nursery where they could breastfeed, and children received home-made hot meals each day. Staff also introduced toothbrushing and oral health. Feeding support and everyday health habits therefore formed part of the care observed at that time.

Assessment was a material improvement point in June 2025. Observations captured children’s abilities, but the progress check at age two sometimes gave too little attention to the areas needing extra help. Staff development also needed closer alignment with the skills that would most benefit children and families. These are useful topics for a conversation about how individual support now works.

Sessions and Attendance

Moat House Nursery is at Moat House School, 6 Lower Moat Close, Heaton Norris, Stockport, SK4 1SZ. It opens from 9.30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, during term time, and closes for school holidays. That calendar makes it a fit for care linked to the mother’s education at Moat House.

Access is restricted to mothers attending Moat House School. Professionals making a referral must first contact the school’s headteacher to establish whether it is appropriate. General enquiries go through the office on 0161 429 9015 or admin@moathouse.stockport.sch.uk.

Attending the nursery does not guarantee a place at Moat House School.

Funding and Paid Extras

The cost of a baby’s nursery place is usually covered by Care to Learn, a government scheme supporting childcare costs for young parents in education or training. Moat House staff make the applications. The word usually matters: families should treat this as a funding route connected to their circumstances, rather than an automatic promise of payment.

For current prices, ask the nursery for a quotation.

• Restricted admission. Nursery access is for babies whose mothers attend Moat House School. Establish how the school referral and nursery arrangements fit your return to education before planning childcare around them.
• Term-time calendar. Opening hours are 9.30am to 4pm on weekdays, with school-holiday closures. Consider how this fits your education timetable and family commitments across the year.
• Individual development. June 2025 improvement points concerned identifying learning gaps and targeting staff development. At a visit, ask how your baby’s next steps are recorded and how practitioners receive support to meet them.
• Funding arrangements. Care to Learn usually covers the nursery place, with applications handled by staff. Ask how it applies to your circumstances and what arrangements cover meals and baby-care supplies.

Moat House Nursery suits young mothers attending Moat House School who need term-time childcare connected closely with their education and parenting support. Key-person planning, shared early reading and health-service links give that model substance. The June 2025 assessment and staff-development priorities deserve attention, alongside the practical strengths of support for both mother and baby.