St Cuthberts Old School Nursery

Strawberries grown in the garden, a sensory room for quiet moments and children choosing work for their own books give St Cuthberts Old School Nursery a recognisable character. Those details belong to June 2023, when its daily life combined practical exploration with attention to children's feelings.

At its June 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, with Outstanding personal development, and found that children were progressing well across their learning. The Cheadle setting has capacity for 32 children; the children attending in June 2023 were aged three to four.

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, its meaning can be seen in the June 2023 activities: language, early mathematics and exploration featured in practical play.

During that month, staff introduced vocabulary and encouraged children to investigate why an object would float. Comparing the lengths of trains and counting while gardening made mathematical ideas tangible. Planting and tasting strawberries connected growing food with sensory discovery.

Children also selected artwork and photographs for personal books, then shared them in the book corner. That gave them a say in how their achievements were represented. Outdoors, older children helped younger ones on the climbing frame, creating opportunities to practise consideration alongside physical play.

In June 2023, children formed close relationships with their key persons, and staff knew their individual personalities. Conversations about feelings helped children express emotions; the sensory room offered somewhere calmer when they needed it. Staff also learnt about families' cultures and brought celebrations familiar from home into nursery life.

At the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged safeguarding effective but recorded a failure to notify it about changed trustees, with no effect on children's safety, and action beginning that day to correct the breach. Staff working with children had suitability checks, understood how to raise child-protection concerns and had paediatric first-aid training at that time.

The address is Councillor Lane, Cheadle, SK8 2BY.

In June 2023, opening hours were 9am to midday on Monday and Wednesday, and 9am to 3pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, during term time. These were opening hours rather than a description of separately bookable attendance patterns.

At that time, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. That funding provision and the ages of children actually attending were separate facts.

• Individual learning. In June 2023, some planned activities addressed the group more closely than each child's next learning step. A visit is an opportunity to discuss how planning now builds on an individual child's development.
• Length of group activities. Some shared activities continued beyond children's engagement in June 2023. The balance between collective stories, music and children's sustained involvement matters here.
• Trustee notification. The June 2023 notification breach was a governance issue despite having no effect on children's safety. Correction had begun on the inspection day.
• Attendance fit. The June 2023 timetable combined shorter mornings with longer days, all during term time. What attendance arrangements would fit your family's needs now?

The June 2023 picture suits families who value practical play, emotional expression and children taking ownership of their work. Its term-time timetable then accommodated both morning attendance and longer daytime attendance. The strongest impression is of thoughtful personal development; more precise individual planning and better-paced group activities were the areas needing attention.