Stepping Stones Nursery

Growing vegetables, harvesting them and tasting the results gives Stepping Stones Nursery a practical connection between outdoor play and food. Its vegetable garden is backed by dedicated outdoor space and a Green Flag Award for its environmental work. These are useful attractions for families who want children to spend time moving, exploring and doing things for themselves.

Stepping Stones serves children from one month to five years at 168 Bramhall Moor Lane, Hazel Grove, Stockport, SK7 5BA, with 57 places in total. At its February 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. That assessment provides a dated quality benchmark; its recommendations about teaching intentions and language support also deserve attention.

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Onsite parking and a sheltered buggy park give families practical options for bringing children to nursery.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS, the early years foundation stage, sets expectations for children's learning, development and care: play supports communication, physical skills and growing independence. At Stepping Stones, the vegetable garden makes this tangible. Children take part in growing food and experience the results through harvesting and tasting, connecting an outdoor activity with something familiar at mealtimes.

In February 2023, learning included imaginative play in the mud kitchen. Children pretended to cook a cake, treated it as hot and worked together on ways to cool it. The example matters because it brought conversation, problem-solving and cooperation into the same piece of play. An outdoor resource became more than somewhere to get messy.

Writing preparation also took different forms in February 2023. Older children wrote down food orders for friends during an activity, giving marks a practical purpose. Younger children handled ginger-flavoured dough, exercising the finger movements needed for later writing. These examples show how everyday activities supported early writing skills.

Outdoor and Community Life

Dedicated outside space supports movement, outdoor learning and free-flow play. The vegetable garden gives that space an additional purpose, while the Green Flag Award recognises environmental work. For parents, the combination offers something concrete to weigh alongside indoor activities.

In February 2023, children used bicycles and tricycles to practise balance and coordination. Outdoor play also supported shared imaginative games. Physical activity and collaboration therefore appeared together in the nursery day, rather than as unrelated experiences.

In February 2023, settling sessions were adapted to individual children and their families. Staff collected information from parents before children started and used children's interests when planning activities. This makes the initial exchange with parents consequential: knowledge about a child informed what practitioners offered them.

Relationships also had a practical role in February 2023. Children sought comfort from staff, and practitioners helped them manage disagreements over sharing and turns. Reminders about listening and moving safely indoors gave children clear expectations, while nearby adults helped them work through moments they could not yet manage alone.

At the February 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities generally received effective support through individual plans, cooperation with parents and other professionals, and tailored help, but requested stronger support for children learning English as an additional language and those with speech and language needs. This is a useful distinction for families: individual planning was a strength, while language development needed further attention.

In February 2023, communication activities included songs, expressive reading and questions that encouraged children to think through ideas. Parents also received help with toilet training. These were specific ways of connecting learning and care with family life, although the language recommendation means the activities alone should not be taken as proof that every child's communication needs were fully addressed.

An onsite chef now prepares fresh meals each day and caters for dietary needs. Having food prepared at the nursery makes meals part of its everyday operation.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm. It operates across the year, closing on bank holidays and for a week over Christmas and New Year. Families matching childcare to work commitments need to account for those closures as well as the daily opening window.

Getting There

The address is 168 Bramhall Moor Lane, Hazel Grove, Stockport, SK7 5BA. Onsite parking and sheltered buggy storage support both car journeys and families bringing a pram.

Funding and Paid Extras

In February 2023, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. That is a dated participation fact, rather than a promise about an individual family's entitlement or attendance arrangement.

• Purposeful teaching. In February 2023, staff outside the pre-school room did not consistently extend learning as far as they could. During a visit, ask how practitioners build a clear learning intention into activities in your child's age group.
• Language support. The February 2023 recommendation covered both children learning English as an additional language and children with speech and language needs. Families for whom this matters should discuss how individual language goals are carried into play and reviewed.
• Attendance and total costs. The opening window runs from 7.30am to 6pm, with seasonal closures. Ask which booking pattern fits your week and obtain a current written quotation covering funded hours, additional care, meals and consumables before deciding.

Stepping Stones suits families seeking nursery care for babies through to children approaching school age, with outdoor space, hands-on food growing and meals prepared onsite. Its February 2023 Good judgement gives a useful quality reference, and the observed play showed children practising cooperation, movement and early writing in concrete ways.

The strongest decision points are the vegetable garden and outdoor provision, alongside the recommendations about extending learning and supporting language. Families who value practical play have clear reasons to consider it; those needing additional communication support should give that part of the discussion particular weight.