Kids Planet Hanford

An outdoor fireplace, a gardening club and music with Boogie Mites give Kids Planet Hanford a character that reaches beyond its daily care routine. Children cook outdoors, bake with ingredients grown at the nursery, and take stories home through a lending library shared with parents. These are concrete ways to connect nursery learning with family life.

At its February 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That is a dated assessment. The current offer includes a sensory room, regular use of nearby green spaces and weekly sports sessions led by a Physical Activity and Nutrition Coordinator (PANCo).

The Church Lane setting in Stoke-on-Trent accepts children from six months to five years. Attendance choices include morning, afternoon and full-day sessions, alongside a shorter day. Families can therefore choose between different lengths of care rather than treating the opening window as a single booking option.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: everyday play, conversation and practical tasks become opportunities to learn. Hanford adds concrete activities to that foundation, including gardening, baking and organised movement.

Natural resources and activities led by children's interests shape the learning offer. The gardening club introduces nature and the origins of food, while the baking club uses ingredients grown at the nursery in healthy recipes. Together, these activities connect learning about food with practical cooking experiences.

Boogie Mites brings music and movement each week. Dance classes also take place with FSD, while the PANCo leads weekly sport. These give movement several forms, from dancing to organised physical activity, rather than relying on outdoor play alone.

In February 2023, language work included preschool children describing where objects were positioned and younger children exploring words about speed and sound. Stories also carried into play, and staff used props when telling them. The practical value lay in giving words a context children could act out or see, rather than treating vocabulary as an isolated exercise.

Outdoor and Community Life

Regular access to nearby green spaces includes yoga outdoors. Within the nursery, the outdoor fireplace provides a setting for cooking experiences, including making pancakes and toasting marshmallows. Gardening and fireside cooking give outdoor time a practical purpose alongside movement and exploration.

Hanford has achieved ECO accreditation and carries out sustainable practices through its gardening club. The clearest parent benefit is the activity itself: children learn about nature and where their food comes from. The accreditation is part of that environmental emphasis, rather than a substitute for describing what children do.

A lending library for children and parents extends story sharing into the home. It also complements the nursery's music and language activities: families have another way to return to books together beyond the nursery day.

Relationships and Communication

In February 2023, key persons understood individual children's care requirements and learning priorities. Children showed affection towards staff, while parents had regular exchanges about development and experiences at home. Those relationships mattered because information about the child could move between home and nursery.

At the same inspection, Ofsted identified weaknesses in sharing learning information with cover staff and in helping less-experienced practitioners extend children's activities. These were practical concerns about continuity and teaching, rather than reasons to overlook the positive findings. A child needs their learning priorities understood when their usual key person is absent, too.

Today, Hanford uses the group-wide Famly app for updates in real time. Termly stay-and-play sessions, sometimes held more often, give parents, carers and wider family opportunities to share children's milestones. Digital updates and time together serve different purposes: one keeps families informed between conversations, while the other creates opportunities to participate.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The sensory room provides a quieter option, with soft lighting, calming sounds and materials children can explore by touch. It is designed for relaxation and sensory exploration, including use by children with additional needs. This is a concrete facility families can weigh against their child's preferences and support requirements.

In February 2023, support planning involved parents and outside agencies, with interventions shaped around individual needs. Staff also helped children express emotions and recover when upset. Preschool children connected colours with feelings, giving them a simple way to talk about their emotional state.

Independence appeared in everyday tasks that February: babies chose resources, older children changed wet clothes themselves, and children practised serving food and pouring drinks. These examples show how care routines could also provide learning opportunities, with small tasks allowing children to take increasing responsibility.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Church Lane, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 4QD. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays, across 52 weeks of the year, with bank holidays closed.

Full Day and Full Time bookings run from 8am to 6pm. Morning sessions are 8am to 1pm, and Afternoon sessions run from 1pm to 6pm. Short Day bookings cover 9am to 3pm; Early Bird care runs from 7.30am to 8am. Ad hoc hourly care is also offered, at a higher rate than regular bookings.

The opening time and full-day start are different, which matters for families beginning work early. A morning booking and a Short Day also finish at different points, so the choice affects how much of the afternoon a parent needs to cover. Telephone and email enquiries, tour booking and an application route are provided directly by Hanford.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and private paid care are offered. For private care, the group-wide inclusive fee arrangement used at Hanford covers meals and snacks, together with formula, nappies, sun cream and wipes; freshly prepared food caters for dietary needs.

On days when early years funding is applied, meals, consumables and activities attract separate charges. Those charges use different bands according to the funded hours applied that day. The distinction matters: the inclusive private-care arrangement does not mean the same items are included with funded hours. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Continuity of care. The February 2023 findings raised gaps in cover staff's knowledge of children's next learning steps and support for less-experienced practitioners. During a tour, ask how handovers work now and how that continuity begins during settling.
• Early starts. Doors open at 7.30am, while Full Day bookings start at 8am. Families needing the earlier start should include Early Bird care when discussing their booking.
• Funded-day costs. Meals, activities and consumables are charged separately on days with funding applied. Request a written quotation showing the funded hours and each additional category for the intended attendance pattern.

Kids Planet Hanford suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day or shorter-day care, with gardening, cooking and organised movement woven into the offer. The outdoor fireplace and sensory room provide contrasting spaces for practical activity and quieter exploration; the lending library and stay-and-play sessions give families ways to take part.

The February 2023 assessment provides a positive starting point, with specific reservations about staff handovers and developing less-experienced practitioners. The strongest decision rests on both sides: an appealing current activity offer, and clear questions about how consistently each child's learning is supported across the team.