The Little Den Day Nursery, Hanford

A two-storey nursery on Stone Road gives The Little Den Day Nursery, Hanford a clear neighbourhood identity, between Hanford and Trent Vale and beside St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School. It accepts children from birth to five. In December 2022, the nursery day combined babies investigating everyday materials, preschool children experimenting with science, and physical play beyond the building.

At its December 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall and found that activities developed from children’s interests and their next steps in learning. That is a useful starting point for families who value play with a purpose. The judgement is dated, however, and the examples below describe practice in December 2022 rather than a current timetable.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children’s learning, development and care. In everyday parent language, that means play serves several purposes: developing communication, movement, relationships and early understanding, rather than simply keeping children occupied.

In December 2022, the youngest babies investigated reflective household objects, making sounds by knocking items together and handling a foil blanket. Older babies sent cars down angled guttering into flour, then explored the material with their hands. These were different experiences for different stages of development. Both gave children something concrete to manipulate, watch and investigate.

For two-year-olds that December, making Christmas baubles involved glue, glitter and pipe cleaners. The interest lay as much in handling sticky materials as in the finished decoration. Preschool children explored a different sort of cause and effect through eruptions made with vinegar, baking soda and food colouring. Number recognition also had a practical element, with children matching quantities of jewels to numbered cards.

Daily activities in small groups supported preschool children’s listening, speaking and awareness of speech sounds in December 2022. Story sessions prompted children to answer questions, while staff demonstrated spoken English during care and play. Communication therefore ran through both organised activities and ordinary interactions, giving language a place across the day.

Outdoor and Community Life

In December 2022, younger children negotiated car tyres and used low climbing and balancing equipment. This gave physical play a manageable challenge: children could practise moving their bodies around obstacles rather than relying only on seated activities.

Older children who were ready for the challenge also visited a local outdoor playground that December. Regular walks offered opportunities to see farm animals. Those outings added movement and observation beyond the nursery premises; the important distinction is that the playground visits involved older, more able children, while the walks included all children.

At the December 2022 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding arrangements, emotionally secure children who settled quickly, and SEND support coordinated through the special educational needs coordinator and local authority advisers. Taken together, those findings describe both everyday relationships and a mechanism for arranging additional help.

During December 2022, staff encouraged positive behaviour through praise and reinforcement. Parents who spoke during the visit felt informed about their children’s progress and about ways to support learning at home. That connection mattered because it linked nursery experiences with what families could do between attendance days.

Support for practitioners was also part of the picture in December 2022. Staff received continuing supervision, and the manager reviewed the development of individual children and groups. The management team gathered views from families, children and staff, alongside input from other professionals. These were practical ways of examining how the nursery day was working.

There were two clear areas for development that December. Younger children were not consistently kept involved when routines changed, and children learning English needed more encouragement to use their home languages. Both points matter to family choice: one concerns how smoothly the day works for the youngest children, while the other concerns whether a child’s language experience at home carries into nursery play.

Nutritious meals and snacks formed part of the children’s day in December 2022. They sat alongside active play and outings in the account of children’s health and wellbeing.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. For parents, that is the operating window around which work and travel arrangements can be planned.

Getting There

The address is Midway Offices, 68 Stone Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6SP. The building fronts Stone Road (A34), with road connections including the A500 and M6; this makes the road approach a useful practical detail for families travelling from beyond the immediate neighbourhood.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01782 658847 or through the contact form, selecting Hanford as the setting.

Funding and Paid Extras

In December 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. Families comparing the total cost of attendance should use a current written quotation from the nursery.

• Care across two storeys. The building has two floors and accepts babies through to five-year-olds. During a visit, ask how your child’s daily care, rest and movement between spaces would work.
• Routine changes and home languages. December 2022 brought recommendations about keeping younger children engaged between routines and encouraging home-language use. Ask how practitioners now handle these two parts of the nursery day.
• Attendance and the total bill. The opening window runs from 7.30am to 6pm, while funded early education featured in December 2022. Request a written proposal covering your intended attendance, current funding arrangements, and the treatment of meals and consumables.

For families around Hanford and Trent Vale, the appeal is a neighbourhood setting with an inspection-era picture of hands-on exploration, language activities and physical challenge. It suits families seeking care from birth to five in Hanford and Trent Vale, with weekday opening hours of 7.30am to 6pm providing a useful practical anchor. The December 2022 recommendations give a visit a clear purpose: examining how the youngest children experience routine changes and how children’s home languages are supported.