The Learning Hive Nursery School

A converted Victorian home gives The Learning Hive Nursery School its character: substantial indoor space, outdoor areas and natural materials for children to explore. This Audenshaw setting combines that domestic feel with practical choices about attendance and a community connection through Reuben’s Retreat, a charity supporting families affected by childhood bereavement or serious illness.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 10 January 2023 inspection. The current age range is two months to five years. Full days, short days, mornings and afternoons give families several ways to organise care, rather than a single daily pattern.

The strongest reasons to consider it are concrete: space within the converted house, hands-on experiences and food cooked on site. In January 2023, two areas needed attention: checking how training affected staff practice and improving information transfer when a child changed key person. Those are useful questions for a visit.

Natural resources are part of the indoor environment, with spaces tailored to babies, toddlers and preschool children. The house and outdoor areas provide different settings for play. For families, the useful distinction is between the overall amount of space and how their child’s age group actually uses it throughout the day.

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: children build skills through play, conversation, physical activity and everyday routines. At The Learning Hive, additional activities include cookery and Forest School, an approach that takes learning into the natural world. These sit alongside the framework rather than replacing it.

In January 2023, babies explored flour, while other children worked dough into changing shapes. Older children arranged small materials on frames. These were practical ways to exercise fingers and hands before writing, with children making things rather than simply watching an adult demonstrate them.

Language was threaded through play in January 2023. Adults introduced vocabulary during conversations, and children joined in songs and rhymes and spent time with books. Learning activities followed children’s interests while also taking account of what they needed to learn next. That combination gave play a purpose beyond keeping children occupied.

Reuben’s Retreat supplies a recognisable community connection. Fundraising across the year includes dress-up days, bake sales and sponsored challenges, linking nursery life with support for families facing loss or a child’s complex or life-limiting illness. Dress-up days can involve families as well as children, so the charity connection has a practical place in the nursery calendar.

Relationships mattered in January 2023: staff knew children’s care needs, and familiar staff welcomed children. Parents exchanged information when their children started and had meetings about development and learning at home. These arrangements connected nursery experiences with family life rather than treating them as separate worlds.

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effective, including joint discussions involving families and other professionals. These are dated judgements, rather than a description of every child’s current experience.

The key-person arrangements also had a weakness in January 2023. Information did not consistently transfer well when responsibility moved to another adult, leaving the incoming key person less fully informed about the child’s development. For a family, continuity means more than recognising a friendly face: the adult taking over needs to understand the child’s learning as well as their care routines.

Food is prepared by an on-site chef, with local ingredients used where possible; the menus accommodate different dietary requirements. Group-wide Cooking together activities, also offered here, let children handle ingredients and learn about food preparation and growing food, making mealtimes part of learning as well as care.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 30 Manchester Road, Audenshaw, Manchester, M34 5GB. Attendance is offered Monday to Friday, with Full Days from 7.30am to 6pm, Short Days from 9am to 4.30pm, Mornings from 7.30am to 1pm and Afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. Morning and afternoon bookings serve different parts of the day; the short-day option provides another choice for families who need daytime care within a smaller window.

Care operates across the year, with Christmas week and two annual team-training days identified as closures. Parents can enquire by telephone or through the nursery’s enquiry form. A non-refundable registration charge reserves a place, and a deposit is credited against the first invoice.

Funding and Paid Extras

The 15 Hours or 30 Hours funding offer is available to eligible children aged nine months and above, starting from the term after the relevant birthday. Funding is stretched across 51 weeks: the corresponding weekly amounts are up to 11.18 hours and 22.35 hours. This distributes entitlement through the year rather than concentrating it into school terms.

For eligible working families using 22.35 hours, the first 20 funded hours can cover parts of two full-day sessions, with the remaining 2.35 hours applied to another full or half day. The 11.18-hour offer can be used across full or half days. Up to 10 funded hours can be applied per day, so a full day includes an additional 30 minutes charged privately.

Private fees include meals, snacks, milk and infant formula, alongside nappies, wipes, nappy cream and sun cream. Funded sessions have separate food and health-and-hygiene charges; additional activities are currently free of charge. Families considering alternatives to the integrated food and consumables offering can discuss those options with the manager.

Invoices are monthly, with the amount kept consistent across months. Charges continue during a child’s absence, including illness. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, allowing families to distinguish funded time, privately paid time and the charges attached to their chosen pattern.

• Key-person changes. Information transfer needed improvement in January 2023. During a visit, ask how an incoming key person now receives a child’s care details and learning history.
• Training in practice. In January 2023, managers needed better checks on whether training changed what staff did. Ask for an example of a recent change in everyday practice and how its effect was assessed.
• The funded booking pattern. Food and consumables are included in private fees. Funding is stretched, with additional charges for food and consumables during funded sessions and privately paid time within a full day. Request a written quotation for the actual sessions you intend to book, including any alternative arrangements.
• Age-group spaces. The converted house contains spaces for different stages. On a visit, ask to see the areas your child would use and how indoor play connects with outdoor time.

The Learning Hive suits families choosing between full days and shorter daytime attendance, including morning or afternoon sessions. Its converted Victorian home, on-site cooking and Reuben’s Retreat connection give the setting a clear identity. The January 2023 judgement provides a dated quality reference, while the two improvement points make continuity of care and the effect of staff training sensible priorities when deciding whether it fits your child.