ABC Day Nursery, Lightmoor

Woodland exploration and rooms built around children’s changing ages give ABC Day Nursery, Lightmoor its character. Babies have a milk kitchen and sleep area; toddlers have their own outdoor door; preschool children can move between a room with writing, maths and imaginative play areas and the outdoor space. The physical arrangements matter. They give different stages of childhood different places to play, rest and become more independent.

At its April 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, recognising the quality of its education and the way children developed communication, independence and confidence. The nursery has capacity for 87 children aged three months to five years. Explorers, Discoverers and Adventurers are its three nursery rooms, with breakfast and after-school provision occupying an upstairs room.

Full and part-time day care runs across the year, alongside school-age care linked to Lightmoor Village Primary School. That makes this a practical option for families whose childcare needs extend beyond the preschool years.

Rooms and Ages

Explorers, for children from three months to two years, combines a milk kitchen, changing room and sleep area with carpeted play spaces and a messy area also used for meals, while large windows bring daylight into the room. Having these care functions within the baby room keeps feeding, changing, rest and play together rather than treating them as separate parts of the nursery day.

Discoverers, for two- to three-year-olds, has carpeted and messy play areas, its own toilets and changing facilities, a small shower and direct outdoor access, with equipment changed daily and connecting doors to Adventurers. This arrangement gives toddlers opportunities to move between indoor and outdoor play and, at appropriate times, join older children.

Adventurers, for three- to five-year-olds, brings together writing, maths, messy play and changing role-play areas in a room with windows on both sides and large doors to the outdoor space. A pet shop, hospital or home corner can become the setting for imaginative play. Changing the role-play setting gives familiar skills a different purpose, while the outdoor equipment is set out afresh each day.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, with activities supporting children’s development across its areas of learning. It is the educational baseline here. Writing and maths areas sit alongside messy and imaginative play, so preparation for school includes practical exploration as well as opportunities to use words and numbers.

The Curiosity Approach, which uses ordinary objects and open-ended materials to encourage children to invent their own play, was already part of Lightmoor’s approach by December 2017. At that time, curtain rings, blankets and photo frames were among the household resources children used. Nuts and bolts replaced conventional threading materials, and children made a hoopla game from a kitchen roll holder and curtain rings. These are concrete examples of children deciding what a resource can become.

In April 2025, babies explored objects in baskets, toddlers experimented with the sounds made by kitchen utensils, and preschool children built models from boxes. Adults extended conversations through questions that allowed thinking time, narrated babies’ play and used songs, stories and rhymes to introduce vocabulary. The emphasis was on children investigating and talking through their ideas, rather than completing identical tasks.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School activities, involving learning and exploration outdoors, take place in local woodland reserved for the nursery’s use. This gives children an outdoor setting beyond the play areas attached to their rooms. Indoor and outdoor opportunities are connected, but the woodland adds a different environment to explore.

During April 2025, children also sang for residents at a local care home, bought produce on shopping trips and posted letters. Police visitors helped introduce people and roles beyond the nursery. A weekly physical education session took place at a school. These experiences connected play and conversation with everyday community life, while giving children another setting for physical activity.

Daily care has a clear physical home in the youngest rooms. Explorers includes a sleep area and milk kitchen, while Discoverers has toilets, changing facilities and a small shower. Underfloor heating extends through the building. For parents of babies and toddlers, these details are as relevant as the learning spaces: rest, feeding and personal care are built into the layout.

At the April 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities exceptional, with staff working alongside families and professionals and using additional funding for individual interventions and resources. The important detail is the mechanism behind that judgement: support was tailored through collaboration and specific resources, rather than relying on a general promise of inclusion.

In April 2025, children learning English as an additional language encountered familiar words and pictures connected with their home languages. Staff also helped children identify and express feelings, using gentle reminders and encouragement to support behaviour. This linked communication with emotional development: children were helped to explain themselves as well as listen to others.

A secure online system gave parents daily information about activities, care and ways to extend learning at home in April 2025. Leaders supported practitioners through coaching, mentoring and professional development, and trainees received support through an apprenticeship programme. Those arrangements gave staff opportunities to reflect on their teaching and gave families a continuing picture of their child’s day.

Food is freshly prepared by Telford & Wrekin Council’s catering team, and menus are shared regularly with parents. Dietary requirements can be accommodated, making the menu conversation relevant to children whose eating needs differ.

Sessions and Attendance

Day care is offered on a full or part-time basis, with opening hours of 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays across 51 weeks of the year. Closures cover public holidays and a week at Christmas. The opening window gives families the outer limits of the nursery day; full and part-time attendance provide different ways to use it.

Breakfast Club begins at 7.30am, with cereal and toast followed by play before staff accompany children to Lightmoor Village Primary School at 8.45am. After-school care runs during term time from 3pm to 6pm and includes collection from school, activities and high tea. Holiday care is also offered at Lightmoor for children aged five to 11, with baking, crafts and outdoor play.

Getting There

The nursery’s address is 45 Green Moors, Lightmoor, Telford, TF4 3TB. Nursery rooms occupy the ground floor, while access to the upstairs club room is by stairs or a platform lift, an arrangement relevant to families using both nursery and school-age care.

Funding and Paid Extras

In April 2025, the nursery provided early education funding for eligible children. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation. Families comparing funded attendance with additional paid care should consider the complete attendance arrangement, rather than treating the opening hours as a funded-hours timetable.

Enquiries can be made directly by telephone on 01952 502572.

• Address for your visit. The nursery’s official address is 45 Green Moors, while its branch contact footer gives 34 Green Moors at the same postcode. Confirm the correct entrance when arranging your visit.
• Funded attendance and the total bill. With full and part-time care offered across the year, ask how funded hours fit your intended days and what the arrangements for meals and non-food consumables mean for your total bill.
• Baby care in practice. Explorers brings sleep, feeding and changing facilities into one room. Tours are offered at 10am and 2pm on weekdays by appointment; use one to discuss how your baby’s routines would fit those spaces.

ABC Day Nursery, Lightmoor suits families seeking full days or part-time nursery attendance, as well as those using breakfast and after school clubs where an older child attends Lightmoor Village Primary School. Its strongest practical features are the age-specific rooms, direct outdoor access for toddlers and preschool children, and woodland activities beyond the nursery play areas.

The April 2025 judgement gives substantial weight to that offer, with detailed examples of language development, individual support and exploratory play behind the grade. For families choosing baby care, Explorers deserves close attention; for older children, the connection between imaginative indoor play and outdoor exploration is the stronger draw.