Halesfield Day Nursery Centre

Weekly woodland learning gives Halesfield its strongest character. Preschool children explore local woods or Madeley Orchard, while two large outdoor play areas keep physical play part of the nursery day. This is a setting where outdoor learning extends beyond the playground: children can build dens, investigate natural materials and practise using tools with adult support.

At its October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Halesfield Good and found safeguarding effective, with children making good progress, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Those are dated judgements. The strongest current reasons to consider the nursery are its outdoor provision, routines shaped around babies’ home lives and several genuinely different attendance options.

Halesfield accepts children aged 3 to 60 months and has 54 places in total. Its address is Unit J, Halesfield 22, Telford, TF7 4QX. Full days, shorter days, mornings and afternoons give families different ways to use the setting.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning, development and care: children learn through play and experiences that support their development across the areas of learning. Halesfield adds a substantial outdoor element through Forest School, a child-led approach in which exploring nature, solving problems and learning about manageable risks shape the experience. It complements the nursery’s everyday learning rather than replacing it.

For preschool children, woodland sessions happen weekly. Halesfield Highwoods is the named woodland destination in the nursery’s handbook, and Madeley Orchard is another place used for exploring the natural world. Activities include making bug hotels, arranging stones into cairns, constructing dens and shaping sticks. These give children something concrete to investigate and make, rather than simply spending time outdoors.

Children help carry woodland resources, recall earlier sessions and hear explanations of planned activities before directing their own play. A departure warning leaves time to finish projects and tidy up. The routine makes space for their ideas.

Photographs from Forest School contribute to observations under the EYFS and help staff plan what children might learn next. Families can object in writing to those photographs being used for publicity. The distinction matters: documenting a child’s learning and sharing an image publicly are separate uses.

Outdoor and Community Life

Both outdoor play areas have surfaces suitable for use throughout the year, with movable equipment as well as fixed pieces and protective surfacing around climbing equipment. The daily mile adds 15 minutes of running, jogging or walking. Indoor soft play provides another option for movement when outdoor conditions are less useful.

In October 2022, toddlers tackled a climbing wall suited to their age, while other activities brought natural materials into creative play: sticks became painting tools and babies used play dough to make hedgehogs. The same month’s account included weekly music workshops and a farm on wheels visit. These are examples of the nursery’s inspection-era day, rather than promises about today’s timetable.

Environmental work has a practical place here. Halesfield holds the Eco-Schools Green Flag award, encourages reusable nappies and works to cut waste and improve energy efficiency. For children, the environmental theme also has a direct woodland expression: they learn to leave growing plants alone and consider what they bring into, and take away from, the site.

Relationships and Communication

Babies follow their home routines, maintained with parents’ help. Sleep and mealtime patterns change as children grow, allowing care to start with the baby’s established rhythm.

Settling visits are free, with their number adjusted to the child; typically, at least two are needed before attendance begins. The visits also give parents time to become familiar with staff. In October 2022, families received spoken updates and information through an online application about their children’s learning goals and next steps.

At the October 2022 inspection, Ofsted identified a communication weakness: some practitioners moved on before children had enough thinking time to answer, limiting opportunities to develop their responses. This is a useful point to explore alongside the outdoor strengths. An engaging activity still needs room for a child to think and speak.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The Forest School handbook sets an important boundary around woodland access. Its standard sessions cannot accommodate children with physical disabilities because of the site’s nature; specially arranged sessions are the proposed alternative, with additional staff and a smaller group sought to support participation. This needs an individual conversation, rather than an assumption that every child will attend the same woodland session.

Outdoor policies include a site check before sessions, defined boundaries and close adult supervision for tool work. Extreme conditions can shorten or cancel an outing. These are arrangements for managing the activity, rather than a guarantee that it is risk-free.

Meals are cooked at the nursery by its chef, with dietary needs considered in menu planning and ingredients sourced from local suppliers. Access to the building uses a fingerprint system and a PIN code. If a child becomes unwell, staff contact a parent or nominated adult, and collection may be necessary; prescribed medication requires a Medicine Authority form with instructions.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year, with closure on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas. Families can book full days, shorter days, mornings or afternoons.

A full day runs from 7.30am to 6pm. The short-day option allows any seven hours between 8am and 4pm. Morning attendance is 7.30am to noon, or 7.30am to 1pm when lunch is included; afternoons run from 1pm to 5.30pm. Term-time-only places are also offered. These differences matter when matching care to a working day, a preschool routine or a shorter period away from home.

Funded attendance has its own choices: flexible ten-hour days within the opening window, or a set day from 8.30am to 4pm. Extra hours added to the funded pattern are charged separately and must be arranged ahead of time. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone or by email.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery offers two-year-old funding, the preschool universal entitlement of 15 hours and 30-hour funded places. The 15-hour sessions operate during term time; the 30-hour entitlement can be used during term time or spread across the year.

Food included with private sessions depends on the booking. Full and short days include breakfast, snacks, milk and a two-course lunch; the shorter morning includes breakfast, a snack and milk, while the longer morning adds lunch. Afternoon attendance includes a snack and milk. For the flexible ten-hour funded days, snacks and dinner carry a separate charge.

Families supply sun block for summer Forest School sessions, alongside suitable clothing and spare items. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, and the fees page sets out the different attendance and charging arrangements.

Absence terms reward advance notice: with seven clear days’ notice, the fee is halved; shorter notice leaves the full fee payable, whatever the reason. This is a practical consideration for families planning holidays or managing unpredictable absences.

• Woodland access. Standard Forest School sessions have a physical-access limitation, with specially organised sessions proposed as an alternative. Discuss the route, support and participation arrangements if your child has a physical disability.
• Time to answer. In October 2022, some children needed more opportunity to think before responding. During a visit, ask how practitioners now give children that space during conversations and group activities.
• The funded booking. Term-time and year-round delivery sit alongside separately charged food on flexible ten-hour funded days. Have the chosen hours and extras brought together in the written quotation before committing.
• Outdoor preparation. Woodland participation requires suitable footwear and weather-appropriate clothing, including sun block in summer. Consider the spare-clothes routine as part of the weekly arrangement.

Halesfield suits families who want regular outdoor learning and can make practical use of its varied attendance patterns, whether that means full days, a flexible short day or morning sessions. The woodland programme has substance: named places, making activities and children’s own investigations give it a clear identity.

The October 2022 Good judgement provides a dated quality benchmark. The decisions now are concrete: whether the session pattern fits family life, whether the woodland arrangements meet the child’s needs, and how staff allow time for children to express themselves.