Oakfield Nursery School

A camera-equipped birdbox, a kitchen beside the Nature Nursery Room and shopping trips to Altrincham Market give Oakfield Nursery School a recognisable character. Nature and practical tasks run through the day here. This single-setting, family-owned nursery occupies a period property in Altrincham town centre, with gardens on both sides of the building and a separate unit for babies.

At its 10 August 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Oakfield Outstanding overall and in each assessed area, and judged safeguarding effective. That judgement provides a strong dated reference point; the physical offer gives families something more concrete to weigh: dedicated spaces for sleep, sensory exploration, cooking and outdoor discovery.

Oakfield has capacity for 125 children aged 3 to 60 months. The age groups are Baby Unit, Tweenies & Toddlers, Prep 1 and Prep 2, with parents involved in the decision about babies moving onwards. Full-time and part-time attendance are offered, rather than sessional care.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Unit combines four play rooms leading to babies-only outdoor space with a sensory room and a separate cot room, where each baby has an individual cot; its activities use sounds, textures, scents and light to encourage exploration. The separation matters. Sleeping and active play have their own spaces, and babies have an outdoor area reserved for their use.

Tweenies & Toddlers begins at approximately 20 months and provides five main rooms, access to gardens and a dance and music studio, with learning across communication, movement, relationships, early literacy, mathematics and creative expression. Prep 1 and Prep 2 are separate classes with their own educators and teachers, and children start wearing Oakfield uniform in Prep 1.

These are stages rather than a promise that every child moves on at an identical point. Parents help decide when a baby is ready for the next group, while the arrangements for later moves include time spent becoming familiar with the new group and adjustments for individual needs.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS framework shapes learning through play, covering language, physical development, relationships, early reading and number, understanding the world and creative expression. Oakfield draws on several educational approaches rather than following a single method. Its daily timetable includes physical activities led by specialists, with dance, football, yoga, drama and tennis among the options.

The indoor resources give that timetable room to work. Children have art rooms, a music and dance studio and a kitchen for cooking. Resources are accessible for children to choose independently, and structured activities sit alongside opportunities to make their own decisions. This gives practical learning a place in the everyday routine rather than reserving it for occasional demonstrations.

In August 2022, learning included squeezing oranges, reading jug markings and using a water pump to explore counting. Babies handled books and explored water with fruit and herbs, while older children used writing in their play. These examples show how language and early mathematics were connected to tasks children could see and do.

Outdoor and Community Life

Nature Nursery gives three- and four-year-olds additional outdoor experiences, including trips to woodland, farms and beaches, followed by investigation back at the nursery. The Nature Nursery Room has an adjoining kitchen for cooking, experiments and projects. Collections from outings can therefore become material for further exploration indoors.

Animal care is part of the programme: children help care for tortoises, fish and guinea pigs, observe birds through a camera in the birdbox and receive educational visits from the RSPB. In spring, eggs hatch in an incubator; tadpoles and caterpillars offer further opportunities to follow changes in living things.

The gardens add a woodwork shed, climbing wall and water pump to outdoor play. Children plant, water and harvest crops in the organic garden, and produce goes into their baking or nursery meals. Trips to Altrincham Market involve buying produce for the nursery, extending the connection between growing, shopping and eating.

Community work has named destinations too. Oakfield has an ongoing relationship with Francis House, which supports children with life-limiting conditions and their families. Its annual Wood Street Mission Christmas Appeal collects toys and gifts for families on low incomes in Manchester and Salford. These activities make giving tangible for young children.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key carer responsible for planning learning and keeping track of development. Practitioners have time within their working hours to prepare activities and records, with support staff providing cover. For parents, this links the person who knows the child to the decisions about what comes next.

Development Profiles are shared regularly, alongside daily feedback from key carers. Parents in Partnership also invites families to contribute monthly WOW moments and comments to their child's file. This creates a route for home experiences to influence the nursery's understanding of the child, rather than communication flowing only towards parents.

Annual Parents' Evening and Preps Evening provide opportunities to discuss learning and review projects. Reading and writing workshops give families practical ideas to use at home. The emphasis is on explaining what children are doing and how parents can take part.

Baby care starts from the routine already established at home. Separate facilities handle the preparation of bottles and adaptation of meals to a baby's weaning stage, while parents participate in decisions about development and moving groups. The individual cot and separate sleeping space are useful details for families weighing how rest fits into the day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Oakfield's SEND arrangements use a Graduated Approach: assess a child's needs, plan support, put it into practice and review it. A SENCO coordinates this work with parents, key carers and other professionals. Children needing additional support have an Individual Plan, reviewed with families every 6-8 weeks.

Height-adjustable tables, wide doorways and quiet spaces support adaptations to the environment. The dance studio can also accommodate therapy sessions or meetings with professionals. These are specific mechanisms for discussing a child's needs, rather than a general promise that one arrangement will suit everyone.

At its August 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children needing additional support received it, and that staff knew individual children's needs and talents well. In August 2022, practitioners caring for babies and toddlers worked in pairs to maintain continuity, and babies' personal routines received close attention.

School transition includes books and group conversations about the move, visits from receiving teachers and reports shared with new schools. Accompanied visits can be arranged when needed. Preparation therefore covers both talking about the change and passing on knowledge of the child.

Sessions and Attendance

Oakfield is on Groby Road, Altrincham, WA14 1RS, and opens Monday to Friday from 7.45am to 6.15pm. It operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and one week at Christmas.

The booking choices are full-time attendance or part-time attendance on 2, 3 or 4 days; sessional care is not offered. When a child turns 3, attendance must be at least 3 days. That age-linked minimum matters for a family hoping to keep a two-day pattern as their child grows.

Applications begin with a requested form, obtained through the online application route, by telephone or by email. Oakfield's Reserve List matches applications to the age and attendance requirements of a future opening rather than moving families through a simple queue. When a place is offered and a viewing arranged, acceptance must be given in writing within a week of the viewing.

Funding and Paid Extras

Oakfield accepts up to 15 funded hours, rather than 30. Its funding provision includes funding for eligible working parents from the start of the next school term after their child turns 9 months, and Universal Funding from ages 3 to 5. Funding is applied termly and spread across the year against monthly payments. The nursery's participation limit matters even where a family's entitlement is greater.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Families combining funding with private attendance should weigh the funded-hours limit alongside the minimum attendance from age 3.

Food is cooked on site by a cook and catering assistants, with fruit mid-morning, a hot lunch and afternoon tea; meals are eaten in a separate dining room. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free choices are offered, and individual dietary requirements can be accommodated.

• Attendance changes at age 3. Part-time places can cover 2, 3 or 4 days, but the minimum becomes 3 days when a child turns 3. Plan for that change when assessing the longer-term childcare pattern.
• Funding and the total bill. Oakfield accepts up to 15 funded hours and spreads funding across the year.
• Baby routines and sensory care. Baby Unit has an individual cot for each baby and uses scents, music and sensory activities. During a visit, discuss how these arrangements fit your baby's sleep routine and any sensitivities.
• The application sequence. The Reserve List works by matching requirements, and written acceptance is due within a week of a viewing following an offer. Prepare the questions that matter to your family before that viewing.

Oakfield suits families seeking either full-time attendance or a part-time pattern across several days, with practical learning and nature woven into nursery life. The gardens, animal care and Nature Nursery Room give older children substantial opportunities to investigate; Baby Unit gives younger children separate places to play and sleep.

The decision turns on the attendance commitment and the funding limit as much as the facilities. For families comfortable with those terms, the combination of parent communication, planned support and hands-on experiences makes a clear case for considering Oakfield.