Giggles Day Nursery, Skelmersdale

A baby room with space for 15, home routines carried into nursery care, and an annual Graduation give Giggles its character: early childhood starts with familiar habits and ends with a celebration of the move to school. This family-run setting at 1 Inskip, Skelmersdale, WN8 6JT accepts children from birth and has 43 places in total. Room capacities are separate measures, rather than an indication of how many children attend together.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 8 November 2022. That is a dated judgement, and the areas for improvement concerned consistent application of policies and more precise targets for developing staff teaching.

Full-day, morning and afternoon sessions provide different attendance options across 51 weeks of the year. The strongest practical detail is the room-by-room account of care: babies retain familiar routines, toddlers have daily outdoor access, and preschool children work towards the skills they will use at school.

Rooms and Ages

The baby room caters for up to 15 babies from six months to two years, with comfortable, physical, imaginative and exploratory areas supporting activities shaped by children's interests. Its published size deserves attention from parents choosing baby care. These areas give babies space for exploration, imaginative play, movement and comfort.

Daily outdoor access accompanies the Toddler room's provision for 12 children aged two to three, alongside activities that encourage increasing independence. The Pre-school room accommodates up to 24 children aged three to four, with early writing, phonics awareness and mathematical development forming its learning emphasis. These are room capacities, not typical daily group sizes.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning, development and care, with play helping children build language, physical skills and relationships. It is the common foundation for nursery education. Giggles starts with these areas before extending learning into literacy, mathematics, creative expression and understanding the world.

Ten values run through the curriculum, including children's voice, confidence, self-regulation and community. These give parents useful topics for discussing how activities are chosen: whether children's interests shape an experience, how staff support an emerging friendship, or how a child practises doing something independently.

In November 2022, babies experimented with balls and tunnels while adults repeated simple words alongside the action. Books, rhymes and storytelling also formed part of the emphasis on language. The examples make the teaching tangible: an adult can connect a word with something a baby is doing, rather than treating language as a separate lesson.

Small hand movements received attention in November 2022 through peg activities and dough play. Those experiences let children practise the movements later used for writing. Independence appeared in ordinary routines too, including pouring water and clearing plates after eating.

Outdoor and Community Life

During November 2022, outdoor play included climbing equipment, bicycles and trikes, giving children opportunities to practise movement and negotiate space. This complements the current daily outdoor access described for the Toddler room.

World Book Day, Easter, Halloween, Chinese New Year and Children in need feature among celebrations through the year. Graduation is an annual ceremony for children leaving for school, marking the end of their nursery experience. It provides a shared occasion to recognise their development before the next stage begins.

Familiar routines have a practical role in baby care. Staff work with parents to carry home habits into the day, while younger babies' food is blended appropriately. For toddlers, sleep and rest are accommodated as needed, and staff support toilet training while following home routines as closely as they can. These arrangements make continuity a useful theme for families managing a change in care.

The team is led by two Early Years Teachers who also hold degrees in Early Years Leadership. Continuing professional development and training support practitioners' work; all staff hold paediatric first-aid certificates. Those are concrete arrangements, rather than a substitute for an inspection judgement about care.

At the November 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described a special educational needs coordinator working with staff, families and outside agencies to support children with SEND and their progress. These findings belong to that inspection date.

Parents received termly developmental assessments in November 2022, alongside conversations about their children's interests and abilities. Current practice includes regular assessments to track learning and identify individual needs. For parents, the useful connection is between what a child enjoys now and the next skill staff help them practise.

Sessions and Attendance

Giggles is open Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, across 51 weeks of the year. Closures include bank holidays and a week at Christmas. Full-day bookings and separate morning or afternoon sessions offer alternatives to attending for the whole opening window; full-time and part-time attendance are also supported.

Additional private hours can be arranged at an hourly rate when discussed with the manager. Telephone and email are the preferred enquiry routes. The address is 1 Inskip, Skelmersdale, WN8 6JT.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education sessions are offered from nine months for working parents with a funding code. Children aged three receive the stated 15-hour early education entitlement; some two-year-olds qualify, and an additional 15 hours for some three- and four-year-olds depends on circumstances. These conditions matter when planning attendance: participation in funding does not itself establish a family's entitlement.

Meals and snacks are included in the stated session prices. Dietary requirements are accommodated, while parents supply formula milk, nappies and baby wipes. Meals and snacks are included in the fee; parents provide formula milk, nappies and baby wipes.

Private childcare sits alongside the funded offer, with full-day and morning or afternoon prices set out on the funding and pricing page. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Baby-room fit. The baby room caters for 15 babies and describes its age band as six months to two years, while the nursery accepts children from birth. For a younger baby, ask how care would be arranged and how home routines would carry into the day.
• Teaching and consistency. In November 2022, leaders needed to check staff understanding of policies more routinely and make teaching-development targets clearer. Ask how those checks and staff supervision now work.
• Funding arrangements. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings sit alongside funded sessions. Ask how your entitlement fits the intended attendance pattern and which charges apply during funded hours.

Giggles suits families considering morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, especially those who value continuity between home routines and nursery care. The room descriptions provide useful substance: baby provision has a stated cap, toddlers access the outdoors daily, and preschool learning includes writing, mathematics and phonics awareness.

The November 2022 Good judgement remains the inspection reference point. Its improvement priorities make staff supervision and policy consistency worthwhile subjects for a visit, alongside the practical fit of the chosen room and attendance pattern.