Lynwood Ashtree Day Nursery

Child-led play and a carefully staged introduction to nursery give Lynwood Ashtree Day Nursery its character. Babies can meet their keyworker at home before beginning short settling sessions, while preschool children move towards small adult-led tasks through summer phonics. The emphasis is on responding to children’s interests rather than taking everyone through the same activity at the same moment.

At its August 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and identified a need for less-experienced staff to make better use of opportunities to develop children’s learning during play. That qualification matters here: an approach built around spontaneous teaching depends on adults recognising when to join in and what to add.

The nursery has capacity for 74 children, with an accepted age range of three months to five years, at Ashtree House in Barrow-in-Furness. Full-day care sits alongside morning and afternoon sessions and term-time funded attendance.

Rooms and Ages

Caterpillars & Butterflies covers the under-two stage, with different surroundings for crawling and walking babies: low lighting, soft furnishings and sensory materials for the former; an open-plan space with story baskets and a home corner for the latter. Scarves, mirrors and textures give babies things to investigate close to floor level. Walking babies also have physical opportunities in the garden, including a mirrored tunnel and a slide.

Dragons, for children aged two to three, combines construction, creative play and a den for quieter stories in an open-plan room, with an emphasis on exploring, making decisions and becoming more independent. Its outdoor provision includes a mud kitchen, water play and looking for insects among plants.

Superheroes, for the three-to-four stage, emphasises cooperation and independence in a free-flow environment, with yoga, woodwork and summer phonics alongside child-led play. School preparation includes recognising a name and helping oneself at lunch. Those everyday tasks make the transition towards doing more independently concrete for children and parents alike.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the areas of learning that shape children’s development, with play used to build communication, physical skills, relationships and understanding. Lynwood’s added approach is Planning in the moment: practitioners respond to the interest a child is showing now, using that opportunity to introduce an idea, ask a question or support the next step. The curriculum puts substantial play time and children’s choices at the centre of the day.

Read Write Inc phonics introduces school leavers to brief adult-led learning in the summer before school. It sits alongside the play-based approach rather than replacing it. Yoga and woodwork add different experiences for preschool children, while choosing resources and cooperating with other children remain part of the wider offer.

In August 2023, books were selected for each age group and revisited during play, linking stories with activities such as building. Songs also gave younger children opportunities to use signs and try words, while older children requested familiar rhymes. These examples show how language could run through the day rather than being confined to a single story session.

Outdoor and Community Life

Natural, adaptable materials are an important part of the environment. Shells, conkers, sand and wooden resources can be used in different ways, allowing children to decide what they represent in their game. Time in the gardens continues across different weather conditions, connecting indoor exploration with the natural world outside.

In August 2023, the outdoor area included log paths for younger children, an obstacle course for older ones and a wooden tepee to climb. Activities linked to the football World Cup also brought maps, flags and foods into children’s learning, giving an international event a practical expression in play and at lunchtime.

Relationships and Communication

The home visit programme gives a baby’s keyworker time with the child in familiar surroundings before nursery attendance begins. Information about routines, interests and development is gathered in an all about me booklet. That makes settling an exchange of useful detail with parents, rather than just an introduction to the building.

After the visit, settling sessions are free and unlimited, with each lasting up to two hours. This allows the introduction to proceed in smaller steps. The younger children’s Buddy System provides another designated practitioner when the keyworker is absent, helping families maintain a clear contact for their child’s day.

The famly app carries messages and records of activities, nappy changes, sleep and meals. Daily routines follow the individual child, and the key person provides a contact for conversations about interests and development.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A sleep room, with lullaby music and sleep pods, gives babies a dedicated place to rest; a practitioner stays beside the child while they settle to sleep.

The SENCo role includes arranging support, making referrals and helping families apply for funding. Lynwood’s support mechanisms include individual learning programmes, sensory environments and one-to-one help. These are concrete routes through which a child’s needs can be addressed, rather than a general promise that the same provision will suit everyone.

At the August 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that the special educational needs coordinator sought additional support and helped organise suitable onward provision where possible, while planned learning supported progress from children’s different starting points. In August 2023, accessible emotion pictures also helped children identify feelings, and adults encouraged them to recognise when shade or a quiet rest might help. That gave emotional learning a practical place in the nursery day.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Ashtree House, 22 Newbarns Village, Barrow-in-Furness, LA13 9NG. Opening hours are 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates for 51 weeks, closing for bank holidays and the week between Christmas and New Year.

Private attendance includes full days and morning and afternoon sessions. The April 2024/2025 regular-fees table specifies a minimum booking of two sessions per week. Funded core sessions run from 9am to noon and from 12.30pm to 3.30pm. Breakfast club runs from 7.30am to 9am, and Afterschool club from 3.30pm to 5.30pm, providing wraparound options around that core day. These clubs can be booked through Famly.

Tour requests and enquiries can be made through the nursery, by telephone on 01229 821998 or by email at welcome@lynwooddaynursery.co.uk. The timetable distinguishes the funded teaching sessions from the wider opening day, an important distinction when matching attendance to working hours.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded provision covers 15 or 30 hours for two-, three- and four-year-olds, delivered during term time. Additional hours can be attended privately, with funding deducted from the total attendance; holiday attendance attracts normal fees.

Lunch is included when a full day combining morning and afternoon sessions is booked and charged separately otherwise. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, and the fees page sets out the attendance structure. Breakfast club and Afterschool club are separately charged additions around the funded core sessions.

• Adult involvement in child-led play. The August 2023 improvement point concerned less-experienced staff recognising opportunities to extend learning. During a visit, ask how practitioners develop an interest a child has chosen and how staff receive support with that skill.
• Room names and progression. The toddler and preschool names differ between Cubs and Bears, and Dragons and Superheroes. Ask which names are currently used and how children move between the age groups; this will help connect the room descriptions with your child’s likely experience.
• Funded time and the working day. Core sessions are split between morning and afternoon, with breakfast and later care charged separately. Consider the full attendance pattern, including holidays, when assessing the written quotation.

Lynwood suits families seeking either full-day attendance or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, including term-time funded provision with wraparound care. Its strongest practical features are the home-based introduction for babies, flexible settling sessions and a curriculum that gives children substantial room to follow their interests.

The balance to assess is how confidently adults extend that play. The August 2023 improvement point makes this a useful subject for a visit, alongside the nursery’s concrete provision for sleep, communication and individual support. Families who value practical independence and learning through exploration have a clear set of features to weigh here.