Smile Day Nursery

Fizz the rabbit, Herman the tortoise and the surrounding farmland give Smile Day Nursery a countryside character that extends beyond its High Biggins address. Animal care sits alongside play, conversation and the gradual business of learning to do things independently. For babies, the starting point is more personal: feeding and sleeping routines agreed with parents, rather than a single timetable applied to everyone.

At its 28 October 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Smile Good overall, highlighting children's relationships with staff and identifying more individually targeted staff training as the improvement needed. That combination gives parents a useful starting point: a positive judgement, with a specific development priority to explore.

The nursery accepts children aged 3 to 60 months. Its four rooms separate babies, toddlers, two-to-three-year-olds and preschool children, while morning, afternoon and longer day bookings provide different ways to use the setting.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room (0-15 Months) is self-contained, with equipment chosen for different stages of mobility and individual feeding and sleeping routines developed with parents. This makes the youngest children's own habits part of their care, rather than treating the room's age band as a description of what every baby needs.

In the Toddler Room (15 – 24 Months), play and age-appropriate equipment support physical development, social confidence and increasing independence. The 2-3 Yrs Room continues that emphasis through activities matched to children's pace, including the social skills they will use when moving between stages. In the Pre-School Room (3-4), children move up in the term following their third birthday, with play and individual adult attention supporting preparation for primary school.

These are developmental stages rather than interchangeable rooms. The baby arrangements centre on continuity with home, while the older-room descriptions put increasing weight on doing things independently and getting ready for the next stage.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning: children develop language, movement, social understanding and early mathematical and literacy skills through play. It is the shared framework for early-years provision; Smile's topic-based planning gives activities a theme, while children also have opportunities to explore, persist with an idea and choose how to approach it.

In October 2024, conversation was deliberately built into play. Adults demonstrated exchanges that babies and toddlers could begin to copy, while older children practised sustaining conversations. During songs and stories, staff left gaps for children to contribute familiar words. The practical value is participation: children have something to say or sing, rather than simply listening to an adult perform.

Movement had an equally concrete role that October. Children crouched to roll pumpkins towards decorated cups, practising balance through a game they wanted to repeat. Staff also selected movements to work on each month. Physical preparation for writing therefore included whole-body activity, rather than beginning and ending with a pencil.

Lil Beatz adds visiting class sessions to nursery activities. Animal care brings another recognisable element: preschool children can learn about looking after Fizz, Herman and the chickens. The animals give care and responsibility a tangible subject, with something living to consider alongside resources and toys.

Outdoor and Community Life

High Biggins provides views across farmland towards hills and fells. That is the setting's physical backdrop; its children's experiences also include outdoor play and woodland walks.

In October 2024, parents contributed celebrations from their own cultures, and children tried foods associated with different family backgrounds. This brought learning about other families into everyday experience. Rather than leaving culture as an abstract topic, the activities connected it with people the children knew.

Relationships and Communication

Baby care begins with a conversation about home routines. Parents contribute information about sleep and feeding, and are also consulted about development and wellbeing. For a family starting nursery during infancy, that continuity matters: the adults caring for the child have a basis for understanding the child's habits and changing needs.

Staff help children settle during their first sessions and support practical routines such as mealtimes and toilet training. The team includes qualified nursery nurses. These are hands-on responsibilities, so the useful question for a family is how those arrangements will work for their particular child, rather than whether a general description sounds reassuring.

In October 2024, children sought out staff for comfort and books, and adults used their knowledge of families to start conversations. Sharing was taught in small steps: younger children practised exchanging resources, while older children learned to request a turn. The emphasis was on helping children manage an interaction, rather than expecting them to understand cooperation immediately.

Emotional understanding was also part of that October's day. Stories prompted discussion of feelings, and children matched their photographs with characters representing different emotions. This gave children ways to identify and explain how they felt. Preschool children also practised changing their own outdoor clothing, while children across the age groups worked towards pouring drinks and handling cutlery.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2024 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding and strong support for children with SEND and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, including work with other agencies and gathering information to obtain further help. Those findings describe care and support at the time of the inspection.

A SENCO role provides a point of responsibility for special educational needs, and the staff structure includes designated safeguarding leadership. In October 2024, staff helped children with SEND participate in activities. Participation and access to further support are the concrete mechanisms here, both relevant to families whose child may need adjustments or additional help.

The nursery cook prepares fresh meals using a three-week menu, with fruit and vegetable snacks and milk or water between meals. Dietary needs are catered for, and the nursery publishes a nut-free policy that also applies to packed lunches.

School preparation starts before the final preschool term. During preschool, links are made with the school a child will attend, allowing preparation to relate to the child's next setting. This is transition work, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

Smile opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, across 51 weeks of the year. It closes on bank holidays and for a week at Christmas. Those closures matter for families arranging care through the year, even where their usual weekly booking fits neatly around work.

Morning sessions run from 8.30am to 1pm; afternoon sessions run from 1pm to 5.30pm. Seven-, eight- and nine-hour days are also offered, alongside flexible arrangements around individual childcare needs. The opening window and the booked session are separate considerations: a morning booking does not cover the whole time the nursery is open.

This range suits different routines. A family seeking a shorter nursery day can use a morning or afternoon session, while longer day patterns allow more extensive care. Additional paid hours can sit alongside funded hours. The appropriate comparison is the complete booking pattern, including food choices, rather than a headline hourly price.

Getting There

The address is The Old Dairy, High Biggins, Kirkby Lonsdale, Carnforth, LA6 2NP. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 015242 73700.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered from nine months, subject to circumstances, beginning in the term after a child reaches that age. Funding includes eligible two-year-olds' 15 hours and preschool children's 15 or 30 hours. The entitlement can follow 38 weeks or be stretched across 51 weeks, spreading care over more of the year rather than increasing the entitlement.

For privately paid hours or days, lunch and tea are included. With funded hours, snacks are included, while lunch and tea are optional paid additions; families can instead supply a packed lunch, with ingredient information and details of cooking, cooling and storage.

That distinction affects the overall cost and the practical work at home. Families using funding with nursery meals have a different arrangement from those bringing food, even when their booked hours are identical. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fee structure explains the funding and booking arrangements.

• Staff development. The October 2024 improvement priority was training tailored more closely to individual staff members' understanding of child development. Ask what has changed and how training now relates to the children in each room.
• Your baby's routine. Feeding and sleeping arrangements are agreed individually with parents. During a visit, discuss how your child's current routine would be continued and adjusted as their needs change.
• Funded hours and food. Snacks are included with funding, but nursery lunch and tea are optional paid additions. Match the written quotation to your intended sessions and food choices so the complete arrangement is clear.
• Allergies and packed lunches. The nut-free policy covers food brought from home, with ingredient and preparation information required. Allergy-affected families should confirm current handling arrangements and how their child's needs will be communicated to staff.

Smile suits families who want countryside surroundings, individual baby routines and a choice between morning or afternoon sessions and longer day bookings. Fizz, Herman and the chickens give the nursery an identifiable character, while the practical offer includes stretched funding and a clear distinction between food arrangements for funded and privately paid hours.

The October 2024 Good judgement is balanced by a concrete staff-development priority. For parents, the strongest case rests on the combination of personal care routines, play-based learning and attendance flexibility, with staff training and the child's individual needs forming useful points for a visit.