First Steps at Cansfield

Mud kitchens, a separate dining room and play areas divided between younger children and preschool give First Steps at Cansfield a clear physical character. This purpose-built nursery on Old Road in Ashton-in-Makerfield combines practical independence with opportunities to investigate, talk and experiment. Children can practise serving food as well as sorting objects or exploring outdoors. Those everyday experiences make the offer more concrete than a curriculum name alone.

At its August 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. That is a dated judgement, with useful detail beneath it: activities drew on children's interests, while improvements were needed in the time children had to answer questions and their opportunities to learn about diversity.

The younger unit accommodates children from six weeks to three years, with preschool provision for ages three to five. Full days, morning sessions and afternoon sessions sit alongside term-time or stretched funded attendance, giving families several ways to organise nursery around their week.

Rooms and Ages

Separate play areas distinguish the birth to three unit from preschool. The birth to three unit accommodates up to 19 children. Babies and toddlers use different environments and activities within this unit.

The baby room emphasises a calm atmosphere and resources for exploration; the toddler room adds more challenging equipment, construction, pretend play, painting, songs and stories as independence and social skills develop. Movement into the toddler room is linked to children beginning to walk and wanting to explore further. The arrangement recognises a developmental change rather than describing every younger child as needing the same day.

Preschool has a large room described as accommodating 24 children, with space for up to 32. Conversation, friendships, early pencil control and practical number work shape its learning, while outdoor investigative areas and mud kitchens extend opportunities to explore. Counting, matching, grouping and sorting give mathematics a practical form before children move on to school.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards for children's learning, development and care: here, play, conversation, physical activity and growing independence provide ways to work towards them. It is the common framework, rather than an extra programme. Preschool adds The Curiosity Approach through an environment intended to encourage experimentation, with storytelling, early writing resources and investigative outdoor areas providing concrete examples of its use.

In August 2022, communication, language and mathematics were priorities. Number learning appeared in different forms across the ages: babies heard number stories, toddlers counted flower petals while painting, and older children used counting songs. The practical implication is that learning need not depend on a formal lesson; a story, a painting activity or a song can give children a reason to use numbers.

Other August 2022 examples connected sensory exploration with language and nature. Children investigated lemons and learned words for their parts and taste. They also removed seeds from melons and planted them, discussing what might grow. These were specific examples of the day at that time, rather than a promise of a fixed activity schedule.

The same August 2022 findings identified two limits. In the baby room, questions sometimes followed too quickly for children to formulate a response. Resources intended to teach about diversity were not consistently accessible. Both points concern the substance of children's learning: having an activity or resource is only useful if children have time and opportunities to engage with it.

Relationships and Communication

Children's Review meetings take place twice yearly, giving parents and the key person time to discuss development. The arrangements can adapt to parents' circumstances: information can go home before a discussion, and meetings can take place online through Teams. This creates a planned opportunity for a fuller conversation alongside informal contact, rather than leaving every discussion to the end of a session.

Room changes involve trial sessions, information passed between key people and familiar support where needed. The number of trial sessions depends on how the child adjusts. That makes the transition a process: parents receive an explanation of the timing, and the next key person receives details of the child's interests, development and individual needs.

In August 2022, a key-buddy system gave children another familiar adult to turn to when their key person was away. Babies and toddlers sought comfort from staff, and older children practised doing things for themselves. The current meal arrangements continue to encourage self-serving, with help when needed, so independence is built into ordinary routines.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the August 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children with emerging special educational needs or disabilities received effective support, including prompt referrals and collaboration with families and other professionals. The current management structure includes both a designated safeguarding lead role and a special educational needs co-ordinator role. Staff hold paediatric first-aid qualifications, alongside NNEB or Level 3 equivalent childcare training, and have additional training relating to diabetes, coeliac disease, food allergens and emergency allergy medication.

The Integrated Review, normally undertaken around 30 months, brings parents and the child's key person together with a community Nursery Nurse or Health Visitor. It combines the developmental check with the health review and provides space to discuss growth, learning, sleep, toilet training and parental concerns. This is a structured point for bringing nursery and health perspectives together.

Preparation for school includes transition records and conversations with Reception teachers about each child's needs, interests and development. For a child requiring additional transition support, the policy extends key-person involvement until at least the October half-term, or longer where needed. Books about school and photographs of local school spaces help make the change more familiar; these arrangements concern preparation and information sharing, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is First Steps at Cansfield, Old Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, WN4 9TP. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 01942 711964. The nursery operates Monday to Friday and opens for 51 weeks, closing over Christmas.

A full day runs from 7.30am to 6pm. Morning sessions run from 7.30am to 12.30pm, and afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm; the half-day fee structure covers those same two windows. These are booking patterns, so families can compare a shorter session with a full day rather than treating the opening hours as the only attendance option.

Funded attendance can be term-time only or spread across 51 weeks. Flexible session arrangements are also offered where staffing ratios allow, so flexibility is subject to how the nursery can organise care. The choice between term-time attendance and stretched hours matters for families balancing nursery with work or school holidays: it changes when the funded hours are used.

Funding and Paid Extras

Free funded places are offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds, alongside privately paid sessions. For children accessing a free funded childcare place, breakfast, lunch and tea are charged separately as daily additions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with session prices and funded-place meal charges kept separate.

Lunch is cooked fresh each day by the kitchen team at Cansfield High School, while breakfast and snacks are prepared at the nursery; menus change with the seasons. Dietary requirements can be accommodated, and children eat together in a separate dining room, with self-serving encouraged and assistance provided when needed.

• Youngest children's day. The birth to three unit has a maximum of 19 children across its younger provision. During a visit, ask how babies' sleep and quieter time fit alongside the toddler day, and how staff decide a child is ready to move rooms.
• Time to respond. In August 2022, baby-room questioning sometimes moved on too quickly, and diversity resources were not consistently accessible. Ask for examples of how children now get time to answer and encounter different lives and cultures through play.
• The complete quotation. Funded-place meals carry separate daily charges. For your chosen sessions, ask what the written quotation covers for meals; families managing allergies should also confirm current food preparation and emergency arrangements.
• Attendance across the year. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings sit alongside term-time and stretched funding. Discuss the exact weekly pattern you want, including how it fits the Christmas closure and the nursery's conditional flexibility.

First Steps at Cansfield suits families choosing between morning, afternoon and full-day attendance, with term-time and stretched funding adding another practical choice. Its strongest current details are tangible: separate younger and preschool play areas, investigative outdoor provision, shared dining and planned conversations about development.

The August 2022 Good judgement gives a useful quality reference, but the teaching improvements from that date deserve attention alongside the strengths. For parents who value practical independence, a play-based preschool day and carefully organised changes between rooms and school, this is an offer with clear substance.