Hilton Street Childcare Wigan

Swimming at Ashton Leisure Centre, weekly cooking and separate spaces for babies who crawl and walk give Hilton Street Childcare Wigan a clear identity. This Ashton-in-Makerfield nursery combines age-specific rooms with the facilities of a community centre, including a hall and weekly soft play.

At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The current nursery age range is three months to five years, with capacity for 192 children across the setting. That total is separate from the limits of individual rooms; it should not be read as the number of children sharing one play space.

Full-day and half-day bookings are offered, alongside flexible care. For younger children, the strongest practical details are the adjoining baby rooms and opportunities to spend time with staff before starting; for preschool children, swimming, dance and cooking add substance to the learning programme.

Rooms and Ages

Little Giraffes occupies adjoining rooms, with cots in the area for children who are not walking and open floor space and table activities for those becoming mobile. This gives parents a concrete picture of how sleep and movement fit within the baby provision. Planning is individual, with messy activities, garden play and walks or park visits in good weather.

For children aged two to three, Little Hedgehogs combines sand, water and painting with work on communication and independence. Child-height basins and toilets make bathroom routines more manageable, while an interactive whiteboard supports shared activities and taking turns. Potty training begins when parents decide their child is ready, with nursery and home encouraged to start together.

Little Monkeys, for three- to five-year-olds, has an open-plan room accommodating up to 40 children, with an interactive whiteboard and a water dispenser children can use themselves. Its emphasis includes independence and practical learning. Children serve themselves at meals where safe and use the bathroom with supervision, giving everyday routines an educational purpose.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS shapes the nursery's learning: children explore through play, and cooking connects measuring, weighing and counting with opportunities to investigate and predict. Activities are planned around children's interests and individual needs.

Weekly cooking sessions end with children taking their creations home, accompanied by a recipe and information for parents. The activity carries learning between nursery and home: families can see what their child has made and repeat the experience together. Preschool children also have weekly P.E., with the day changing to give children attending different days an opportunity to join in.

Mini Movers Dance Class provides weekly dance during term time for older two-year-olds through to four-year-olds, linked to the EYFS. Friday swimming takes place at Ashton Leisure Centre: nine children travel in the nursery's minibus for a 30-minute lesson with a swimming teacher. These are specific additions to the nursery day, and the swimming arrangement is worth understanding when choosing attendance days.

In June 2022, babies explored natural materials and made marks in coloured sand, toddlers played imaginatively with transport toys, and preschool children manipulated dough to build hand strength for writing. Adults introduced vocabulary during play. The same visit identified a teaching limitation: questions sometimes came too quickly for children to answer, and adults occasionally supplied solutions before children could work through a problem themselves.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor play includes an area for under-threes with a wooden play house and space for digging and growing. A second area serves children over three and the out-of-school provision, with scooters, bikes, construction resources and sand and water activities. These physical details matter: outdoor experiences include movement, building and exploration as well as space to play.

During June 2022, children visited parks, garden centres and care homes, while fire and police visitors introduced people who help others. Fundraising also formed part of learning about the wider community. Those are dated examples of how the nursery connected children's experiences with life beyond their room.

Free settling visits introduce families to the practitioner who will be their continuing point of contact. In Little Giraffes, stay-and-play sessions create time to discuss parents' wishes before a baby starts.

Communication has several practical routes. Little Giraffes uses Parent Communication Sheets for weekly planning, nursery updates and parents' comments, while learning journeys can be accessed by families. In Little Monkeys, parents contribute milestones from home and receive communication packs, helping staff connect nursery learning with a child's experiences elsewhere.

A SENCO role is part of the team, and practitioners work with local health visiting teams when families raise developmental concerns. At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND and those learning English as an additional language received effective support through collaboration with families and professionals, and that children were making good progress. This is a dated judgement, alongside the current practical route for discussing concerns.

In June 2022, staff helped children explore emotions through mindfulness and yoga, and used consistent approaches to sharing and taking turns. The handwashing finding was less positive: staff did not consistently put the nursery's own procedures into practice. That matters alongside the account of emotional support, because care includes ordinary daily hygiene as well as relationships.

Meals are cooked on site by the nursery cook using a four-week menu. Parents are asked to explain allergies and food preferences connected with religion, giving the kitchen information to take into account when preparing food.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours run from 7am to 6.30pm, with full-day, half-day and flexible care offered. The preschool timetable runs from 9am to 3pm, with breakfast and free play beforehand and afternoon tea and free play afterwards; that timetable describes the child's day, rather than a separate booking pattern.

Care runs throughout the year, with closure on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas. Fees remain payable during families' holidays and absences due to illness, while the nursery's closure periods are excluded. Families should therefore assess the continuing cost of their chosen pattern, as well as the hours they expect to use.

Getting There

The address is Hilton Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, WN4 8PD, near the town centre. General enquiries go to reception by telephone on 01942 274 684 or email at reception@cccad.co.uk.

Beyond the nursery years, breakfast and after-school care includes transport for children attending St Thomas’, St Oswalds, Nicol Mere and RL Hughes. Previous attendance at the nursery is not required, so this is a separate childcare option for families with school-aged children, including siblings.

Funding and Paid Extras

Free sessions are offered for three- and four-year-olds, and free childcare for two-year-olds is subject to eligibility. Privately paid care includes full-day and half-day patterns. For current prices, ask the nursery for a quotation.

• Teaching and hygiene. In June 2022, the improvement priorities covered giving children time to answer questions, helping them solve problems independently and consistent handwashing practice. Ask how staff now put these priorities into everyday routines.
• The preschool week. Little Monkeys uses nursery uniform, requests a P.E. kit and offers Friday swimming in a group of nine. Discuss how these activities fit your child's attendance pattern and interests.
• Funding and the whole bill. Two-year-old funding depends on eligibility, and bookings remain payable during family holidays and illness. When arranging funded care, what attendance pattern applies, and how are meals and items such as nappies and wipes handled within the quotation?
• Starting in Little Giraffes. Stay-and-play and free settling visits offer time with staff before the first booked day. Use a visit to discuss how your baby's sleep and movement needs fit the two adjoining rooms.

Hilton Street suits families seeking either full-day or half-day care, with flexible arrangements also part of the offer. Its clearest strengths for choosing parents are tangible: adjoining baby rooms, outdoor areas arranged by age, and a preschool programme that includes cooking, dance and swimming.

The June 2022 Good judgement gives the review a positive inspection foundation, while the teaching and handwashing priorities deserve a direct discussion. For a family that values practical learning and a continuing relationship with a key practitioner, this is a nursery with a substantial, recognisable day to consider.