Windmill Day Nursery

A cardboard box turned into a boat captures Windmill Day Nursery's playful character. In March 2024, children acted out swimming and jumping into the sea, while younger children listened to stories alongside staff. These were simple materials put to imaginative use, with conversation woven into the play.

Windmill has capacity for 49 children, accepting ages from three months to five years at 6 Church Road, Thornton-Cleveleys, FY5 2TZ. At its March 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good overall. The useful distinction for parents lies beneath that grade: children chose activities, staff joined their conversations, and learning extended beyond the nursery to a beach outing by bus.

Attendance choices include full days and morning or afternoon half days. The practical terms deserve equal attention: fee-paying bookings normally require a fixed full day each week, and reducing attendance generally requires eight weeks' written notice.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning and care, with Windmill using play indoors and outside to help children develop. This means learning through activities and interaction rather than treating education as a separate part of the day. Its play-based curriculum gives children opportunities to explore and make choices.

In March 2024, communication and language were the teaching priority. Songs, rhymes and conversations accompanied play, giving children opportunities to practise speaking and listening. Younger children looked for animals in stories; elsewhere, children squeezed wet sand and developed imaginary journeys using a cardboard box. The activities connected language with something children were doing or imagining.

Preparation for the next stage was also evident that month. Younger children named shapes and colours, while older children practised writing their names and connecting letters with sounds. Assessments took place termly to identify gaps in learning. These examples give parents a more useful picture of school preparation than a general promise of readiness: early language, recognition and writing developed through nursery activities.

There were two important limitations in March 2024. Targets for what children should learn next were sometimes insufficiently precise, and staff occasionally missed chances to extend children's ideas into reasoning or solving a problem. The distinction matters: joining a child's conversation is valuable, but the next question can take their learning further.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play included tricycles in March 2024, with staff helping children share turns. Children could access the outdoors for exercise, making movement part of the daily routine rather than an isolated activity.

A recent trip described that month took children to the local beach by bus, where they dug and discovered shells and crabs. This brought exploration into a setting beyond the nursery. Current arrangements allow occasional organised outings, with parents informed beforehand and participation requiring a signed consent form.

A key person is assigned to each child and family, providing a consistent contact for involvement in the child's development. Famly supports communication with parents and also gives families access to nursery policies. This brings everyday contact and the practical rules of care into the same system.

At the March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support good, with a coordinator helping staff plan targeted activities and practitioners working with other professionals on specific learning programmes. These are concrete mechanisms behind the judgements, rather than a general assurance that every child's needs can be met.

Current behaviour-support arrangements start with discussion with parents, followed where appropriate by an individual or behaviour-support plan and consideration of adjustments or additional help. That gives families a defined sequence for addressing concerns. A Designated Safeguarding Lead role is also in place.

Health arrangements require written parental consent for medication, which must be prescribed for the child and administered under the nursery's medication policy. Accidents are documented and shared with parents at collection. Children who are unwell or have an infectious illness must stay away, so families need backup care as well as a nursery booking.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, for 51 weeks a year. Full days run from 8am to 6pm; the half-day choices are 8am to 1pm and 1pm to 6pm. For fee-paying places, the normal minimum is one fixed full day each week, unless the manager agrees otherwise. The half-day options therefore sit alongside a minimum-booking condition that matters when choosing a weekly pattern.

Bank holidays are closures, and the Christmas break starts at 12.30pm on Christmas Eve and ends on the first working day of January. Up to two staff-training closure days can also occur each year, with at least three months' notice. Families planning year-round care need to account for those breaks.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children can use funded early education hours, including 15 or 30 hours. Entitlement is normally calculated across 38 academic-year weeks; a stretched option may also be offered. Funded hours carry no compulsory top-up, and invoices separate them from additional chargeable items.

Food is included in ordinary paid sessions and charged separately on fully funded places. A packed lunch is an alternative to paying the funded-place food charge. Non-food consumables associated with funded hours may also carry separate charges, but these are optional and alternatives must be offered.

Outings and additional activities may attract charges when outside the funded offer. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Monthly payments are due in advance on the first day of the month through Famly, with no fee reduction for sickness, family holidays, bank holidays or training days; funded hours are nevertheless delivered in full across the relevant funding period.

Fee-paying places carry a registration charge, and acceptance requires a refundable deposit. Deposit repayment after departure depends on settling outstanding charges and giving the required notice. The 14-day cooling-off period begins when the nursery confirms the place in writing. Cancellation notified in writing within that period allows repayment of advance fees, the registration charge and deposit.

• Learning beyond conversation. In March 2024, next-step planning needed greater precision and opportunities to develop children's reasoning were sometimes missed. At a visit, ask for an example of how staff now choose a child's next learning target and extend an unexpected idea during play.
• Half days and the weekly minimum. Morning and afternoon sessions are offered, but fee-paying bookings normally require a fixed full day each week unless otherwise agreed. Discuss the intended weekly pattern before committing to shorter sessions.
• Funded-place extras. Food is charged separately on fully funded places unless a packed lunch is supplied; funded-hours consumable charges are optional, with alternatives offered. Ask how those alternatives would work for your child, including any dietary needs.
• Changing plans. Withdrawal or reduced attendance normally needs eight weeks' written notice; from 1 July in the year a child starts Reception that September, the requirement becomes four weeks. This makes the notice terms important for families anticipating a change in work or childcare.

Windmill suits families seeking either a full-day pattern or morning and afternoon half-day care, provided the fee-paying minimum fits their plans. Its March 2024 examples give the review its character: imaginative play with ordinary materials, stories shared with younger children, and exploration beyond the nursery at the beach.

The Good judgement sits alongside clear teaching priorities for improvement. Families should weigh that learning detail together with the practical contract: year-round opening, funded-hours alternatives and substantial notice requirements all affect whether the arrangement works over time.