Hoyle Nursery School: nursery life in Bury

Mud potions, invented stories and a fire pit give Hoyle’s nursery day its character. Outdoor play is available daily, whatever the weather, while storytelling carries through group activities and children’s own creations. This is provision for young children in its own right: Hoyle is a maintained nursery school on Chesham Fold Road in Bury, serving ages two to four.

Children attend Nursery 2 and Nursery 3, alongside a specialist Resourced Provision for 12 children with identified social communication difficulties. That specialist provision offers full-time and part-time attendance according to individual needs, rather than one fixed pattern for every child.

Play supplies the starting point for learning. Hoyle follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), supported by Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters. For parents, that means learning through conversation, movement, relationships, stories, number and creative activity. Staff develop investigations from children’s interests, giving them opportunities to explore a problem and work towards their own solution.

Tales Toolkit makes that approach concrete. Children use a character, setting, problem and solution to invent stories with bags and props, then draw or act them out. Phase 1 phonics concentrates on hearing and distinguishing sounds through rhymes, songs and listening games. Maths includes focused Group Time teaching, with Numicon and dice games for number, and blocks and recycled modelling materials for shape and space. Learning continues during play.

The physical setting gives these ideas room to develop. Nursery 2 activities include a light box and sensory mats; Nursery 3 has a large brick construction area and outdoor equipment including a climbing wall, tunnels and a wobbling bridge. Children can move between indoor activities and outdoor play each day. Waterproof clothing and wellies support wet-weather exploration, while weekly Forest School sessions add opportunities for den making, planting and cooking around the fire pit.

Everyday care also becomes practice in independence. Nursery 2 children pour drinks, choose snacks and try cutting and spreading food with child-sized knives. Staff help them tackle their own coats. Toothbrushing forms part of group routines, giving personal care a place alongside play and stories.

Settling involves staff encouraging new children to explore and join activities. Parents can participate through Stay and Play sessions and share learning at home. Emotional support includes Trauma Informed School practice and Think Equal, with adults making space for feelings and helping children understand them.

Within the Resourced Provision, staff support play alongside dedicated individual work. Families have daily conversations and a home-school diary, meetings with the key person twice yearly, and reviews at least once each term. Daily Attention Autism sessions progress from shared attention towards independently completing a modelled task. These are specialist arrangements, rather than a staffing promise for every nursery place.

At the March 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff adapted learning effectively for children with SEND and that safeguarding arrangements were effective.

Attending Hoyle does not guarantee a Reception place. Families need to make a separate Reception application; choosing this nursery should be a decision about the early years experience itself.

Preparation for primary school includes growing independence, communication and confidence in learning. For children in the Resourced Provision, staff work with speech and language, educational psychology and health professionals, including joint planning and support with an education, health and care assessment where needed for the next stage.

Age-specific sessions. Term-time sessions for three- and four-year-olds run from 8:45am to 11:45am or 12:15pm to 3:15pm. For eligible two-year-olds, the corresponding sessions are 9am to noon and 12:30pm to 3:30pm. The age group changes the daily timetable.

Funded provision includes 15 hours from the term after the third birthday, and 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds from the school term after their second birthday. Eligible children can take 30-hour placements: Monday to Friday, 8:45am to 2:45pm for the older group or 9am to 3pm for two-year-olds. Additional hours are chargeable on request. Breakfast and after-school clubs extend care within the school’s 8am to 4pm opening window.

Visits can be arranged by telephone or email. Contact 0161 761 6822 or hoyle@bury.gov.uk. To apply, bring the child’s birth certificate and Red Medical Book into school; staff can help complete the form.