URN EY481143 · Inspected 2026-08-14 · Published 2026-09-17 · Inspector: Michelle Highcock
Ladybird Private Day Nursery, Folly Brook House Unique reference number (URN): EY481143 Address: Folly Brook House, 99 Parrin Lane, Eccles, MANCHESTER, M30 8AY Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 06/11/2014 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Folly Brook Private Day Nursery Limited Inspection report: 14 August 2026 Exceptional Strong standard Expected standard Needs attention Urgent improvement Safeguarding standards met The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe. How we evaluate safeguarding When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes: Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met. Strong standard Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard Leaders place children's wellbeing at the heart of everything they do. They strive to provide a nurturing and inclusive environment where children thrive. Leaders seek to provide a family environment where everyone feels included, including parents and wider family members. Leaders gather robust information from parents on entry, which provides details of children's likes and dislikes, any allergens or intolerances and any other agencies involved in their care. The quality of this information and high-quality settling-in procedures help children to settle quickly and parents to feel reassured. Staff promote the skills children need in order to develop independence at mealtimes. Staff support children to develop healthy lifestyles. Children manage their own personal hygiene with increasing control. They enjoy a range of healthy meals and snacks and understand which foods are good for them. Children show that they feel safe and secure, and form bonds with their key person. Relationships are strong and promote independence and confidence, with even new children separating easily from their parents/carers. Staff are extremely sensitive in response to children's needs. They work closely with parents on entry to ensure that they are familiar with babies' home routines. Comprehensive 'All about Me' booklets are completed before children start, and settling-in arrangements support individual children's needs. Staff have a good understanding and overview of their key children and talk confidently about them and their next steps. They know their key children's habits and gestures and respond sensitively to them. Inclusion Strong standard Leaders and staff are passionate about inclusion. They consistently support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to their learning. Staff communicate immediately when they have concerns about a child's development or progress. They complete a baseline period when children first start, and swiftly identify any gaps in their learning. Staff speak with parents and discuss initial next steps to put things in place. Any child who has gaps in their development has a play plan to show the interventions that staff are working on with them. They complete a full cycle before any referrals are made to other agencies, to enable staff to gather evidence and input ideas and activities. This ensures that children make rapid progress from their starting points. Leaders make effective use of additional funding. This includes the provision of one-to-one sessions for children so that they can receive intensive support. Leaders have also purchased a variety of resources to help with transitions from home to the setting and provided staff training to raise the quality of teaching in specific areas. Children who are known to children's social care, and their families, are significantly supported. Staff work hard to maintain professional relationships and effective communication with other agencies to ensure children's safety and wellbeing. Expected standard Achievement Expected standard All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make progress in their learning. Children make progress in their communication and language with input from communication strategies. Children, including those with SEND, communicate confidently. For example, those who are nonverbal communicate through gestures and sign. Children develop a love of books and spend time sharing stories and songs with their key person. Babies and younger children join in confidently with the familiar rhymes, such as 'The Wheels on the Bus', singing it independently to their friends as they play. Children demonstrate engagement and curiosity in their learning. Older children use their physical skills to balance along a wooden beam unaided, and to pedal the trikes and use balance bikes. Babies practise crawling and pulling themselves up confidently. They develop and build on this by having lots of low-level things to cruise along as they start to learn to walk. By the time children move into the pre-school room, many children can already hold their pencil correctly to draw. This helps them to develop skills such as writing their name. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard Leaders and staff have implemented clear expectations for children's behaviour. Staff have received training in the effective management of behaviour and have implemented new routines and boundaries to support children's behaviour. Staff remind children of the rules of the setting, which helps children to know what is expected of them. Staff speak to children in a positive way, modelling positive interactions and respect for others. They take time to explain why this is important. For example, staff teach children climbing up and sliding down the slide about turn-taking, and about being careful of other children when they are using the slide. Children develop positive attitudes to learning because staff are sensitive to their needs and adapt activities to support their interests. Staff are positive role models and encourage children to be independent, be polite and use manners when interacting. Children develop independence at mealtimes, building on their existing skills to become confident and competent in using cutlery. Leaders and staff are starting to place more focus on exploring children's feelings and supporting them in dealing with their emotions. This encourages children to regulate their own emotions and understand their feelings. Leaders promote the importance of attendance and have built effective relationships with families. They work with parents to establish routines that support their family's needs. Leaders support parents with reducing screen time, and provide information on internet safety. This helps to promote effective boundaries and keep children safe online. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Leaders and staff have designed a curriculum that provides children with what they need to learn before they start school. The curriculum builds upon children's prior learning and experiences and prepares them for the next stage in their learning. Staff typically have a good understanding of the curriculum and plan for children's interests and next steps. However, sometimes, staff plan activities that are not age-appropriate for children or do not follow the next steps in their learning. This means that children can sometimes miss valuable building blocks in their learning. For example, staff teach children about colours and number when they have not yet learned how to sort or match. Staff ensure that lots of mathematical language is woven into everyday conversations with children, encouraging them to use number and count in their play, for example when counting strawberries and finding stones that are like dinosaur eggs. Children talk confidently about what they are learning and can recall prior knowledge. Staff are on hand to extend children's learning and provide a narrative to their play. There is a clear focus on communication and language, as well as personal and social development. Staff model vocabulary and support children in learning the meaning of new words. Leadership and governance Expected standard Leaders carry out regular supervision with their staff and identify any learning needs. Leaders have focused on strengthening staff skills. They provide lots of training to ensure that staff are high-quality practitioners and have a breadth of experience in their roles. For example, all staff have received training on effective behaviour management, safe sleep and working with babies. Leaders have developed the curriculum to support children to engage in child-led mathematics experiences, so that they can consolidate new learning. They have robust induction procedures in place for any new staff, including any agency staff. This includes mandatory training in paediatric first aid and safeguarding. Leaders have a clear vision for future improvements and swiftly identify areas for development. Leaders provide support for families who need help, and signpost them to local agencies and support services where needed. Leaders are family-orientated and treat everyone with respect and understanding. Partnerships with parents are highly effective and parents are very complimentary about the setting and the staff. Leaders have an open-door policy for parents, promoting communication and transparency, and provide newsletters to communicate staff changes and new events. There is a high focus on staff wellbeing, with staff being given support to gain further training and skills, as well as support to maintain a work–life balance. Leaders and staff know the children well. They spend additional funding wisely to support children's individual needs. For example, staff receive additional training to support children's specific needs. Compulsory Childcare Register requirements This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Compulsory Childcare Register When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes: Met Not met Voluntary Childcare Register requirements This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register. How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Voluntary Childcare Register When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes: Met Not met What it's like to be a child at this setting Children are at the heart of everything that leaders and staff do at this setting. Leaders and staff provide a family-focused environment where everyone is treated with respect. Children are happy and confident, separating easily from their parents/carers into the care of their key person. They are confident explorers who are curious in their learning. For example, pre-school children have been learning about growing and are excited to show off the things they have planted. They grow strawberries, cucumbers and tomatoes and talk about how they care for the plants, giving them water to help them grow. Babies sit in trays of water, Inspector: Michelle Highcock About this setting Unique reference number (URN): EY481143 Address: Folly Brook House exploring what happens when they splash. Toddlers sing 'The Wheels on the Bus' while making a bus that they can ride in. Staff provide a narrative, which helps children to learn and use new words in their play. Children benefit from sharing stories and songs, repeating back familiar words and joining in with actions. As children progress through the nursery, they develop their small muscles in preparation for writing. They practise drawing and making marks on paper, which helps them to develop good pencil control, enabling them to start practising writing. Children learn how to keep themselves safe. For example, when children are playing on the slide, they are reminded to be careful when climbing the slide and to make sure they are watching out for who is at the bottom. They become more independent, particularly at mealtimes, where they learn to feed themselves and pour their own drinks. They develop physical skills through yoga sessions, which help them to practise stretching and bending, as well as providing time for mindfulness and calm. Next steps Leaders should support staff to plan activities that are age-appropriate and follow children's interests and next steps in their learning. Leaders should continue to support staff to implement the curriculum consistently across the setting. About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator, children and parents during the inspection. We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage. 99 Parrin Lane Eccles MANCHESTER M30 8AY Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 06/11/2014 Registered person: Folly Brook Private Day Nursery Limited Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00 Local authority: Salford Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 14 August 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 81 Our grades explained Exceptional Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it. Strong standard The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them. Expected standard The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them. Needs attention The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements. Urgent improvement The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk. This publication is available at https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk. Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn. Piccadilly Gate Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted © Crown copyright 2026 © Crown copyright