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First Steps Nursery in Macclesfield

Ofsted: Good
(Nov 2024)
·
5.0(4 parent reviews) ·Calvary Church, 2 Merebrook Road, Macclesfield, SK11 8RH · Cheshire East
Number of places
19 places
Age range
2–4 yrs
Last inspected
Nov 2024
Local authority
Cheshire East

About this day nursery

First Steps Nursery, established in 1996, has proudly served the Macclesfield community for three decades. Originally founded in Bollington, the nursery relocated to its current Macclesfield site within the Calvary Church on Merebrook Road in 2016.

Committed to fostering an optimal learning and development environment, First Steps Nursery places a strong emphasis on valuing each child's individual abilities and achievements. The nursery strives to deliver exceptional care and education for children below statutory school age, actively collaborating with parents and carers to support children's growth.

Additionally, it aims to enrich the local community and provide a service that champions equality and celebrates diversity. Children at First Steps Nursery are encouraged to engage in a wide array of activities, including indoor and outdoor exploration, messy play in the mud kitchen, baking, and educational outings, promoting a dynamic and stimulating learning experience.

Our ethos

The nursery is committed to fostering an optimal learning and development environment by valuing each child's individual abilities and achievements. They aim to deliver exceptional care and education, champion equality, and celebrate diversity, encouraging children to engage in a wide array of activities for a dynamic and stimulating learning experience.

What it's like

Leaders and staff create a welcoming, bright and friendly nursery where children are greeted with enthusiasm and settle quickly. The warm atmosphere, coupled with energetic staff, inspires children to learn and have fun. Children behave well, are independent, and show impressive confidence.

Established 1996Good OFSTED ratingInclusive nurseryLearning in nature

Pricing & funding

Charges are based on standard morning and afternoon sessions, with additional hours available to book. Parents can add pre-care, lunch club, and aftercare sessions outside of government funding, with breakfast available upon request during early hours.

Funding accepted

15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)
  • Pre-care£6.00 / hour
  • Lunch club£6.00 / hour
  • Aftercare£3.00 / session

Good to know

  • Standard sessions run in the morning (09:00–11:30) and afternoon (12:30–15:00).
  • Pre-care (08:00–09:00), lunch club (11:30–12:30), and aftercare (15:00–15:15) can be booked additionally.
  • Breakfast is included on request during the pre-care session.
  • Additional hour rates apply to hours used outside of government funding.

Key facts

Session types

Morning session, Afternoon session, Pre-care, Lunch club, Aftercare

Food

Breakfast included on request for pre-care, healthy meals and refreshments for all sessions.

Opening hours

Monday - Friday: 08:15–15:15

Age range

2 years to 5 years

Term time / All Year

Term Time

Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for First Steps Nursery

Last inspected 27 November 2024

Safeguarding effective
Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good

What it's like to attend

Leaders and staff create a welcoming, bright and friendly nursery where children are greeted with enthusiasm and settle quickly. The warm atmosphere, coupled with energetic staff, inspires children to learn and have fun. Children behave well, are independent, and show impressive confidence.

Inspector highlights

  • Leaders continually reflect and evaluate, striving for ongoing improvements to raise the quality of service.
  • A robust key-person system fosters positive relationships between children and staff.
  • The curriculum is firmly based on what children already know and need to learn next, supporting good progress.
  • Children in this setting are safe and secure, with staff showing a vigilant attitude towards safety.
  • Staff value children's voices and opinions, building their confidence and sense of self-worth.

Areas to develop

  • 1share updates of children's development and next steps with home more frequently, to enable parents and carers to better support their children's learning and impact on outcomes for children
  • 2provide staff with more frequent feedback on their practice, to help create a culture of coaching and improve good teaching standards further.
Inspection #10363771 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

What parents say

Verbatim quotes recorded in the Ofsted inspection

parents comment staff are friendly, approachable and create a caring atmosphere for children to flourish.

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive targeted support. Staff carefully adapt planning and activities to enable all children to participate. Staff invest time and effort building relationships with a range of wider professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to meet children's unique needs.

Outdoor space

Learning in nature is a cornerstone of this setting. A 'forest garden' enables children to explore insects, plants and learn about the natural world around them, extending their creative and mathematical skills. Children play outside every day, promoting their good health through daily fresh air and exercise.

Parent Reviews of First Steps Nursery

5.0
(4)
Laura Greenwood
a year ago

A lovely little nursery setting with the friendliest of staff. The activities they do with the children are great and varied and my little one has come on so much since attending. Highly recommend

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Supr Surv
3 years ago

Brilliant nursery. They've helped my son so much and have left him with wonderful memories. He only spent a few weeks with them before moving into primary school (reception). He hadn't attended nursery before so we were very nervous. He felt very comfortable and loved going there. He soon started teaching me phonetics, he finally started using sissors properly (my Montessori approach since he was 18 months never worked), he learned how to put on his jacket by himself, many things school asks kids to be able to do independently. He brought home crafts we still display in his bedroom and often commented on new foods he tried at school such as Zucchini (that was a surprise to me). They often cooked/baked and he loved the food. Their farewell party was fun and thoughtful. He loves his star that we keep with the craft folder he brought home that day. We live near the nursery and I was very touched one summer day when he told me that the butterflies in our garden came from his school. This was during the break before joining primary school. He explained that they freed butterflies from the school so they could visit the children. He turned to me and in a loving but serious way said he thought those were some of the butterflies from nursery ❤ Thank you all for your dedication and help preparing for him for a new journey x

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Jack
3 years ago

My daughter went here from the age of 2 for 8 months and they really built her confidence up. It’s a lovely small setting and the staff are nice and friendly.

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dan ambrosino
8 years ago

My daughter has attended First Steps since September, she loves it and has come on leaps and bounds under the supervision of the lovely and very hard working staff.

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Reviews from Google for First Steps Nursery. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Date: January 2019

  • November 2024Good
  • January 2019Good

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