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Thrive Cotton Lane

Ofsted: Good
(Mar 2024)
·
5.0(3 parent reviews) ·Cotton Lane, Cotton Edmunds, CHESTER, CH3 7PZ · Cheshire West and Chester
Number of places
89 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Mar 2024
Local authority
Cheshire West and Chester

About this day nursery

Thrive Cotton Lane in Chester offers a stimulating environment where children from 9 months upwards are encouraged to learn and develop through child-led play. The nursery focuses on supporting each child's journey, adhering to the Early Years Foundation Stage framework while providing hands-on learning experiences.

They prioritise physical development, aiming for a minimum of three hours of physical activity daily, and foster creativity through various arts, music, and dance activities. The curriculum also integrates outdoor time, including Forest School sessions, to build self-confidence and connection with nature.

Thrive Cotton Lane is committed to nurturing children's overall well-being, evidenced by activities such as cooking and baking, language and story times, and engaging experiences like mini farms or visits from animals. They also celebrate milestones like graduating to primary school with special ceremonies, creating a supportive and memorable experience for both children and their families.

Our ethos

Our child-centred quality Early Years Care and Education curriculum includes and adheres to the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, while offering a hands-on approaches to encourage the skills your child will need in the nursery and beyond. We favour naturalistic learning resources and make fantastic use of our outdoor equipment, promoting free-flow and Child-led learning. Wellbeing, physically, mentally and emotionally has a huge importance within our curriculum and daily life at our nurseries.

What it's like

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), settle well and are happy at the nursery. This is because of leaders' careful arrangements to enable staff to get to know each child well. Staff focus on meeting individual children's needs and interests, which helps children to feel safe and secure. Children benefit from meaningful learning experiences that staff thoughtfully provide, such as caring for nursery animals and observing frogspawn.

Forest School sessionsChild-led learningEYFS curriculumFocus on physical developmentInclusive activities and events

Pricing & funding

Funding accepted

15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)30 hours — working parents (3–4 yrs)Tax-Free Childcare
Pricing on request

This nursery doesn't publish its fees online. Contact them directly for an up-to-date price list and availability.

Key facts

Food

Healthy, well balanced Meals and Nutritious snacks are provided. Also includes nappies, wipes, and formula milk.

Term time / All Year

All Year

Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for Thrive Cotton Lane

Last inspected 19 March 2024

Overall effectiveness
Good

What it's like to attend

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), settle well and are happy at the nursery. This is because of leaders' careful arrangements to enable staff to get to know each child well. Staff focus on meeting individual children's needs and interests, which helps children to feel safe and secure. Children benefit from meaningful learning experiences that staff thoughtfully provide, such as caring for nursery animals and observing frogspawn.

Inspector highlights

  • Mostly, leaders have designed their curriculum so that it helps children, including those with SEND, to learn the important knowledge that they need to know.
  • Staff support children's language development well, modelling rich language and planning for introducing words in play thoughtfully.
  • Staff share a wide range of high-quality fiction and non-fiction books with children, reading stories with enthusiasm and skill.
  • Staff arrange activities to help develop children's physical skills well, building on individual children's gross motor development.
  • Children with SEND are well supported by knowledgeable staff, and the new SENCo has formed a good working relationship with the local authority.

Areas to develop

  • 1provide greater support for staff so they know how to build children's knowledge of books and stories in a logical order
  • 2strengthen staff's use of behaviour management strategies so that younger children learn what is expected of them
  • 3improve the procedures for staff training so that professional development supports staff to improve their practice.
Inspection #10335904 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), settle well and are happy at the nursery. The new special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has formed a good working relationship with the local authority to help ensure children with SEND get the support they need. The nursery's regular monitoring of children's development helps staff to identify children's needs early. The needs of all children, including those with SEND, are met.

Outdoor space

Children learn about the life cycle of frogs through closely observing frogspawn from the nursery's outdoor pond. Staff skillfully develop older children's understanding of how to take sensible risks, for instance, when toasting marshmallows over the outdoor campfire.

Parent Reviews of Thrive Cotton Lane

5.0
(3)
mikeydbrown
2 years ago

Really good nursery, our daughter is always smiling when I drop her off and when I pick her up too

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Inspection history

Date: November 2005

  • March 2024Good
  • January 2020Outstanding
  • December 2015Outstanding
  • November 2009Outstanding
  • November 2005Outstanding

Frequently asked about Thrive Cotton Lane

About the setting

Smarties Nature Kindergarten registered in 1989 and is located in Chester. The nursery employs 39 members of childcare staff. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday all year round, from 7.30am until 6pm. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

URN
305305
Registered person
Smarties and Smartcare Limited
Day care type
Full day care
Register
Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register
Establishment type
Childcare on non-domestic premises

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This listing has been compiled from official Ofsted records, the nursery's own website, details provided directly by the nursery where available, and other trusted public sources. We regularly review and update listings to keep the information as accurate as possible. Learn more