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Kiddiewinkles @ St Marys Urmston

Kiddiewinkles @ St Marys Urmston is a pre-school in Manchester for children aged 2 to 4, with 28 registered places. Ofsted report card, 24 June 2026: Strong standard in 6 areas; safeguarding standards met.

Earlybirds, St. Marys Church Hall, Entwistle Avenue, Urmston, Manchester, M41 5TP

Key facts

Type
Pre-school (Sessional day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Ages
2 to 4 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Registered places
28 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Registered
26 July 2024 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)

Opening hours

Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday : 08:30 - 15:00,Monday,Friday : 08:30 - 12:00

Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 24 June 2026

Who runs it

Kiddiewinkles @ St Marys Urmston is run by Kiddiewinkles Limited (Ofsted register).

Latest inspection

  • Inclusion: Strong standard
  • Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard
  • Achievement: Strong standard
  • Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard
  • Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard
  • Leadership and governance: Strong standard
  • Safeguarding standards met

Source: Ofsted, inspection on 24 June 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children arrive at the setting full of enthusiasm and excitement and are warmly greeted by the caring and dedicated staff. They develop extremely positive bonds with their key person and other adults and show that they feel happy and safe. Children benefit from a rich and stimulating curriculum that keeps them motivated and supports them to develop very positive attitudes towards learning. This is apparent as children enjoy exploring a 'Very Hungry Caterpillar' plastic tray and they discuss a range of fruits, the days of the week and the lifecycle of a butterfly. Children also deepen their knowledge through first-hand experiences and engage in observing real caterpillars turn into butterflies. Furthermore, children engage in fruit tasting experiences, as well as having meaningful discussions about healthy eating and the importance of positive oral-health habits. This helps children to understand the benefits of adopting healthy lifestyles.

Children show very high levels of emotional wellbeing and enjoyment throughout the day. They know the routine and boundaries of the setting exceptionally well and are empowered to make choices and decisions throughout the day. This is evident when children choose what activities they want to do next from a picture chart and choose which tasks they want to help with. This helps to build children's independence and supports them to feel a real sense of belonging. Children behave extremely well. They listen to each other, take turns and play collaboratively.

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who may face other barriers to their learning make excellent progress at the setting and flourish. Children thoroughly benefit from high-quality interactions from staff that know their interests, characters and individual needs very well. They also thrive and respond exceptionally well to the unhurried pace to explore and learn.

What Ofsted found in each area

Inclusion: Strong standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities flourish at this highly inclusive pre-school. Leaders and staff invest lots of time when children join in order to understand their interests and current stage of development. They also spend lots of time understanding each child's unique background and whether there may be any factors that may be a barrier to learning. Leaders and staff swiftly identify when children may need additional support and work in close partnership with other professionals such as the local authority inclusion team and speech and language professionals. All children progress and achieve remarkably well. Leaders and staff engage in specialist communication and language development training to target and boost children's language skills. Furthermore, children benefit from high levels of attention, high-quality interactions and lots of opportunity to lead their own play.

Additional funding is used extremely well. For instance, on resources that support children to understand about different feelings and emotions, as well as for extra staff to be able to go on local trips in the community such as, shopping, to the library or museum. This helps to give all children a unique variety of experiences to foster their curiosity and interest in the world around them.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders and staff plan an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum which captures children's interests extremely well. Children display a real love of learning and trying new things. For instance, they delight in engaging in a 'squirrel hunt' when looking for photographs of squirrels hidden around the garden. This helps to support their mathematical knowledge as they count the squirrels and use positional language on the hunt. Children also show high levels of independence as they make their own play dough and display well-developed thinking skills as they discuss which ingredients they need and what will happen next. This activity also supports their vocabulary, as they use words such as 'soft' and 'squidgy'.

Children have excellent opportunities to learn outdoors throughout the day. This is apparent as they run around with staff that make learning incredibly fun, pretending to be superheroes and discussing their super powers. They also demonstrate superb imagination as they play 'ice-cream parlours' and discuss different-flavoured ice creams and how they taste. Older children demonstrate excellent investigation and prediction skills when playing 'sink and float' in the water. They also discuss the composition of bubbles and count them as they pop. Leaders and staff carefully plan a wide variety of different experiences to help children develop new knowledge and skills that are relevant to each child. All staff know children incredibly well and successfully contribute to children's excellent progress.

Achievement: Strong standard

Children are articulate and curious learners who engage enthusiastically in meaningful conversations. They confidently share their ideas, ask questions and use an increasingly rich vocabulary to explain their thinking. Their mathematical understanding is particularly well developed. Children recognise and use numbers purposefully during their play, matching numbered cars to corresponding parking spaces and confidently counting, ordering and comparing quantities. They enthusiastically join in with number rhymes, such as 'Five Little Ducks', accurately subtracting one more each time and demonstrating a secure understanding of early mathematical concepts. Children confidently practise different-breathing techniques and talk about their feelings, developing strong emotional literacy alongside the resilience and self-regulation skills needed for future learning.

Children develop a genuine love of books and stories. They eagerly borrow storytelling bags to share with their families, strengthening their enjoyment of reading beyond the setting while developing early literacy, language and communication skills. As a result of the ambitious curriculum and consistently high-quality experiences they receive, all children including those with barriers to learning, make excellent progress from their starting points. Parents speak highly of the significant progress their children make and describe the positive impact the setting has on their confidence, independence and readiness for future learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders and staff have very high expectations for behaviour. They are excellent role models that actively play with children. They also frequently remind them about the boundaries of the setting in a kind and respectful way. Consequently, children behave exceptionally well and show that they understand the routine beautifully. For instance, children help carry out tasks such as sweeping the floor and preparing snack. They also wash up their own cups and plates after snack time. This helps them to develop excellent independence skills and take pride in their environment. Children also participate in tidying up along to some calming music and demonstrate real care for the resources and toys.

Leaders and staff work closely with parents to help them to understand the importance of regular attendance and strive to create a welcoming environment. Leaders and staff speak passionately about creating a safe environment to support parents, as well as children. Throughout the day, children demonstrate excellent listening and attention skills and real enjoyment in play. Staff place high emphasis on teaching children to understand about their feelings and emotions in an impactful way. For instance, through stories and engaging mindfulness sessions. Children take turns, help each other and show compassion for other living things when observing a green-shield bug in the garden and talking about its characteristics and the importance of being kind and gentle.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Children show very high levels of wellbeing and a wonderful sense of belonging. Staff know children extremely well and thoroughly understand what children need to flourish in their personal development, alongside their wider educational progress. Children show high levels of confidence and take real ownership of the setting. They contribute ideas to the planning of activities and trips and choose what resources they want to play with. Children have superb opportunities to learn about different cultures and backgrounds. For instance, during Chinese New Year they participated in a Chinese dragon dance with different-coloured fabrics. They also explored Chinese writing and used chop sticks during play. In addition, when celebrating Diwali, they participated in decorating tea lights and talking about the significance of light. This helps to teach children about lives different to their own and helps them to understand about diversity.

Children receive excellent support to lead healthy lifestyles. For instance, they engage in daily toothbrushing, where they discuss the importance of cleaning their teeth and learn about healthy foods to eat. They also learn about how fruits and vegetables grow when engaging in planting projects. Furthermore, children spend extended periods of time outdoors. For instance, climbing trees and playing hide and seek and superheroes. This supports them to build their stamina, balance and coordination.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders and staff are passionate about making a real difference to children and their families. They have high integrity for getting early education right for all children and offer excellent support to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or children that may face other barriers to their learning. Leaders are highly passionate about investing in their team as well as in children. They ensure staff benefit from ongoing professional development. For instance, they engage in training sessions based on extending children's learning, planning stimulating learning environments and boosting language and communication. Staff also engage in well-developed supervision meetings and frequent peer observations to help them reflect on their practice and continue to develop their personal effectiveness at work. This helps all staff develop their skills further and supports their ambition for all children to learn and thrive through consistently high-quality interactions.

Parents express incredibly high levels of satisfaction with the setting. Several state that staff are excellent at understanding what their child needs to succeed and have hugely supported their confidence, overall growth and development. Several comment on the welcoming atmosphere, stimulating environment, varied curriculum and very nurturing staff.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

  • Leaders should ensure continued improvement in the setting's successful work and continue to work towards reducing barriers for children who need extra help to realise a transformational impact on all children's achievement and wellbeing.

Ofsted's words, from the report on the inspection on 24 June 2026. Read the full report on the Ofsted website. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Ofsted report cards (England, from November 2025)

Since 10 November 2025 Ofsted has graded nurseries and pre-schools on a report card. There is no single overall grade. Instead, each of six areas gets one of five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement.

The six areas are inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children's welfare and wellbeing; leadership and governance. Safeguarding is judged on its own, as met or not met.

Expected standard means the setting does what Ofsted expects of every setting. Strong standard and Exceptional are above that; Needs attention and Urgent improvement mean Ofsted found things the setting has to put right.

Source: Ofsted reports

Funded childcare hours in England

All 3 and 4 year olds in England can get 15 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.

Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years old can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year (Free Childcare for Working Parents), if they meet the earnings rules. You confirm your details every 3 months.

Some 2 year olds can get 15 hours a week when the family gets certain kinds of extra support.

The hours are used at a registered provider that offers them, so ask each nursery how it offers the funded hours.

Source: GOV.UK: Free Childcare for Working Parents, check if you're eligible · GOV.UK: Free childcare and education for 2 to 4 year olds (checked 31 October 2026)

Other nurseries nearby

  • Cornhill Kindergarten Limited - Day nursery, Manchester M41 5TJ, ages 1 to 4, 46 places, 0.1 miles
    Ofsted report card, 28 July 2026: Strong standard in 2 areas, Expected standard in 3 areas, Needs attention in 1 area; safeguarding standards met
  • Urmston Day Nursery - Day nursery, Manchester M41 5SZ, 94 places, 0.2 miles
  • The Little People - Day nursery, Manchester M41 5RN, ages 2 to 4, 45 places, 0.3 miles
    Ofsted report card, 16 February 2026: Strong standard in 6 areas; safeguarding standards met
  • Davyhulme Road Private Day Nursery - Day nursery, Manchester M41 7DS, ages 0 to 4, 65 places, 0.3 miles
    Ofsted report card, 28 April 2026: Strong standard in 1 area, Expected standard in 5 areas; safeguarding standards met
  • Stagecoach Urmston - Pre-school, Manchester M41 5DR, 0.4 miles

Schools nearby

Kiddiewinkles @ St Marys Urmston on the Ofsted website