To serve our families and our local area, we have been blessed to become one of the government's first schools to build a school-based nursery, opening to 2-year-olds.  Following our Balderstone Forest school tradition, this class of only 5 children is called our Hedgehogs, and they make up our Brambles Nursery class. 

The nursery is open under Section 27 of the Education Act, meaning that it is Governor led provision. Section 27 enables maintained schools like ours to set up and run community facilities and services whose provision furthers any charitable purpose for the benefit of (a) pupils at the school or their families, or (b) people who live and work in the area in which the school is situated.  This is perfect for our Christian school family as we strive to serve God, each other and to shine in our community in Balderstone and beyond. 

Lots of our families were struggling to find nursery provision for their little ones and were also battling with multiple drop-offs and pick-ups. We have the most idyllic setting for a nursery and the expertise in our staff, so we decided to open our doors to a few 'Hedgehogs' and help give them the best start in their early years.  We applied for a Department for Education school-based nursery grant and our proposal was accepted!  We were thrilled in the Summer of 2025 to create a brand new, bespoke nursery room and EYFS unit.