Paper Moon Day Nursery, Sutton-in-Ashfield

A ladybird discovery that turned into bug hunting and mathematical play captures the strongest part of Paper Moon’s nursery day: children’s interests become something to investigate. In March 2024, preschool children used seeds and play dough to represent the insects they had discovered outdoors, bringing counting and shape into an activity they wanted to pursue.

Paper Moon Day Nursery, Sutton-in-Ashfield accommodates children from birth to five and has capacity for 134 children in total. At its 21 March 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and found safeguarding effective. A purpose-built building, a dedicated unit for babies under two and three large outdoor play areas give the setting a clear physical identity.

The practical offer includes full-time attendance, funded sessions for children aged two, three and four, and holiday sessions for older children. The detail of the nursery day matters more than the promotional language: children were making things, solving problems and practising everyday independence.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care, bringing play and practical experiences into their education. In March 2024, that included older babies learning to handle cutlery, toddlers serving themselves water and preschool children exploring number and shape through their insect-inspired creations. Independence was woven into ordinary routines rather than reserved for a separate activity.

Problem-solving also had a practical edge. During the same month, children preparing fruit and vegetables discovered that opening a coconut required a different tool. Staff followed their ideas and sought help from the cook. The useful feature here is the sequence: a real obstacle gave children a reason to consider possible solutions, explain their thinking and involve another adult.

Assessment could change what happened next. In March 2024, staff recognised that some toddlers needed further help with mathematical ideas and adjusted their teaching accordingly. This gives parents a concrete example of individual learning needs influencing activities, rather than children simply moving through the same tasks together.

Mini Kixx adds football and exercise sessions to the current offer. For children who enjoy active play, it provides a named activity alongside the nursery’s outdoor spaces.

Outdoor and Community Life

Three large outdoor play areas provide space beyond the indoor rooms. In March 2024, preschool children used crates, rope and tape to construct a pretend bus after deciding they wanted to travel to the cinema. Staff helped them consider how to build it safely. This was imaginative construction play, rather than an actual cinema trip.

Outings also connected learning with everyday transactions. In March 2024, children visited a supermarket, selected vegetables and handled the payment themselves; a pretend greengrocer’s shop then extended the experience back at nursery. Counting had a purpose. Role play gave children another opportunity to revisit what they had done.

A historical language initiative adds another recognisable detail. In September 2020, Sutton was accepted into the CECIL Project, short for COACHING EARLY CONVERSATIONS INTERACTION LANGUAGE, with planned partnership work involving the Sutton Trust and University of Oxford. Its stated aims centred on communication and language, including reducing differences in attainment between disadvantaged children and their peers.

Relationships and Communication

In March 2024, babies received comfort from familiar staff through the key-person arrangement, while information moved between practitioners and parents about each child’s care. A space for breastfeeding mothers accommodated an individual family need. For parents of young babies, those are useful details: care involved both a familiar relationship and practical consideration of feeding.

Everyday self-care developed in stages. During March 2024, babies practised feeding themselves, while toddlers poured drinks and wiped their faces after eating. These examples show how ordinary care routines could also give children opportunities to do more for themselves.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received very strong support, with the SEND coordinator working alongside families and other professionals and alternative ways of communicating helping non-verbal children express their needs. This is a substantial part of the inspection judgement, with specific mechanisms beneath it.

The improvement point deserves equal attention. In March 2024, some children lost interest when activities provided too little challenge or surrounding events distracted them. Staff needed to recognise this sooner and respond promptly. The issue was the consistency of engagement: a child’s initial interest did not always lead to sustained involvement.

Fresh meals are prepared at the nursery itself. That places food preparation on site alongside the children’s day.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7am to 6.30pm, and operates for 51 weeks of the year, excluding bank holidays. Full-time places and funded sessions form part of the offer; holiday sessions cover children aged three to seven years and eleven months.

Getting There

The address is Mansfield Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, NG17 4HW. Kings Mill Hospital and Mansfield are nearby, and the location has access to major roads towards Nottingham and Mansfield. Enquiries can be made through the Sutton nursery’s contact form or directly to its team.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded sessions are offered for children aged two, three and four. Current prices should come in the nursery’s written quotation, so families can assess the cost of their intended attendance pattern as a whole.

• Sustained engagement. The March 2024 improvement point concerned children losing interest and staff responding too slowly. On a visit, ask how practitioners adjust an activity when a child needs more challenge or becomes distracted.
• Baby care within a sizeable setting. There are 134 places overall and a dedicated unit for children under two. Ask how the baby unit organises its day and maintains familiar relationships as children move through the nursery.
• The complete quotation. Funded sessions and on-site meal preparation are part of the offer. Ask for a written breakdown covering the attendance pattern, food and non-food consumables before comparing costs.

Paper Moon suits families seeking full-time nursery attendance as well as those considering funded sessions; its holiday provision also serves older children. The strongest reasons to consider it are concrete: a dedicated baby unit, substantial outdoor space and Mini Kixx football and exercise sessions.

The March 2024 picture adds purposeful practical learning and substantial SEND support, balanced by a clear concern about keeping children engaged. Families should give that teaching question as much attention as the building and opening hours.