Shooting Stars Nursery School Kempshott Village

A garden children can reach freely, a large field beyond the hall and weekly Sporty Little Stars sports sessions give Kempshott Village Hall a clear outdoor emphasis. Shooting Stars Nursery School Kempshott Village combines those physical spaces with two large indoor rooms. For families who value room to move, that is a concrete attraction.

At its 10 August 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The strongest examples concerned children choosing their play, developing language and learning to help one another. The teaching also needed greater consistency, especially when practitioners worked with children outside their own key-person group.

The nursery has 27 places in total and accepts children aged 9 to 60 months. Its address is Kempshott Village Hall, Pack Lane, Basingstoke, RG22 5HN. Opening hours are 8am to 5pm on weekdays, with year-round opening and bank-holiday closures.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. In everyday parent language, this brings learning through play together with communication, physical development and growing independence; it is the baseline for the nursery's work, rather than an extra programme.

In August 2023, children could choose resources and move between play areas, including outside. Siblings had opportunities to spend time together, while older children practised caring for younger ones. This mixed-age arrangement gave social learning a practical setting: children had to consider someone else's needs as well as their own interests.

Story-making was a revealing example of the learning that month. Children drew on books and their imaginations to invent narratives, with practitioners writing their words down and introducing new vocabulary. They also considered how a character's experience might feel. That joined language, imagination and emotional understanding in the same activity.

Music offered another route into exploration. In August 2023, practitioners helped children investigate the sounds instruments could produce, while simple signs supported songs and gave children another way to communicate. However, spontaneous teaching was uneven: some practitioners were less confident about extending an individual child's interests. The important distinction is between providing an appealing activity and knowing what a particular child should learn from it.

Outdoor and Community Life

The renovated garden allows play to continue outside through free-flow access. A large field on the hall's other side adds another outdoor space. These are useful physical differences for parents weighing how much of the day can involve movement rather than indoor play alone.

Sporty Little Stars provides weekly sports sessions at this branch. Jiggy Wriggler sessions also take place weekly. They add recurring sessions to the week, although the sports offer has the clearer practical description.

In August 2023, the garden's obstacle course gave children opportunities to practise balance and climbing. Paint mixing introduced colour combinations, and visits to the local play park helped children think about safety beyond the nursery. Those examples show outdoor time being used for physical challenge, exploration and judgement, rather than simply as a break from learning.

Relationships and Communication

In August 2023, practitioners generally knew their own key children well. Children practised everyday independence by getting their water bottles and managing dressing-up clothes, with adult help when needed. They also helped one another. Small tasks like these give children something tangible to achieve for themselves.

Respect extended to personal care that month: practitioners sought children's agreement before helping with a face clean or nappy change. Communication with families included conversations and an online system. This gave parents more than one route for understanding their child's learning.

The limitation concerned knowledge beyond the key-person relationship. In August 2023, practitioners were less certain about the learning priorities of children outside their own key group. Greater understanding of those priorities, alongside stronger teaching across mixed ages, formed the two improvement points. For a setting where children could mix freely, consistency across the adults matters.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the August 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities included timely professional referrals, early health care plans and purposeful use of additional funding to support developmental progress. That finding rested on specific mechanisms, rather than a general statement about welcoming children.

Safety was also part of the children's learning in August 2023. Practitioners explained the reasons for safety reminders, helping children connect their actions with consequences. The local play park provided an example of applying that understanding away from the nursery's own spaces.

Kempshott Village Hall is on Pack Lane in Basingstoke, RG22 5HN. The branch contact number is 07711 981230, and a contact form provides another enquiry route. Using the Kempshott contact details keeps enquiries directed to this setting.

The weekday opening window runs from 8am until 5pm. The nursery opens throughout the year and closes on bank holidays. That window is useful for assessing the outer limits of a working day; the attendance arrangement is a separate part of choosing a place.

• Teaching across ages. The August 2023 improvement points concerned extending children's learning and teaching mixed-age groups. On a visit, ask how practitioners keep track of learning priorities for children outside their own key group.
• Outdoor access. The free-flow garden, field and weekly Sporty Little Stars sessions make movement a substantial part of this branch's offer. Consider how that balance matches your child's interests and comfort outdoors.
• Planning the weekly commitment. With weekday opening from 8am to 5pm and bank-holiday closures, ask which attendance pattern would fit your family and how funded hours, meals and consumables would be handled within it.
• Jiggy Wriggler sessions. These take place weekly. Ask what children do in the sessions and how participation fits around their usual play.

Kempshott Village offers a recognisable combination: substantial indoor rooms, freely accessible garden play, a neighbouring field and weekly sports sessions. It suits families who value physical activity, with garden and field space alongside weekly sports sessions.

The August 2023 findings describe child-selected play, mixed-age interaction, storytelling, signing and everyday independence, while keeping the teaching improvement points firmly in view. Those observations give families useful examples to weigh alongside the current outdoor spaces and weekly sessions, with attention to how consistently practitioners support individual learning.