First Steps, Bath Moorlands Children's Centre

Covered outdoor play and learning shaped by children's interests give Moorlands its character. First Steps, Bath Moorlands Children's Centre, on Moorfields Road in Bath, combines childcare and family support, with separate age-group rooms and a garden.

At its June 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received individual support that helped them make good progress. The qualifications to that judgement matter: staff organisation in the baby room and noise affecting babies and toddlers both needed attention.

Children are accepted from six months to five years, with capacity for 64 children in total. Attendance includes full-day, working-day, morning and afternoon options, giving families several ways to organise childcare rather than one fixed daily pattern.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Room, Toddler Room and Pre-School Room are Moorlands' age-stage names. Covered garden space lets outdoor play continue in less inviting weather.

The youngest children's experience deserves close attention. In June 2024, routine care sometimes occupied several practitioners at once, leaving babies with fewer opportunities for purposeful play; sound from their room could also disturb toddlers next door. These were specific weaknesses in how the youngest rooms worked, rather than a criticism of the whole nursery day.

For preschool children, interests could become substantial learning projects. In June 2024, an interest in volcanoes led to staff-made books about where they occur around the world. This connected children's questions with books and geographical ideas, giving their enthusiasm somewhere to go beyond a single activity.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides the day: children learn through play, conversation and exploration, with attention to communication, physical development and relationships alongside early mathematical and literacy experiences. Child-chosen play sits alongside activities organised by adults. Group singing and stories provide shared time, while outdoor play offers another setting for investigation.

In June 2024, simple signs helped babies communicate during ordinary routines, including indicating that they had finished eating. Staff shared signs with parents, making this a useful connection between nursery and home. Singing also involved taking turns to choose songs and joining in with actions, so language practice was linked with movement and participation.

Mathematics had practical uses at that time: children identified numbers on dough recipe cards, while older children used their fingers for addition. Making and problem-solving gave numbers a purpose.

Moorlands also has a trained Thrive practitioner and purchases a language-support service. Thrive is a First Steps group-wide approach to social and emotional development, using play activities and action plans to address developmental needs. Its relevance here is the named practitioner role within the Moorlands team, alongside additional language support.

Relationships and Communication

A personal key person gives each child a regular adult contact. First Steps' group-wide Key Buddy arrangement provides a second named role when that practitioner is away, helping families understand who carries the relationship and care information across absences. Children also get to know other practitioners.

The key person helps plan introductory visits before the start date. Parents can remain involved and build attendance gradually, giving settling a structure that allows a slower pace.

At Moorlands, parents are offered a consultation each term to discuss development and achievements. Children needing additional support are invited to Team around the Child Meetings (TAC), which bring ongoing support and professional input into the same conversation. These meetings take place at least once a term, giving families a recurring opportunity to review what is helping and what needs to change.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENCO works with the manager, practitioners and families to identify additional needs, and Moorlands draws on speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. This is a concrete support mechanism: nursery staff can bring outside expertise into planning rather than relying solely on their own observations.

In June 2024, staff used children's home languages during the day and offered resources that let children hear greetings in languages used by their peers. Practitioners also sent activity bags home to help parents practise particular skills. Both examples linked learning with family life and gave parents something practical to use beyond nursery hours.

Sleep arrangements distinguish younger and older children. Under-twos usually sleep in a sleep room beside the play area; older children usually rest in a quieter part of their room, with home routines followed unless staff consider them unsafe. The separate sleep space is useful for babies whose need for rest falls during other children's play.

Moving on to school is part of the Moorlands support offer. A transition form is shared with the family and receiving school, and a meeting can bring parents and relevant professionals into discussion of the child's support needs. That helps care information travel with the child, rather than leaving the next setting to begin from scratch.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Moorfields Road, Bath, BA2 2DQ. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year. Day care closes for bank holidays, Christmas and training days, so the attendance pattern still needs to sit alongside those planned breaks.

The All Day Session runs from 8am to 6pm, while the Working Day runs from 9am to 5pm. Morning Session hours are 9am to 1pm; Afternoon Session hours are 1pm to 5pm. The current charging structure also includes an after-school window from 3pm to 6pm and hourly additions at the beginning or end of the day.

Bookings are for agreed attendance times. Changes to sessions and leaving the nursery require one month's notice. Initial enquiries use the online Nursery Enquiry Form, and Moorlands offers show-arounds by arrangement.

Getting There

The car park has marked bays and a separate pedestrian route with a gate. Vehicle entry is restricted between 8.45am and 9.15am and between 2.45pm and 3.15pm, an important consideration for families whose booked hours overlap those periods.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and privately paid sessions are offered. Funding includes universal entitlement from the term after a child's third birthday, working-family entitlement from the term after an eligible child reaches nine months, and support for eligible two-year-olds. Families can use term-time funding or stretch it across 51 weeks; the chosen stretched arrangement cannot change partway through a term.

Meals are included in some session prices and charged separately where they are outside the session price; funded hours exclude meal costs, with packed lunches and snacks an alternative, and fundraising supports free meals for low-income families. Food is prepared by a separate caterer in a professional kitchen.

Parents supply nappies and wipes, and feeds for babies. A two-weeks' fees deposit is due with the registration form and is returned when the child leaves or early-years funding arrives, provided fees have been paid. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

The First Steps Opportunities for All Fund supports additional trips and activities through an optional family contribution, which can be removed from invoices on request. It is separate from the funded entitlement. The funding and charges page explains the entitlement options and charging structure.

• The youngest rooms. June 2024 findings identified inconsistent staff organisation during baby-care routines and noise affecting babies and toddlers. During a show-around, ask how practitioners now balance sleep and changing with sustained play, and how sound is managed between these rooms.
• Car-park timing. Vehicle entry restrictions overlap parts of the morning and afternoon. Discuss the pedestrian route and collection arrangements against the sessions you intend to book.
• Funding and the final bill. Meals on funded hours are charged separately; parents supply nappies and wipes, and a stretched funding pattern cannot change mid-term. Request a written quotation for your chosen sessions that separates childcare, food and the optional contribution.

Moorlands suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as a full or working day, with a key-person relationship and structured conversations about development. Its covered outdoor space adds practical value, while the SENCO, language-support service and transition meetings give the family-support offer substance.

The June 2024 concerns about babies' engagement and room noise temper that appeal. Older children's volcano projects and practical number work showed interests becoming learning opportunities.