Leaps and Bounds Day Nursery

Ducklings hatching, vegetables growing and stories brought to life with miniature props give Leaps and Bounds Day Nursery a recognisable character. This Winton setting combines a garden-based nursery day with outings, visiting emergency-service staff and practical activities that put children’s hands and language to work. Its appeal lies in the detail: children help care for newly hatched ducks rather than simply looking at pictures of them.

At its 19 January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, finding that its individually planned curriculum supported excellent progress. The current age range is 24 to 60 months, with capacity for 20 children in total. That is whole-nursery capacity, rather than a promise about the size of any particular group.

Morning, afternoon and all-day sessions serve different attendance needs. The strongest reasons to consider this setting, however, are its practical learning, outdoor provision and the connections between staff and families.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for communication, physical development, relationships, literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. For parents, that means the nursery day supports learning across these areas through children’s activities and play; it is the shared foundation for early-years provision rather than an extra programme unique to this nursery.

In January 2024, small tasks carried several learning opportunities at once. Children transferred pom-poms into a bottle with tweezers, counting them and comparing their sizes, then worked out how to retrieve them. The activity combined number language with careful hand movements and problem-solving. It gave children something concrete to investigate, rather than numbers considered in isolation.

Storytelling was equally hands-on that January. Children acted out The Tiger Who Came to Tea with miniature play resources, while staff’s questions extended the conversation. Props also helped children recount familiar stories. For a child still building the confidence to speak, an object or character provides a useful starting point for joining in.

Food preparation added another practical strand in January 2024. Children made fruit kebabs, handled knives carefully, were shown a recipe by staff and discussed smells and tastes. Preparing something they could eat connected hand control, new vocabulary and healthy eating in one activity. Speech and language also received deliberate attention through adults modelling words, repeating them and using a national language programme.

Today’s additional activities include music and movement and Minimovers sports sessions, adding opportunities for physical activity alongside the everyday nursery provision. Yoga, music and sports sessions can also carry optional additional charges. Families can therefore distinguish the core nursery day from the extras they choose.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large garden and a covered outdoor area with decking give children more than one way to play outside. The shelter supports outdoor choice in different weather, so the garden is backed by usable covered space. Growing vegetables and keeping nursery pets bring living things into children’s everyday surroundings.

The annual duck hatching activity makes that connection especially tangible: children watch eggs hatch and take part in caring for the ducklings. Outdoor learning also includes activities with horses, with pony rides offered on an opt-in basis. These are concrete encounters with animals, each involving more than a toy or a storybook illustration.

Outings throughout the year include Farmer palmers, the oceanarium, the beach, parks and the local library, extending children’s experiences to animals, books and outdoor places.

Visitors include ambulance personnel, police, firefighters with a fire engine and a school crossing patrol worker. These encounters introduce children to people whose jobs they may recognise in the community. Alongside the garden and outings, they broaden the subjects children can explore through conversation and play.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has an allocated key worker who follows their development and needs. Regular progress meetings and conversations with staff give parents a continuing point of contact to discuss learning.

Tapestry online learning and communication is the app used to share children’s activities with parents. A daily notice board provides another account of what children have done. The combination gives families different ways to connect a nursery day with conversations at home, rather than relying entirely on a brief verbal update.

In January 2024, staff also used information shared by parents about home life to plan children’s next learning steps. Support extended to everyday concerns such as toilet training, sleep and tooth brushing. Those are practical issues for this age group, and the inspection-time examples show how conversations with families reached beyond activities alone.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that work with other agencies supported children with special educational needs and/or disabilities extremely well, and that safeguarding arrangements were effective. This is a dated assessment of practice, rather than a general promise about any individual child’s future support.

In January 2024, additional funding bought resources or extra sessions tailored to the children for whom it was provided.

Oral health had a practical place in the day that January. Children each received a toothbrush, and staff used resources to explain regular brushing. Exercise outdoors and nutritious snacks complemented this work. Healthy routines were therefore something children practised and discussed, alongside their other learning.

Sessions and Attendance

Leaps and Bounds operates at 27 Bemister Road, Winton, Bournemouth, BH9 1LG. Opening hours are 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. It closes for bank holidays and one week at Christmas. The Christmas closure matters for families arranging childcare across the year, even when they normally book regular sessions.

The Morning Session runs from 8am to 12.55pm; the Afternoon Session runs from 12.30pm to 5pm. The All Day Session covers 8am to 5pm. These are separately offered patterns, so parents can choose between a morning, an afternoon or the whole opening day. Extra time outside a session is charged separately.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01202 269628 or by email at leapsandbounds123@hotmail.com. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the session and costs page sets out the attendance options.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for children aged two, three and four, with 15-hour and 30-hour funding options. Eligibility conditions apply. Funding can be used by term, while children attending across the year have the hours spread out: the stated weekly allocations are 11 hours for the 15-hour option and 22 hours for the 30-hour option. Families should distinguish the entitlement from its weekly delivery pattern when planning attendance.

Morning and afternoon session fees include their respective snacks, while parents supply a lunch box for morning attendance; an evening meal is provided during afternoon sessions. For funded attendance, snacks and meals carry separate charges, so funded hours and food costs need to be considered separately.

Sports, yoga, music sessions, trips and outings are optional paid additions. Additional private hours are also charged. Choosing these extras changes the overall arrangement, but they should remain separate from the funded entitlement itself.

• The working-day finish. All-day care ends at 5pm. Match that finish to work and collection arrangements before choosing between the morning, afternoon and all-day patterns.
• Funding across the year. The stretched allocations are 11 or 22 hours each week, with food charged separately on funded attendance. Compare the complete quotation with the sessions you intend to use.
• Individual care. A key worker, progress meetings and Tapestry support communication. At a visit, ask how settling would work for your child and how any individual support needs would be planned.
• Animal activities and outings. Duck hatching, horse activities and trips are part of the offer, with pony rides opt-in and outings optionally charged. Discuss which experiences fit your child and which you would choose to include.

Leaps and Bounds suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as an all-day option, with a clear 5pm finish. Its garden, covered decking, animal experiences and outings give the nursery day substance, while key-worker contact and Tapestry connect that day with home. The Outstanding judgement from 2024 adds weight to the practical learning examples. For parents, the central decisions are the attendance pattern, the stretched funding arrangement and the extras they want to include.