Little Stars Day Nursery

A separate sleeping room for babies and sliding glass doors onto the preschool garden give Little Stars Day Nursery a clear sense of how different ages use their day. This Penn Hill nursery occupies a house in Poole, with named stages running from Twinkles through Little Comets and Big Comets to Rockets. The offer spans children aged 3 to 60 months. Its strongest practical feature is the separation of spaces and routines as children grow.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 26 January 2022, with Outstanding judgements for behaviour and attitudes and personal development. That is a dated assessment, rather than a description of every aspect of today's provision. The current arrangements include an individual key person, parent updates through the Blossom Parent App and outdoor areas attached to different stages. Morning, afternoon and whole-day bookings give families different ways to use the nursery.

Rooms and Ages

Twinkles, for 3 to 18 months, combines sensory activities, music and stories with first-floor playrooms, a separate sleeping room and a dedicated garden containing a log cabin and artificial grass. Separating rest from play gives babies somewhere quieter to sleep while other children remain active. Soft play equipment adds another physical resource for early movement and coordination. Twinkles uses one adult to three children, the statutory minimum for this age band.

Little Comets, for 18 to 26 months, emphasises movement, developing speech and playing alongside other children, with its own outdoor play area and access to a cabin for storytelling, singing and pretend play. The age band bridges babyhood and toddler life. Sleep after lunch is organised around the family's wishes, rather than treating every child's routine as identical.

Big Comets, for 26 to 36 months, introduces early phonics, number activities and exploration of the surrounding world, with a room and garden for imaginative play and an accessible toilet to support independence. There is also a nappy-changing space. Those facilities accommodate children at different points in toilet training, while activities follow their interests and next learning steps.

Rockets, for 36 to 60 months, brings letters, sounds and practical number work together with creative activities, dance and role play, using rooms that open directly onto the garden through sliding glass doors. Artificial grass and large umbrellas support outdoor use across changing weather. Children can choose activities indoors or outside, making that connection part of their daily choices.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, communication and growing independence are learning experiences, rather than breaks between lessons. Activities in Big Comets are planned around children's interests and their next steps. Room practices give this framework concrete expression through sensory exploration, imaginative play and practical number activities.

Within Rockets, Little Rockets accommodates children who have recently turned three; the move into Big Rockets takes place in September, in the year before school starts. That final stage works towards independence, resilience and preparation for school. Practical number activities sit alongside exploring sounds and letters, while friendships and creative play remain part of the day. School preparation here includes how children manage themselves and relate to others.

In January 2022, babies explored dough while making biscuits, younger children persisted with electronic toys and older children kept rebuilding a brick tower when it fell. These examples show learning through sensation, cause and effect, and perseverance. The same dated assessment identified a weakness: less experienced practitioners needed to use unexpected moments in child-led play more effectively to add challenge. Planned activities and spontaneous teaching deserve equal attention when considering the learning offer.

Relationships and Communication

An individual key person links each child and family with a practitioner who supports them and shares progress. The Blossom Parent App carries photographs, observations and accounts of the day; it also supports extra-session bookings and invoice payments. That brings daily information and some administration into one place, useful for parents who want to follow both their child's experiences and the practical side of attendance.

Babies' home routines are central to the Twinkles arrangements. Staff take guidance from parents and the child's needs when organising care, while the separate sleeping room gives rest its own space. The settling policy also allows a period shaped around the individual child, with initial observations forming a starting point for later development records. Settling is therefore linked to understanding the child, as well as introducing the setting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its January 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described successful support for children with SEND, including collaboration with speech therapists and the use of pictures and gestures to help communication. These findings belong to that visit. Current support arrangements include a SENDCO role, individual planning and parent involvement at assessment, planning and review stages.

Individual Educational Plans (IEPs), which set out support and learning targets, are reviewed every six weeks with parents. The SEND arrangements also include discussing needs with external professionals, adjusting resources or teaching methods, and exchanging information with the child's next setting. This gives families a defined cycle for reviewing support rather than leaving an initial plan untouched.

In January 2022, familiar practitioners accompanied children when they changed rooms, and everyday independence included clearing plates and managing tissues. Those small tasks matter because care and learning overlap: children practise taking responsibility through ordinary routines. For children with SEND, transition arrangements include sharing information and discussing their needs with the next school or care setting to support continuity.

Home-cooked lunch and tea form part of the food offer, with alternating menus that change seasonally and include fish, meat and vegetarian dishes. The nursery's dietary policy provides for individual requirements and vegan meals on request.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 39 Penn Hill Avenue, Poole, BH14 9LU. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays, across 51 weeks, with public-holiday closures and a week off between Christmas and New Year. That operating year matters for families arranging care through school holidays, while the Christmas closure still needs a separate plan.

Bookings are sold as a morning session from 8am to 1pm, an afternoon session from 1pm to 6pm, or a whole day from 8am to 6pm. The minimum booking is two sessions. For children attending solely through funded hours, the minimum is two sessions per week, taken as whole days or afternoons and subject to availability. Morning bookings are therefore part of the wider offer, but do not form that funded-only pattern.

Admissions use a waiting list and consider siblings already attending, the date of application, children's welfare and the facilities and staffing needed for their care. A full-time request may take priority over a part-time request depending on work commitments, occupancy and room availability. Enquiries can be made through the nursery contact form, by telephone or email; prospective parents can also arrange to look around and speak with the team.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Universal funding from the term after children turn three, Extended funding for eligible families, and two-year-old funding subject to the relevant criteria. Entitlement is stretched across the nursery's 51-week year, reducing the weekly funded allocation compared with taking it over term time. A signed Parental Declaration and proof of date of birth are required, while Extended eligibility must be reconfirmed by parents every three months.

Meals and the food-and-consumables package are included within the applicable private session prices. During funded hours, food and non-food consumables carry a separate session charge, including items such as wipes, craft resources and the parent-app subscription. Additional attendance beyond the funded allocation is paid privately. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the nursery pricing page explains the charge structure.

Paid bookings require a deposit covering four weeks and a non-refundable enrolment charge; where funding applies, a reduced deposit applies. The deposit is not refundable if plans change before attendance begins, and its return on leaving depends on the account being settled and four weeks' written notice. Fully funded places instead have a holding deposit returned within a reasonable time, so the distinction between fully funded and partly paid attendance affects the starting terms.

• Funded-only attendance. Whole days and afternoons are the permitted patterns, with at least two sessions each week, subject to availability. Compare those boundaries with your working hours before choosing a pattern.
• Learning during free play. The January 2022 improvement point concerned practitioners adding challenge during spontaneous play. On a visit, ask for an example of how staff extend a child's self-chosen activity.
• Baby routines and room moves. Twinkles has separate sleeping space, while later stages use different rooms and gardens. Discuss how settling, sleep preferences and the move between stages would work for your child.
• Costs and dietary needs. Funded attendance has separate food and consumables charges. Request a written quotation for your pattern and, if allergies affect your child, confirm current food-handling arrangements.

Little Stars suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as whole-day care across most of the year. Babies have sleeping space apart from their playrooms; toddlers gain their own outdoor areas; Rockets connects indoor choices directly with the garden. Those are useful differences in how each stage is organised.

The January 2022 Good judgement provides a quality benchmark, balanced by a specific teaching improvement point. For a decision now, the room arrangements, key-person system and defined SEND review cycle are the clearest practical strengths. Funded-only session restrictions and separate charges need to fit the family's plans as closely as the care itself.