Children 1st Shepshed Nursery School

A baking room, an outdoor classroom and gardens with spaces for different ages give Children 1st Shepshed Nursery School a practical, hands-on character. Children can move between construction, stories, growing and cooking, rather than relying on one kind of play. The setting accepts children from 4 months to 5 years and has 120 places in total.

At its 16 July 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found its safeguarding arrangements effective. Communication was a clear thread through the nursery day: songs for the youngest children, shared books and conversations about unfamiliar words for older children. There were also two important improvement priorities, covering support for learning at home and how planned activities extend older children's learning.

Families can choose morning, afternoon and several day-length patterns. That variety matters here, alongside the physical spaces: the nursery can serve families needing a shorter daytime booking as well as those needing care into the evening.

Rooms and Ages

The refurbished baby room follows babies' individual routines, giving their care a familiar starting point. This is a useful distinction for families whose baby's feeding and resting pattern does not fit a fixed timetable.

Elsewhere, a story space, a home corner and a substantial construction area give children different ways to explore ideas. Building offers opportunities to experiment with materials; the home corner supports imaginative play; books create a quieter setting for shared attention. The baking room adds another practical space, with ingredients and food preparation becoming part of learning.

In July 2025, changes to the playrooms had made more areas accessible to children, allowing them to choose their play more independently. This was about how children could use the rooms, rather than simply how the rooms looked.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, with play, language and everyday routines contributing to their learning. At Shepshed, communication featured in concrete ways in July 2025: babies heard songs introducing words, younger children named pictures while sharing books, and older children explored the meaning of new vocabulary in conversation.

Learning also followed children's immediate interests. In July 2025, staff used a toy helicopter to explore the movement of propellers after children noticed a helicopter overhead. A small moment became an opportunity to connect something children had heard with an object they could examine.

Cooking together is a hands-on activity in which children explore ingredients and practise skills through food preparation. Learning about how ingredients grow connects cookery sessions with where food comes from. Group-wide extras offered at this branch also include yoga and community trips, adding other experiences alongside its everyday play and learning.

Outdoor and Community Life

The large garden has an outdoor classroom, planting spaces and areas suited to different ages. Wildlife exploration gives children something real to investigate, while planting links the outdoor environment with the nursery's food activities. These are useful spaces for children who learn through movement and practical exploration.

Rainbows Children's Hospice is the nursery's chosen charity partner. Fundraising across the year includes sponsored challenges, bake sales and days involving dressing up. For families, this creates opportunities to take part in a shared cause; for children, it gives kindness and helping others a concrete expression.

Relationships and Communication

In July 2025, very young children responded to peekaboo with smiles and eye contact, while staff encouraged persistence by celebrating children's attempts at stacking blocks. These examples show the small exchanges through which adults acknowledged children's efforts and drew them into interaction.

Parents received updates about achievements and care routines in July 2025. The July 2025 inspection identified uneven support for continuing learning at home and occasions when planned activities did not sufficiently extend older children's existing knowledge and skills. Families should weigh both points alongside the positive everyday interactions, especially when choosing provision for a child approaching school age.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Books helped children discuss emotions in July 2025, and older children could describe using slow breathing and counting to manage anger. Conversation also involved listening to other people's views and waiting for a turn to speak. Emotional understanding and social habits were therefore part of ordinary activities, rather than a separate lesson.

Before children moved to school in July 2025, teachers were invited into the nursery so that children could become familiar with them. Additional funding was also used to buy school uniforms for some children. This was practical transition support, with attention to both the people and the everyday changes involved in starting school.

An on-site chef prepares meals, using local ingredients where possible, and menus accommodate different dietary requirements. Food preparation is part of the care offer as well as something children explore in their own cooking activities.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at 55 Forest Street, Shepshed, Loughborough, LE12 9BZ. Its booking patterns are Business Days from 8am to 6pm, Nursery days from 8am to 5pm, School Days from 9am to 3pm, Mornings from 8am to 1pm and Afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. School Days is the name of a shorter session, rather than a statement that attendance is restricted to school terms.

Care runs across the year, with Christmas week and two staff training days as closures. Families therefore need to plan alternative care for those breaks. Enquiries can be made by telephone or through the branch's enquiry form, and nursery tours are offered.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children aged 9 months and above can access the 15 Hours or 30 Hours funding offers. Funding is stretched across 51 weeks, giving up to 11.18 or 22.35 funded hours a week respectively, and up to 10 funded hours can be used in a day. Funding can be applied within the regular sessions, with additional hours charged separately.

For privately paid care, fees include meals, snacks, milk and infant formula, together with nappies, wipes, nappy cream and sun cream. Funded sessions have separate charges for food and health and hygiene consumables; activity charges apply to children over two, with no activity charge for under-twos. This distinction matters when comparing the final cost of a funded booking with its funded hours.

Monthly billing uses the same amount each month. A non-refundable registration charge applies, and the deposit is credited against the first invoice. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the Shepshed fees and funding information explains the booking and charge structure.

• Older children's learning. In July 2025, planned activities did not consistently build on what older children could already do. During a tour, ask for an example of how an activity is adapted for a child who has already mastered its starting point.
• Learning beyond nursery. Support for learning at home was uneven in July 2025. Ask how staff turn updates about your child's interests into practical ideas your family can use.
• Your baby's routine. The baby room follows individual routines. Use a visit to discuss how your child's feeding and resting pattern would work across the session you are considering.
• The funded total. Food, consumables and some activities carry separate charges during funded sessions. Compare a written quotation for your chosen pattern, including any additional hours and alternatives to the integrated extras.

Shepshed suits families who value practical learning spaces and want a choice between morning or afternoon attendance and longer Business Days or Nursery days. The garden, baking room and charity partnership give its character substance, while the baby room's attention to individual routines is relevant to its youngest children.

For preschool families, the decision should also include how staff now extend learning and help parents continue it at home. Those July 2025 priorities are specific enough to make a tour useful: look for concrete examples of the support your child would receive.