The Syston Day Nursery

Growing herbs, helping prepare food and tackling outdoor climbing equipment give The Syston Day Nursery a practical, hands-on character. Play connects with everyday life here: children explore ingredients as well as toys, and the outdoor space is used in different weather. For parents who value movement and growing independence, those are useful details.

At its 16 May 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The important qualification concerns consistency: in May 2024, key people understood children's next learning steps, but that knowledge did not reach every practitioner fully. Knowing a child well needs to translate into support from the wider team.

The nursery caters for children from birth to five years at 1096 Melton Road, Syston, Leicester, LE7 2HA. Full-day and shorter attendance patterns are offered, with the booking detail set out below.

Rooms and Ages

Bright classrooms contain resources chosen for children's developmental stages, giving them opportunities to explore through play. In May 2024, activity took place across the baby room, toddler room and pre-school room; these room descriptions belong to that period rather than setting out a current age-by-age room allocation.

In May 2024, the baby room combined picture-book conversations with construction play, the toddler room used a missing-animal game to exercise memory, and the pre-school room let children pursue cup-stacking and counting. The progression is concrete: looking and handling lead into remembering, experimenting and using number. Ordinary materials carry the learning.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets expectations for children's learning, development and care, including learning through play. It is the shared framework for early years provision; the useful question here is what children actually do within it. Growing vegetables and herbs, alongside helping with meal preparation, gives them direct involvement in the food they encounter.

In May 2024, language learning was woven into activities. Children encountered the names of unfamiliar tools, including a mortar and pestle used with flower petals. Familiar stories also became pretend play, with children acting out making tea for tigers. This gives words a purpose: children can connect language with objects, actions and ideas.

Responsibility had a practical form that month too. Children chosen as daily helpers fetched other children's coats and prepared places for lunch. A sand timer helped explain the time allowed for tidying. Both examples make routines understandable and give children something useful to contribute.

Outdoor and Community Life

The large outdoor play space includes climbing equipment and is used across different weather conditions. That makes physical exploration part of nursery life rather than an occasional change of scene. Children can investigate outdoors as well as stretch their climbing skills.

In May 2024, outings included gymnastics at a local centre and visits to shops such as an opticians. These examples served different purposes: physical activity on one trip, familiarity with a possible medical appointment on another. They brought learning into recognisable parts of children's local community.

Relationships and Communication

In May 2024, staff used songs to comfort unsettled babies and helped children persist with difficult construction tasks by demonstrating before encouraging another attempt. Comfort and encouragement were tied to the immediate situation. A child struggling with a toy received practical help as well as reassurance.

The Blossom Parent App provides a diary feed covering activities, sleep and snacks. For families, that creates a connection with the nursery day and gives concrete details to discuss at home. It also makes everyday care visible alongside learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that additional funding was used effectively to support school visits for some children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Meeting the teachers and becoming familiar with the school environment before moving on gave those children preparation tailored to the transition.

The SEND information connects families with the Early Years SEND Inclusion Team at Leicestershire County Council and guidance on universal and targeted support. These are useful routes for understanding additional needs, rather than a promise that every child requires the same response.

Staff receive annual safeguarding training, and paediatric first-aid training is supplemented by a yearly refresher. Staff control entry, while monthly fire drills give emergency procedures a recurring place in nursery routines.

Homemade meals use fresh vegetables and fruit alongside free-range eggs, and children can help prepare some food. Breakfast runs until 9am, followed by a two-course lunch around midday and another two-course meal around 4pm, with snacks and milk through the day and water continuously accessible.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates throughout the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas. This makes the closure pattern relevant to families arranging care beyond school terms.

The registration form offers full-day, part-day, AM and PM sessions across weekdays. These are different booking choices within the opening window, rather than a requirement to attend for the whole day. A written notice period of at least four weeks applies when changing or cancelling booked sessions or the registered start date, so changes to work arrangements need some planning.

There is a non-refundable registration charge to reserve a child's place. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Families should weigh the notice terms alongside their intended attendance pattern before committing.

Getting There

The address is 1096 Melton Road, Syston, Leicester, LE7 2HA. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0116 260 7933, by email to childcare@thesystondaynursery.co.uk or through the contact form.

Funding and Paid Extras

In May 2024, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. That dated provision is separate from the registration charge and from the choice of booked sessions.

• Consistency across the team. In May 2024, children's next learning steps were understood by their key people but not fully shared with other staff. On a visit, ask how that information now reaches everyone caring for your child.
• Shorter sessions and changing plans. AM, PM and part-day bookings sit alongside full days, with at least four weeks' written notice for changes or cancellation. Discuss the precise session boundaries and how they fit your working pattern.
• The whole cost of attendance. A non-refundable registration charge sits alongside funded provision recorded in May 2024. Ask for one written breakdown covering your child's funding arrangement, meals and consumables before booking.

The Syston Day Nursery suits families considering full days, mornings, afternoons or part-day sessions, and who value practical play, outdoor activity and involvement in food preparation. The Blossom Parent App adds a useful link between home and the nursery day.

The May 2024 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, with a clear issue to examine: how consistently the wider team uses each child's learning information. That is the most useful test to bring to a visit.