Footprints Day Nursery

A balcony for growing vegetables, a separate place to sleep and a sensory room give Footprints Day Nursery a clear physical character. Based at Elim Christian Centre on Hall Street in Chelmsford, it has capacity for 65 children aged 3 to 60 months. Its first-floor setting in the Life Church building is an important practical detail for families with babies.

At its 1 December 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Footprints Good overall, found safeguarding effective and recognised how the SENCO worked with families and other professionals to address gaps in children's learning. That assessment provides a dated picture of care and education, rather than a description of today's staffing or daily activities.

The current offer combines year-round nursery care with a term-time option for children over two. Inside, children have equipment they can choose for themselves; outside, a garden and preschool balcony extend the space for play and exploration.

Rooms and Ages

Three groups organise nursery life: Under Two’s, Toddlers and Pre-School. The indoor layout combines three main rooms with smaller, cosy spaces. Equipment is accessible to children, giving them opportunities to choose an activity and pursue an interest rather than depend on an adult to fetch everything.

For the youngest children, the separate sleep area is a useful distinction. Rest takes place away from the busier play environment, with access arranged around individual sleep needs. The sensory room provides another change of pace, using light, sound and textures during individual time or small-group sessions.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through play, covering children's physical development, communication and relationships alongside early mathematics, literacy, creative expression and understanding their surroundings. At Footprints, planned activities sit alongside children's own choices of resources. Messy and sensory play provide practical ways to explore materials, while the mud kitchen and sand pit take that experimentation outdoors.

In December 2022, younger children listened to familiar stories, while older children discussed fruit and vegetables as they prepared their snack. Colour, patterns and seeds became subjects for conversation. These were everyday activities used to develop language, rather than learning confined to a formal lesson.

That December, babies and toddlers also copied adults playing with large scarves and watched how the fabric moved. Older children experimented with an object selected from a bucket, inventing sounds and explanations. The examples show how movement, imagination and conversation could share the same activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

Children use the outdoor areas during the day, including in different weather conditions, so suitable clothing is part of the nursery routine. Preschool children can grow flowers and vegetables on the balcony. This gives them something to tend and observe over time, alongside more immediate outdoor play.

In December 2022, bicycles, tricycles and garden racing games gave children opportunities to practise balance and coordination. The current garden provision also includes the mud kitchen and sand pit, offering different kinds of play from the indoor rooms.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is allocated a key person before starting. Settling visits are shaped around the child and family, and staff use information about existing interests to plan familiar activities. Wherever possible, the key person also handles personal care, feeds and sleep routines. Other practitioners build relationships too, allowing care to continue when that adult is on leave.

The same relationship supports moves between nursery rooms. Children have opportunities to explore their next environment and get to know its practitioners, with their key person helping through the change. For a parent, this links settling, daily care and later transitions rather than treating each as a separate process.

Communication includes a parent link app and an online tracking system for photographs, observations, meals and activities. Parents' evenings provide time for longer conversations, while termly newsletters, telephone calls and emails offer other routes. Learning journeys are accessible to parents, and development summaries are completed each term, making progress a continuing conversation.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support for additional needs has a defined structure. The key person, SENCO and parents contribute to Individual Learning Provision Plans (ILPPs), which set out support for the child. Advice from other professionals can inform those plans, and targets are reviewed with families. This gives parents a concrete planning process rather than a general promise of inclusion.

Visual timetables help children understand routines. The sensory room can be used individually or in small groups, giving staff a separate space to adapt experiences to a child's needs. In December 2022, home-language resources and signing also supported communication for children learning English as an additional language.

Food is cooked freshly on site, and a separate menu for children under one supports weaning in discussion with parents. Mealtimes include conversation, and older children help prepare the tables, bringing practical participation into the daily routine.

Preparation for school or another setting includes sharing learning journeys and relevant documents. Photo books of the next setting can help children become familiar with it, while role play involving uniform and lunchtime routines introduces some of the changes ahead. These are transition activities, not an admissions arrangement.

Sessions and Attendance

Nursery opening hours are 7.45am to 5.45pm, Monday to Friday. Care runs across the year, with closures on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas; children over two can also attend on a term-time-only basis.

A separate afterschool club runs Monday to Friday from 3pm to 6pm. Holiday Club operates during school holidays for school-aged children up to 11 years. These services extend the setting's role beyond its nursery-age groups and may matter to families arranging care for siblings.

Getting There

The address is Elim Christian Centre, Hall Street, Chelmsford, CM2 0HG, and the nursery occupies the first floor of the Life Church building. Chelmsford Railway Station is a 15 minute walk from the premises.

Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form. Day-to-day nursery leadership includes managers and a deputy manager, supported by practitioners who take part in continuing training and professional development.

Funding and Paid Extras

Footprints accepts 2, 3, and 4 year old Funded Early Education Entitlement. The term-time care option applies to children over two. Families should obtain current prices in a written quotation from the nursery.

• First-floor accommodation. The nursery is upstairs in the Life Church building. At a visit, discuss how access will work with your child's needs and your usual pushchair.
• Time to answer. In December 2022, adults sometimes moved on before children had sufficient opportunity to explain their ideas. Ask how practitioners now make space for children to think and respond during conversation.
• Outdoor clothing. Children use outdoor spaces in different weather conditions. Their nursery clothing needs to suit garden play as well as time indoors.
• Funding and the care package. Funded entitlement and a term-time option for over-twos are part of the offer. Request a written quotation covering your attendance pattern, including the treatment of food and non-food consumables.

Footprints suits families seeking year-round nursery care and those wanting term-time attendance for a child over two; its afterschool and holiday provision also gives it a role for older siblings. The separate sleep space, sensory room and growing balcony give the daily environment useful variety. Key-person continuity and individual support plans add practical substance to the care arrangements.

The December 2022 assessment was positive, with a specific improvement point about allowing children time to answer. For families weighing this setting, the strongest considerations are its care structure, outdoor opportunities and the practical fit of its first-floor premises.