Little Leprechauns Day Nursery

A sheltered outdoor area for babies and sleep spaces in each room give Little Leprechauns Day Nursery a practical character: play, rest and time outside have their own place. This Chesterfield town-centre setting has 48 places in total and accepts children from three months. Baby Room, Tweenies and Pre-School occupy separate rooms.

At its October 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with children building close relationships with their key person; it also identified weaknesses in support for independent play and consistency when routines changed. Those distinctions matter. Warm relationships and purposeful activities were strengths, but children sometimes needed better help to sustain their play and understand what came next.

Attendance options differ by age: babies attend across the year, while Tweenie Room, for children aged two to three, offers full days, mornings, afternoons and a term-time short day.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Room covers the youngest children up to two years, Tweenies serves ages two to three, and Pre-School covers three to five; babies have a sheltered outdoor space usable throughout the year, and each room includes somewhere comfortable to sleep. Separating the age groups gives families a clear picture of where their child will spend the day. The baby outdoor provision is especially useful for children whose play and rest needs differ from those of preschool children.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage shapes the curriculum: children learn through play, with opportunities to develop language, movement, relationships, reading and mathematical understanding. Activities combine children's own choices with sessions led by adults. Children’s interests help determine the content, so learning starts with something that already holds their attention.

In October 2024, dinosaurs supplied a concrete route into mathematical vocabulary: younger children compared tails and other body parts by length. Water play gave older children opportunities to explore how much containers held. These examples make the educational approach tangible. Mathematical ideas were attached to objects children could handle and discuss, rather than confined to an abstract exercise.

Language developed through similarly practical exchanges in October 2024. Staff responded to the youngest children's sounds and supplied words for objects they indicated, while books introduced animal names. Older children discussed why a sand structure would not hold its shape. The contrast between these activities shows how conversation could be adjusted to different stages of development.

Adult-led activities had clear learning intentions in October 2024, but support during children's own play was less consistent. Some children found it difficult to stay with an activity. For parents, the important distinction is between providing appealing resources and helping a child use them purposefully over time.

Outdoor and Community Life

In October 2024, community visits included borrowing library books and buying supermarket items. These were practical encounters with how familiar places work: books could be borrowed, and purchases involved money. They extended learning beyond the nursery's rooms into everyday situations children would also meet with their families.

Relationships receive attention alongside activities. Parents and carers work with the nursery to support children's development, and children's interests inform their care and learning. That makes family knowledge part of the approach, rather than treating the nursery day as separate from life at home.

At the October 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff identified gaps in learning and tailored support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including individual activities and a sensory area supported by additional funding. The sensory resources helped children return to planned activities. This is a concrete example of support being adapted to a child's needs.

Everyday independence was another strand of the October 2024 nursery day. Younger children practised pouring drinks and opening yoghurt pots; older children prepared fruit with guidance on handling knives safely. Staff also helped children learn handwashing. These small tasks gave children opportunities to do more for themselves, with adult help where needed.

Social learning was visible in October 2024 too. Children waited before using soft play equipment and shared paint pens. Changes of activity were more uneven: visual timers and a tidy-up song signalled the transition, but staff sometimes gave conflicting messages about whether children should dance or put toys away. Clear, shared expectations were an improvement priority.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at 19 Broad Pavement, Chesterfield, S40 1RP; its contact address spans 17-19 Broad Pavement. It opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, across the year. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email through the contact details.

For Baby Room, the full day runs from 7.30am to 6pm and is an all-year arrangement. Tweenie Room offers the same full day, plus mornings from 7.30am to 1pm and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. Its term-time timetable also includes a Short Day from 9am to 4pm and an Early Bird period from 8am to 9am. These are different attendance choices, so the child's age matters when matching a timetable to family routines.

Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day are closures, with a 1pm finish on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Families using the nursery across the year need to account for those shorter days as well as the closures.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded sessions are offered, with term-time attendance among the options. A separate service charge on funded sessions covers drinks, snacks and meals; private full-day fees include breakfast, lunch and tea, while the morning includes breakfast and lunch and the afternoon includes tea. Food is cooked on the premises, and fruit is provided during the day.

There is no fee reduction for holidays, sickness or Bank Holidays. Families should obtain a current written quotation from the nursery, using the fees page to identify the attendance pattern and meal arrangements they want priced.

• Age-specific attendance. Baby Room follows an all-year full-day model, while Tweenie Room has morning, afternoon and term-time short-day choices. At a visit, discuss how the timetable would work as your child moves between rooms.
• Independent play and transitions. In October 2024, children sometimes struggled to stay engaged in their own activities and received mixed messages during tidying up. Ask how staff now support sustained play and agree consistent expectations.
• Funded-session costs. Meals, drinks and snacks carry a separate service charge during funded sessions. Compare the complete written quotation for your intended attendance pattern.

Little Leprechauns suits families seeking baby care across the year, or morning, afternoon and term-time short-day attendance for children aged two to three in Tweenie Room. Sheltered outdoor space for babies, room-based sleep areas and food prepared on site are useful practical strengths. The October 2024 picture also contains a clear caution: support for independent play and changes of routine needed greater consistency. Families should weigh those teaching details alongside the nursery's warm relationships and Tweenie Room's attendance choices.