Mary Poppins Day Nursery

A separate sleep room for babies, Spanish lessons for preschool children and a vegetable patch give Mary Poppins Day Nursery a recognisable character. At 26 The Green in Hasland, Chesterfield, it takes children from 3 months to 5 years and has 70 places in total. Its spaces change with the children: sensory exploration for babies, accessible resources for toddlers and more elaborate building, role play and early writing for preschool children.

At its January 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. That dated judgement comes with two useful cautions: children needed more opportunities to manage everyday tasks themselves, and staff interactions needed greater consistency, especially with older babies during busy periods.

The current offer combines separate age-group areas, outdoor spaces usable in different weather and a key person who plans around each child's interests. Opening hours extend from 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays. The appeal lies in the detail of the day, rather than the length of that window alone.

Rooms and Ages

The baby unit accepts children from 3 months and separates its activities across three rooms: the comfy cosy carpeted room provides tactile exploration, the get messy room accommodates painting and play with different materials, and the sleep room follows families' requested routines with clean bedding each day. This gives active exploration and rest their own spaces. Hand-painted wall murals add another concrete feature to the youngest children's surroundings.

For children aged 2 to 3, the toddler area puts equipment within reach so they can select what to use, with sensory play, stories, music and group activities supporting language and decision making. Choosing a book or a resource becomes part of learning to act independently. Adults plan around individual interests rather than expecting every child to be interested in the same activity.

Around age 3, children move into the preschool area, where a book corner, role-play space, construction resources and an interactive smartboard support increasingly complex play and learning. Early number work includes shape, measurement and space; literacy extends to letter sounds, forming letters and attempts at simple words. These are practical steps towards school learning, rather than a promise about a child's eventual attainment.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guides learning across communication, movement, relationships, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. In everyday terms, that means children learn through conversations, physical activity, stories, making things and exploring their surroundings. It is the shared early-years framework, with individual observations used here to decide what each child should try next.

Preschool children also have Spanish lessons led by their teacher. This adds another language to their learning; stories, songs, seasonal occasions and celebrations provide further starting points for activities. A full-time Early Years Teacher works with preschool children, giving this stage a specific teaching role alongside the room's play resources.

In January 2022, early mathematics took several forms: babies matched shapes, toddlers counted objects as they posted them through a tube, and preschool children compared weights while pretending to prepare a recipe. The examples matter because number and measurement were embedded in things children could handle and test. Learning was not confined to naming numbers.

Story sessions in January 2022 involved children predicting events from pictures and exploring unfamiliar words through gestures. During construction play, preschool children tried different combinations of water and sand to keep their castles standing. These examples show how conversation and experimentation could extend an ordinary activity, although consistency of adult interaction remained an improvement point.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor provision includes a playhouse, wheeled toys, construction materials and spaces for sand and water play. Children have daily opportunities for climbing, balancing, running and ball games, while the spaces are accessible to every age group in different weather. The practical benefit is continuity: outdoor activity can extend what children are doing indoors rather than serving only as a break between activities.

The bug zone offers somewhere to investigate small creatures, while the vegetable patch and herb garden connect growing with food preparation. Older children measure and draw crops as they develop, then help prepare the produce for eating. These activities link observation, measurement and food through something children can follow over time.

In January 2022, winter weather became a learning resource too. Toddlers explored footprints in snow, and preschool children used binoculars to examine frost. Conversations about movement and warmth connected what children experienced outside with caring for their bodies.

Relationships and Communication

Every child is allocated a key person who plans individual experiences and discusses development with their family. That gives parents a clear point of contact and gives planning a personal starting point. Information about a child's interests or events at home can shape nursery activities, so the relationship works in both directions.

Regular parents' evenings allow longer discussions, while everyday conversations cover the child's time at nursery. Families who cannot manage those exchanges can arrange an appointment with their key person or the manager. Newsletters carry nursery news and event details; comment boxes and questionnaires provide further ways to give feedback.

Learning targets are shared with parents alongside ideas for activities at home. Observations help staff identify what a child can already do and choose an appropriate next challenge. This makes communication more useful than a simple account of what happened that day: parents can understand the purpose behind an activity and contribute information that changes future planning.

At the January 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children had secure relationships with their key person and other staff, but identified inconsistent responsiveness to older babies at busy times and occasions when adults intervened too quickly in children's self-care. Both points matter for families: affection and familiarity need to sit alongside attentive interaction and opportunities to practise independence.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The baby sleep room follows the routines requested by parents, with bedding freshly washed each day. Keeping sleep separate from messy and exploratory play gives rest a defined place within the baby unit. The arrangement also allows families to communicate their baby's established routine rather than treating every baby's sleep needs alike.

All staff working with children hold current paediatric first aid qualifications. Recruitment arrangements include DBS checks, and the learning-planning process includes identifying developmental needs with parents and accessing additional support when necessary. These are specific mechanisms, rather than a blanket assurance about how any individual need will be met.

Two cooked, two-course meals are prepared on site each day by the nursery cook, alongside morning and afternoon snacks, with a menu that changes weekly. The nursery's food policy provides for dietary requirements and allergies; affected families should discuss current arrangements before joining.

Mealtimes also provide opportunities to set tables, clear away, use cutlery and, for older children, serve food and pour drinks. Cooking activities with the cook connect ingredients with healthy food choices. This makes eating part of the nursery day that children help organise, not simply something done for them.

Sessions and Attendance

Mary Poppins opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, across 52 weeks of the year, with bank holidays excluded. For working families, that establishes the operating window and the recurring closures to plan around. It does not by itself determine the attendance arrangement a family will book.

The nursery can be contacted on 01246 555022 or through its contact form. Its address is 26 The Green, Hasland, Chesterfield, S41 0LJ. The same setting accommodates children from infancy through to preschool, with age-group areas changing as children grow.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible children aged 2, 3 and 4, and for qualifying working parents. Eligibility remains conditional: a family must qualify for the relevant entitlement. The nursery also accepts Tax Free Childcare payments, a separate payment arrangement rather than an additional nursery entitlement.

The fees and funding page provides the contact route for discussing prices and requirements. A current written quotation should form part of the booking discussion, so families can assess their own proposed attendance rather than assume that one family's arrangement applies to another.

• Older babies at busy times. In January 2022, some older babies received less responsive interaction when staff were busy. Ask how practitioners maintain individual engagement during the busiest parts of the baby unit's day.
• Practising independence. The January 2022 improvement priorities included letting children attempt more everyday tasks themselves. Coats, shoes and cleaning their faces were concrete examples; ask how staff now balance help with time to try.
• Booking and total costs. The nursery offers funded childcare subject to eligibility and directs price enquiries by telephone. Ask for a written quotation covering the proposed attendance pattern, funded-hours delivery, meals and non-food consumables.
• Dietary arrangements. The food policy accommodates allergies and special diets, with meals cooked on site. Before joining, discuss the current preparation and serving arrangements for your child's particular requirements.

Mary Poppins suits families seeking care from infancy through preschool, with separate spaces for baby exploration and sleep, accessible toddler resources and a teacher-led preschool stage. The bug zone, growing areas and Spanish lessons give parents concrete reasons to look beyond the opening hours.

Its weekday, year-round operating window will matter to families fitting childcare around work. The January 2022 Good judgement is useful context, but the most valuable visit discussion concerns everyday practice: keeping older babies engaged at busy times and allowing children to do more for themselves. Those questions follow directly from the nursery's inspection priorities.