Helitots Day Nursery

Naval family life gives Helitots its character. Based within Culdrose Naval Air Station in Helston, this nursery combines care from babyhood with practical signposting for families managing deployment and separation. Its Forces Family Information resources make that connection tangible, extending beyond nursery activities to support for life at home.

At its May 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Helitots Outstanding, finding an ambitious curriculum and excellent progress for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The current offer includes a dedicated baby sleep area, freshly cooked food and a key person for each child.

Helitots has 60 places in total and accepts children aged 3 to 60 months. Full days, morning and afternoon sessions, and flexible hours give families several attendance patterns to consider; funded attendance has its own minimum booking requirement.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Room/Explorers caters for children from 3 months to 2 years, combining messy and exploratory play with a quiet sleep area where staff follow routines from home. Keeping sleep arrangements alongside the room's play provision matters for babies whose day still revolves around naps.

Toddlers brings early counting, colour and shape activities together with singing and action rhymes, while staff help children practise feeding themselves and potty training. These everyday tasks put growing independence alongside play rather than treating it as a separate lesson.

Pre-School combines language and early literacy work with mathematical patterns, creative activities and physical play using tunnels, bikes and a sandpit.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) provides the framework: children learn through play, physical activity and exploration, developing communication and relationships alongside early literacy and mathematics. This is the shared early-years foundation. At Helitots, planning can change with children's interests, and freely chosen activities take place indoors and outside.

Preschool learning includes phonics, storytelling and mark making. Counting sits alongside matching and looking for patterns; investigations encourage children to consider their families, communities and the wider world. Art, imaginative play and cooking provide further ways to explore ideas. Yoga and Zumba are brought in when possible, so these additions should be understood as occasional opportunities rather than a fixed weekly timetable.

In May 2022, babies heard adults repeat and extend words during book sharing, while older children discussed the conditions needed by pet land snails. Numbers also appeared in play: babies heard counting and rhymes, and older children counted votes when choosing a book.

Outdoor and Community Life

In May 2022, the garden included a climbing wall, with older children using wooden planks and sections of tree trunk to construct bridges and obstacle courses. A water tray supported investigations into floating and sinking. The physical challenge came with opportunities to test ideas, change a construction and try again.

The same month's observations showed children collaborating in pretend play and helping prepare the next activity after tidying. Older children also used safety knives to cut real fruit and vegetables under adult supervision.

Relationships and Communication

A key person takes responsibility for building a relationship with each child and acts as the parent's contact for development discussions. Settling includes short visits, an introduction to that member of staff and information from home about the child's preferences and requirements. Development journals give that relationship a continuing purpose after the initial settling period.

Extra settling sessions can be arranged when either the family or nursery considers them helpful. Parents can contact staff for updates while their child is settling, and the open-door policy allows them to spend time at nursery with their child.

In May 2022, parents received information about planned activities and updates on development, and families were invited to open days and fun afternoons. Partnerships involving local schools and the naval station's community supported children and their families during that inspection period.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described prompt identification of SEND, with support strategies helping children make rapid progress. Staff training, reporting knowledge and checks on risk formed part of that assessment. Today, the nursery's arrangements include paediatric first aid qualifications for all staff.

For service families, Forces Family Information signposts Strengthening Families – By Your Side, a programme offering Royal Navy and Royal Marines families practical assistance and discounted activity camps. It also points to Aggies, whose support includes bedtime stories to keep serving parents connected with children, gift packs and deployment journals. These are external resources, rather than nursery-run sessions, but their relevance to separation is clear.

A cook prepares food daily in the nursery kitchen, with menus changing frequently and using seasonal produce; meals and snacks can be blended for babies who are weaning. Parents bring expressed or formula milk in labelled bottles, and staff follow the requested feeding times and record consumption.

Sessions and Attendance

Helitots is at R N A S Culdrose, Hms Seahawk, Helston, TR12 7RH. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01326 552662 or through the contact form.

Full days run from 7.30am to 5.30pm. Half days are sold as morning attendance from 7.30am to 12.30pm or afternoon attendance from 12.30pm to 5.30pm; flexible hours are also offered. An earlier start from 7.15am carries an additional charge.

The nursery opens for 50 weeks each year and closes on bank holidays, with a two-week Christmas break. For funded attendance, Helitots asks for a minimum of two full days each week. Its funding arrangements operate across the year, rather than as term-time-only places, which is a significant distinction for families planning around school holidays.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered alongside private care. The funding arrangements cover provision from 9 months, two-year-old funding for eligible low-income and working families, and universal funding of 15 hours per week from the term after a child's third birthday. The two-year-old funding streams have eligibility conditions, and working-family eligibility requires reconfirmation every three months. Helitots stretches funded hours across the year; signed declarations and a contract must be returned before the first funded session.

Meals, snacks and consumables carry no separate charge for either funded or privately paid attendance. Expressed or formula milk comes from home. The fees page sets out the attendance options; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

A registration charge is non-refundable, except for funded-hours-only attendance, when it is credited against the final invoice if two calendar months' notice is given and the account is up to date. A refundable booking deposit is collected three months before the start date and applied to the first invoice. Changing provider requires two calendar months' notice; usual fees remain payable during short absences such as illness or holidays.

• Friday collection. Full-day attendance ends at 5.30pm, while the contact information also gives a Friday closing time of 1.30pm. Resolve the Friday collection time before agreeing a booking, especially if it must cover a working afternoon.
• Funded attendance and charges. Funding is stretched across the year and carries a request for two full days each week. The funding terms also refer to a Quality Supplement, alongside the no-separate-charge position for meals, snacks and consumables. Ask for a written breakdown of what that supplement covers and how it applies to your proposed funded booking.
• Settling within a naval base. Tours can be booked, and short settling visits introduce the key person. Use a tour to discuss access arrangements for Culdrose Naval Air Station and how those visits will fit your baby's sleep and feeding routines.
• Commitment before starting. The registration charge and booking deposit have different refund arrangements, and two calendar months' notice affects the final account. Consider those terms alongside the Christmas closure when planning a start or departure.

Helitots suits families seeking full-day care, morning or afternoon attendance, or flexible hours within the Culdrose setting. Its naval-family resources give service families a concrete reason to look closely, while the baby sleep area, key-person arrangements and on-site cooking address everyday care needs.

The Outstanding judgement from May 2022 carries substantial weight, but it should retain its date. The practical decision turns on the proposed attendance pattern: funded care is stretched across the year with a two-full-day minimum request, and Friday hours and the supplement need settling before a family commits.