Stepping Stones Childcare, Mount Charles

Toothpaste lids, wooden tongs and dinosaur play give a useful picture of learning at Mount Charles. In September 2023, children practised everyday skills alongside conversation, counting and imaginative play. Small tasks carried real purpose: opening a lid, serving a snack or finding the words to explain an idea.

Stepping Stones Childcare, Mount Charles has capacity for 30 children aged two to five at Wesley Place in St Austell. At its September 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, while finding effective support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Those findings give families a dated assessment rather than a promise about every child's experience.

Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside flexible attendance, with an all-year calendar. That combination gives parents several ways to organise childcare rather than a single fixed day.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. Here, its practical meaning is learning through play and everyday routines: talking, handling objects, exploring number and becoming more independent.

In September 2023, an interest in teeth became an activity about looking after the body. Children explored books and cleaned pictures of teeth on laminated sheets, then practised opening and closing toothpaste. It connected a play activity with something they could use at home. The useful detail is the link between children's curiosity and an ordinary daily task.

Conversation was woven into play. During that same month, staff gave children time to answer questions rather than immediately filling the silence. Dinosaur play introduced words for plants, while breakfast conversations prompted further questions. These examples show how staff created opportunities for children to speak, listen and try unfamiliar vocabulary within an activity they already enjoyed.

Number and comparison also had concrete materials. In September 2023, children counted sea creatures in a water tray with staff using fingers to help, and compared the weight of buckets containing sand. The task was something to handle and test. It gave mathematical language a visible meaning.

Outdoor and Community Life

In September 2023, outdoor experiences included making pretend cakes with sand and helping staff feed fish. Children also took local walks that included learning how to cross roads safely. Outdoor space therefore supported both play and practical safety lessons.

There was a limitation, too. That month, some children moved rapidly between outdoor activities, and staff missed chances to develop their play further. This matters for families whose children need adult help to stay with an activity: access to outdoor play and sustained involvement in it are separate questions.

Relationships and Communication

In September 2023, children settled readily and staff joined their play. Familiar routines helped structure the day: a triangle signalled attention, while a visual timer gave warning before activities changed. For a child reluctant to stop playing, a visible countdown made the next step less abrupt.

Snack time also offered opportunities to practise independence that month. Children used their name cards, washed their hands and collected eating equipment before handling vegetable sticks with wooden tongs. Staff demonstrated the movement, and children kept trying. Care routines doubled as opportunities to practise coordination and do things for themselves.

Communication with parents had a clear improvement point in September 2023. Staff shared what children had done, but did not consistently explain the next developmental steps families could support at home. An account of activities is useful; knowing what a child is working towards makes that information more actionable.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In September 2023, SEND support included showing an object to help a child understand communication, alongside calming sensory experiences such as catching bubbles. These are concrete examples of adapting an interaction rather than expecting every child to respond to spoken instructions in the same way.

School transition also received attention that month. Leaders communicated with local schools to support children's move to their next stage. That work concerned preparation and continuity, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 12-14 Wesley Place, Mt Charles, St Austell, PL25 4QA. Opening hours run from 8am to 4pm, and the nursery operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and the Christmas-to-New-Year period. This is useful for parents whose childcare needs extend beyond school terms.

Morning bookings have two choices: 9am to 11.30am or 8.30am to 11.30am. Afternoon bookings run from 12.30pm to 3pm or 12.30pm to 3.30pm. A lunchtime session, from 11.20am to 12.20pm, can be added to either morning or afternoon attendance. Flexible hours are also offered, subject to numbers and availability.

Hourly booking carries a minimum attendance of two hours and requires at least 48 hours' advance booking. That flexibility still needs planning. Enquiries can be made through the contact form with Mount Charles selected, or by calling 01726 74493.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is accepted for three- and four-year-olds from the term following their third birthday, alongside 15-hour funding for two-year-olds and 30-hour funding for eligible families. Funding can be used between 8am and 4pm. Additional childcare is charged by the hour; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Children attending between 11.20am and 12.20pm need a named packed lunch and drink from home; snacks carry a separate termly contribution, which is voluntary for fully funded attendance. These arrangements distinguish food brought by families from the contribution towards nursery snacks. The fees and funding page sets out the charge structure.

The Mount Charles site also hosts Holiday Club, flexible school-holiday childcare for primary-school-aged children, excluding the Christmas-to-New-Year period. Its activities follow the interests of those attending, with past examples including cooking, jewellery making and craft. It is a separate offer for older children, relevant to families arranging care for siblings.

• Outdoor involvement. In September 2023, some children needed more help to remain engaged outside. On a visit, ask how practitioners extend outdoor play for children who move quickly between activities.
• Learning updates. Sharing developmental next steps consistently was an improvement point in September 2023. Ask what an update now tells you about supporting your child's learning at home.
• Booking around lunch. Morning and afternoon choices can include a lunchtime addition, while flexible attendance requires advance booking. Discuss how these fit together for the pattern your family needs.
• Consumables. Ask which everyday supplies you should bring for your child's attendance.

Mount Charles suits families seeking morning sessions, afternoon sessions or flexible hours across the year. Its September 2023 examples give learning a practical character, from toothpaste lids to snack-time tongs, with communication woven into play. The two useful questions for a visit are equally concrete: how adults sustain children's outdoor involvement, and how parents receive the next steps that turn a daily update into support at home.