Playroom Day Nursery and Pre-school

Vegetables grown for the kitchen and a fairy tale reading corner give Playroom Day Nursery and Pre-school a recognisable character. The garden connects growing, eating and quieter play, while a separate cot room gives babies somewhere apart from their activity space to sleep. These are practical details with a clear purpose in a young child's day.

Based at Unit 6A on Sneckyeat Road Industrial Estate in Whitehaven, CA28 8PF, Playroom has capacity for 38 children aged 0 to 60 months. At its 19 March 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall and found that the curriculum and staff interactions supported children's learning and communication.

Full Day Care and Flexible Hours provide different ways to organise attendance. The strongest reasons to consider Playroom, though, are its arrangements for younger children's routines, the daily language work in Pre-School and the combination of active and quiet outdoor spaces.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby & Toddler Room caters from birth to 2 years, can be split when younger babies and older toddlers attend together, and combines a separate cot room and cosy corner with painting, stories, singing and outdoor play. That division lets the space respond to different stages rather than treating babies and mobile toddlers as one undifferentiated group.

For children aged 3 and 4, Pre-School provides a quieter setting for conversation and listening, daily work with sounds and letters, counting and sorting activities, and daily garden access. Recognising their own names gives children a familiar starting point for early literacy; mathematical ideas appear both in play and in more directed activities.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and development: children build skills through play, activities and interaction with adults. Here, that translates into stories and singing for younger children, and language, number and conversation activities for preschool children. The framework is the foundation, rather than an extra programme.

A creative room gives drawing, painting and sticking their own space. Sand and water play provide another kind of exploration, while the computer suite uses equipment and software intended for young children. The physical variety matters: making pictures, handling materials and using technology call for different kinds of attention and participation.

In March 2024, staff joined children's play and extended it through their interactions. Physical activities also followed a progression: babies moved across soft-play blocks, toddlers practised balancing with adult support, and preschool children climbed a net independently. These examples make the learning sequence tangible, from early movement to more demanding coordination.

Outdoor and Community Life

Soft flooring and a bamboo boundary shape the garden, where wooden toys and other equipment support active play. The allotment area gives children a part in planting and harvesting vegetables that go into home-cooked meals. Growing something and then eating it connects outdoor activity with the kitchen.

The fairy tale reading corner adds a quieter option, with a large wooden chair, toadstool seats and shelter that provides summer shade. Children can pause as well as move. Preschool children also join the main room for baking and dancing, giving their day experiences beyond their own room.

Relationships and Communication

Each child in the Baby & Toddler Room has a key worker, and staff work with parents to follow familiar home routines. A daily diary records activities, food and nappy changes. For families with younger children, this connects the practical details of care with an account of what their child has been doing.

A free settling session lasting 1 hour 30 minutes gives children an initial experience of the nursery. In March 2024, settling arrangements included staff recognising babies' non-verbal signals, while the key-person system shared knowledge of children's needs across the team. That helps explain how individual care extended beyond one adult's relationship with a child.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effective, with staff working alongside parents and professionals and following their advice. Those are dated judgements, rather than a promise about every future experience.

The separate cot room and relaxing corner in the youngest room make rest part of the physical arrangement. Playroom caters for special dietary requirements, and its home-cooked meals use vegetables from the nursery's growing area. Meals, snacks and drinks are included in fees.

Sessions and Attendance

Playroom offers Full Day Care and Flexible Hours, with opening hours of 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Those opening hours describe the operating window; flexible attendance is a separate booking option. The nursery operates for 50 weeks of the year, closing for statutory bank holidays and Christmas, so families need to account for those breaks in their childcare plans.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01946 591119 or by email at info@playroomdaynursery.co.uk. The address is Unit 6A, Sneckyeat Road Industrial Estate, Whitehaven, CA28 8PF. Free parking is provided, a useful practical detail for families travelling by car.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded places are offered for two- and three-year-olds, alongside paid childcare. Meals, snacks and drinks are included in fees; families should obtain a current written quotation for their proposed attendance pattern. Funding and paid care therefore need to be considered together when planning attendance, rather than treating the opening window as a statement of funded provision.

• Learning about wider communities. In March 2024, children explored peers' cultures through religious celebrations, but everyday play needed more opportunities to learn about people and families beyond their own experience. Ask how books, resources and activities now address that specific curriculum priority.
• The youngest children's routines. The Baby & Toddler Room can be divided and has a separate cot room, while daily diaries cover food and nappy changes. During a visit, discuss how these arrangements would work alongside your child's sleep and home routines.
• Flexible attendance and funding. Full Day Care, Flexible Hours and funded places for two- and three-year-olds are offered. Ask for one written plan covering your intended hours, how funding would be used and the arrangements for non-food consumables.
• Annual closures. Opening runs across 50 weeks, with bank-holiday and Christmas closures. Families whose work continues through those periods will need childcare plans that cover the breaks.

Playroom suits families considering either Full Day Care or Flexible Hours, especially those who value a separate sleeping space for babies and a preschool day with regular language and number activities. Its garden has substance: children grow food, use play equipment and have a sheltered reading corner for quieter moments.

The Good judgement from March 2024 provides a positive inspection position, with a specific curriculum priority around learning about communities beyond children's own. The decision rests on concrete arrangements: how attendance fits family life, how younger children's routines are followed and how the nursery's play spaces support the child's stage of development.