Derwent Stepping Stones, St Marks Road

Support extends beyond the playroom at Derwent Stepping Stones, St Marks Road: health visitors attend regularly, and the neighbouring Family Hub provides another connection for families needing help. This Derby nursery combines childcare with practical family support. At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with SEND benefited from carefully planned support to participate and learn.

The setting has capacity for 128 children aged 3 to 60 months. That is the whole nursery's capacity, rather than the size of an individual group. Its St Marks Road address is also the home of the nursery trading as YMCA Stepping Stones.

Attendance spans full days, shorter daytime bookings and funded morning or afternoon patterns. The choice matters: families can consider a working-day arrangement or shorter sessions rather than fitting every child into the same timetable.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets out children's learning, development and care, with learning through play helping children practise skills and build understanding. Here, the January 2024 curriculum started with children's experiences and interests, with confidence and a sense of individual identity among its aims. Resources were adjusted to engage children with the skills staff wanted them to practise. The practical implication is learning connected to something a child already recognises or enjoys.

In January 2024, recycled boxes became materials for model-making, while children helped decide the texture of the dough they made. These are useful examples of children making choices within an activity, rather than simply receiving a finished resource. Familiar books also held their attention, giving staff opportunities to talk with them about what they were reading.

Communication received deliberate attention at that time. Staff positioned themselves so children could watch their mouths and repeated words during play. Children were beginning to use language to express preferences, including choosing a lunchtime companion. Everyday exchanges therefore carried learning as well as the practical business of the day.

Personal safety also forms part of the curriculum. Topics include water, road and fire safety, alongside emotions, friendships and personal boundaries. These connect care routines with the child's growing ability to recognise a risk or seek help from an adult.

Relationships and Communication

Settling has a staged structure, with room for parents to stay alongside their child before trying time apart. The suggested first session lasts one hour with a parent and the key person; the next two are two-hour sessions during which parents may remain for some or all of the time. Later sessions encourage separation when parents feel comfortable. Where possible, these take place in the week before regular attendance begins.

A key person is assigned during the trial period. An individual information sheet and transition document cover care routines, comforters, preferences and parental worries. This gives the relationship a practical starting point: staff have information about what helps the child, while parents have someone closely involved in the transition.

In January 2024, staff used familiar interests, including trains, to comfort upset children and draw them back into play. Parents also received practical advice about toilet training, and an app was being introduced for sharing pictures, information and ideas. The January 2024 inspection identified two improvements: giving all parents clearer information about their child's next learning goals, and helping younger children understand how their behaviour affects others.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND support follows a cycle of assessment, planning, action and review, coordinated through the SENCO role. One Page Profiles are developed with parents to explain what matters to a child, what makes them happy and how adults can support them. Individual Learning Plans record targets, giving families and practitioners a shared basis for reviewing support rather than relying on a general description of need.

Parents are involved in agreeing outcomes and discussing progress through formal and informal meetings each term. Where more specialist assessment is needed, the policy includes contact with speech therapy, health visiting services and educational psychologists. For two-, three- and four-year-olds accessing universal funding who have identified SEND needs, the nursery can seek Derby City Early Years Inclusion Funding each term.

Family support has a physical connection nearby: the local authority Family Hub is next door, and health visitors attend the site regularly. Safeguarding arrangements include a designated lead and deputy cover during opening hours. These are routes for raising concerns and coordinating help; the dated safeguarding judgement remains the January 2024 one.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is St Marks Road, Derby, DE21 6AH. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with bank holidays and a week at Christmas excluded. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01332 372245 or by email to steppingstones@ymcaderbyshire.org.uk.

Full-day bookings run from 8am to 6pm, including an ad hoc Full Day option. Shorter paid daytime patterns run from 9am to 3pm, with two-, three- and five-day weekly arrangements. An earlier 7.30am start can be requested and carries an additional charge.

Funded arrangements include mornings from 9am to noon and afternoons from noon to 3pm, each across five days and 38 weeks. Other options include two days from 9am to 4.30pm, or five days from 9am to 3pm, across 38 weeks. The guide also sets out arrangements over 48 weeks, including full-day and 9am-to-3pm patterns. The weekly attendance commitment belongs to the particular package, so the choice is about both hours and days.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through the Funded Early Education Entitlement (FEEE), with 15-hour and 30-hour patterns in the price guide. The entitlement supports eligible children from nine months until school starts. Packages distinguish funded hours from additional paid hours and include both 38-week and 48-week arrangements.

Breakfast, lunch and tea are each charged separately for every price band, including funded bookings. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Moving on to school includes visits during children's final nursery term, invitations for receiving-school staff to meet children in nursery, and additional visits for children with SEND where needed. The nursery describes close links with Derwent Primary School, Beaufort Primary School and Roe Farm Primary School. Attendance does not guarantee a school place; families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Learning updates. In January 2024, parents were not routinely given their child's next learning goals. At a show round, ask how these are now shared and how you can use them at home.
• Younger children's behaviour. The January 2024 improvement point concerned helping younger children understand the effect of their actions on others. Ask for a current example of how practitioners support this after a disagreement over a toy.
• The complete childcare bill. Meals carry separate charges across funded and paid arrangements, and an early start costs extra. Compare the written quotation for the attendance pattern you need, including what to supply for personal care.

The clearest fit is for families who value structured settling, practical SEND planning and links to family support alongside childcare. Full days from 8am to 6pm, shorter 9am-to-3pm bookings and funded morning or afternoon sessions serve different routines. That breadth gives the nursery practical appeal beyond one working pattern.

The January 2024 Good judgement supports that appeal, while the two improvement points keep the decision grounded. Clear learning updates and thoughtful support for younger children's behaviour deserve attention when choosing this setting.