Little Scholars Nursery

Pouring a drink, threading beads and working out how water travels through drainpipes: everyday experiences formed part of early learning at Little Scholars Nursery during its September 2025 inspection. This Derby setting has three named rooms, a play-based approach and a settling process that starts with parents sharing their child's story. The emphasis is on getting to know the individual child.

At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall and judged safeguarding effective. There were also two clear priorities: giving children longer to answer questions and helping staff contribute to play more thoughtfully. These matter because a child's conversation and concentration can both suffer when adults intervene too quickly.

The nursery accepts children from three months and has capacity for 31 children. Bouncing Bunnies, Little Ducklings and Excellent Elephants organise care by age, with the oldest room covering three to five years. Full days, mornings and afternoons give families different attendance patterns rather than a single daily commitment.

Rooms and Ages

Bouncing Bunnies covers birth to two years as a room age band, while the nursery's overall starting age is three months; Little Ducklings serves two- to three-year-olds, and Excellent Elephants covers three to five. The room structure gives families a clear progression through the nursery. It also makes moving between rooms an important part of the child's experience, alongside the initial move from home into childcare.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, covering language, movement, relationships and later learning in literacy, maths, creativity and understanding the world. Here, activities are adapted and each child has individual next steps. That connects play to what the child is ready to learn next, rather than expecting everyone to work towards the same immediate task.

Play leads the curriculum. Children can follow their interests and experiment, while practitioners add teaching and conversation to extend an activity. The practical value lies in the balance: space to investigate, with an adult ready to help a child develop an idea. The September 2025 improvement priorities make the timing of that adult contribution a useful point to explore.

In September 2025, younger children practised handling beads and string, while older children squeezed and shaped play dough and sand. These were concrete opportunities to develop hand control. Pretend holiday play brought another kind of learning: children considered what to pack and what a baby doll might need, bringing conversation into an activity they had chosen.

Outdoor and Community Life

In September 2025, outdoor water play involved scooping, pouring and arranging drainpipes so that water could travel along them. The equipment gave children something practical to test and change. It was more than a pouring exercise: the position of a pipe affected what happened next.

Safety learning was equally concrete. During that month, staff explained why toys should stay off the slide. Connecting a rule to the equipment children were using made the reason for it easier to understand.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with a parent story meeting, giving families time to explain their child’s routines and personality and meet the team. A child can then stay independently for up to an hour. This creates a short first separation after staff have heard from the people who know the child best.

Key person relationships are part of the nursery's approach. Daily feedback, learning updates and planned conversations provide different opportunities for parents to share information and discuss progress. Communication is intended to work in both directions, allowing experiences at home to inform the nursery day.

In September 2025, children sought comfort from familiar adults, and staff responded when children became distressed. Parents contributing to that visit valued the communication they received and the planning around room changes. Those observations give the settling arrangements context, while keeping the distinction between starting nursery and moving to a new room clear.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A dedicated SENCo works with parents and external agencies. The nursery follows the SEND code of practice and adapts routines, teaching and the environment for different communication styles, abilities and sensory needs. For families seeking additional support, these are practical mechanisms to discuss around their own child's needs.

In September 2025, staff used signs with younger children and demonstrated clearer pronunciation during conversation. Older children practised expressing feelings, and routine songs helped younger children anticipate what would happen next. Independence also appeared in everyday care: pouring drinks, eating without assistance and managing handwashing.

The nursery employed 10 childcare staff in September 2025, and staff received training and team meetings. The improvement work concerned the quality of interactions: some questions came too rapidly, while comments unrelated to an activity sometimes broke children's concentration. More targeted staff development was needed to address both issues.

Meals are freshly prepared at the nursery by its cook. Food is charged separately on funded-only sessions, with packed food from home an alternative; packed lunches remain in children's bags until lunchtime rather than being refrigerated.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 12 Wellesley Avenue, Derby, DE23 1GQ. Opening hours are 7.45am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and the nursery operates throughout the year except bank holidays. Families can contact the nursery by telephone or through its enquiry form.

Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings are offered, alongside funded-only sessions and wraparound arrangements that deduct funding from the charge. These are separate attendance choices, so a morning booking should not be confused with the nursery's full opening window. Holidays and illness remain payable under the nursery's terms.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding is offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds. It can be used during term time across 38 weeks or stretched across 51 weeks, with fewer funded hours each week under the stretched arrangement. The annual funding total remains the same. Free stretched places are not offered because of the relationship between the sessions and the weekly funded hours.

For two-year-old funding, families must meet the relevant criteria and provide their eligibility letter from Derby City Council before taking up the place. Private sessions and extra hours are also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the sessions and funding page explains the attendance and funding choices.

On funded-only sessions, nursery food carries a separate charge; bringing packed food allows that session to be free. Families choosing packed food must discuss allergies and the packed food policy with the manager. The storage arrangement is an important part of deciding which food option works for a child.

• Adult interaction. The September 2025 priorities concerned rapid questioning and interruptions to play. During a visit, ask how staff now allow thinking time and decide when to join an activity.
• Moving between rooms. Bouncing Bunnies, Little Ducklings and Excellent Elephants span different developmental stages. Ask how the nursery plans the next room move around your child's confidence and needs.
• Funding across the year. Term-time and stretched funding have different weekly patterns, and free stretched places are not offered. Match the written quotation to the attendance pattern your family needs.
• Packed food and allergies. Packed lunches remain in children's bags until lunchtime. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice and discuss the packed food policy before choosing this option.

Little Scholars suits families seeking morning or afternoon care as well as full-day attendance, with a personal settling process and communication that includes daily feedback and planned discussions. Its current approach combines play-based learning with individual next steps. At the September 2025 inspection, practical learning included handling materials and developing everyday independence.

The Good judgement from September 2025 provides a clear inspection position. The qualification is equally clear: adult questioning and interruptions needed attention. For parents, the strongest decision point is how the nursery combines its individual approach with thoughtful, well-timed support during children's play.