The Early Years Academy Derby

A piano, outdoor balancing challenges and vegetable peeling gave The Early Years Academy Derby's February 2023 learning experiences a recognisable character. In February 2023, children explored music, practised practical tasks and tackled physical challenges with staff alongside them. The combination gives parents concrete examples of learning through doing, rather than an abstract promise of school preparation.

At its February 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found safeguarding effective. That judgement belongs to that visit. Today's practical offer includes care for children aged three months to five years, with capacity for 104 children at 135 Duffield Road, Derby, DE22 1AF.

Spacious classrooms, interactive play spaces and outdoor learning areas provide different settings for children's activities. Attendance can be arranged around morning or afternoon sessions as well as several lengths of day, making the nursery relevant to families with different working patterns.

Learning and Activities

The nursery follows the early years foundation stage: learning, development and care belong together, with play and everyday experiences helping children develop language, movement and social skills. The group's play-based approach, also used at Derby, includes creative activities, physical play and opportunities to solve problems. Open-ended resources and nature elements give children scope to explore rather than follow a single prescribed use for each toy.

In February 2023, practical learning included peeling vegetables while protecting the hand holding them, then discussing ingredients for soup. Staff introduced unfamiliar vegetables to extend the conversation. This example connects hand control, safe tool use and vocabulary within one purposeful task; it also gives parents a useful picture of how ordinary activities can carry several kinds of learning.

Music had a tangible presence in February 2023. A piano prompted children's interest, while visits from a jazz musician and a DJ introduced further musical experiences. Children explored instruments and distinguished different sounds. These were experiences involving listening and participation, rather than music used only as background entertainment.

Outdoor and Community Life

During February 2023, younger children manoeuvred ride-on toys over slopes and attempted balancing tasks on angled and raised beams. These physical features offered different challenges, from controlling a vehicle to placing a foot carefully. Staff and other children shared in their achievements.

The forest school area, an outdoor space for practical exploration, supported a different kind of activity in February 2023. A dragon story led into a demonstration of making sparks with flint and steel, followed by children's attempts. Older children helped younger ones remember instructions. The detail matters: outdoor learning involved a story, a practical task and cooperation within the same experience.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is organised around a personalised plan, with unlimited settling-in sessions offered as a group-wide arrangement at Derby. This gives the transition its own time and structure, rather than treating the first booked day as the whole introduction. Families can gradually become familiar with the nursery while staff shape the plan around their child.

In February 2023, staff built close relationships with their key children and responded to individual needs. Babies practised words alongside simple signs modelled by adults, while older children had conversations that introduced further vocabulary. Relationships and communication were linked through everyday interactions.

Parent involvement currently includes observations, feedback, assessments and events, with group-wide newsletter and meeting arrangements providing further contact at Derby. In February 2023, Meet the Key Worker evenings brought families together with staff, Parent Breakfast offered another occasion to connect, and Carols around the Christmas Tree centred on shared seasonal singing. Parent representatives also supported other families. These examples show different routes into the nursery's social life, beyond a brief conversation at collection.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its February 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that staff adjusted activities to address gaps in learning and prepared children with special educational needs and/or disabilities exceptionally well for their next stage. One practical example was additional work on small-muscle control when children struggled with a pincer grip.

In February 2023, staff also learnt words and phrases from bilingual children's home languages and shared books in different languages. That gave children's family languages a place within nursery activities. Soft lighting and gentle music shaped the surroundings at the time, while staff had undertaken children's mental-health training and considered changes to their practice and environment.

Freshly cooked meals are planned with input from EYA cooks, children and parents, and are tailored to children's dietary needs. The menus emphasise fibre and lower sugar, giving food a practical place in the care offer as well as the daily timetable.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 135 Duffield Road, Derby, DE22 1AF. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday; the nursery operates across the year, closing on public holidays and for one week between Christmas and New Year.

Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, with afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. A Full Day runs from 7.30am to 6pm. For families needing a shorter day, the 10 Hour Day has starts at 7.30am or 8am, ending at 5.30pm or 6pm respectively.

The 9 Hour Day offers these patterns: 7.30am to 4.30pm, 8am to 5pm, 8.30am to 5.30pm or 9am to 6pm. The 8 Hour Day patterns run from 7.30am to 3.30pm, 8am to 4pm, 8.30am to 4.30pm, 9am to 5pm, 9.30am to 5.30pm or 10am to 6pm. The range makes the finishing time as important a choice as the starting time.

Derby uses the group-wide arrangement of no minimum booking requirement. Enquiries can be made through the Derby enquiry form or by telephone, and nursery tours can be booked.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including support from nine months for eligible children. Derby's funding arrangements include the 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, an additional 15 hours for those who qualify, and two-year-old funding. Funding can be stretched across 51 weeks, spreading term-time hours over more of the year.

The distinction between private fees and funded hours matters. Meals, nappies, wipes and creams are included in the all-inclusive private rates; for funded childcare, meals, nappies and other consumables are charged separately. Additional private hours can also be booked.

A non-refundable registration charge secures bookings. Fees are paid monthly in advance, with equal monthly payments calculated across 51 weeks. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the Derby fees and funding page explains the session choices and charge structure.

• Choosing the finishing time. Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside eight-, nine- and ten-hour days and the Full Day. On a tour, discuss which of these patterns fits your actual collection time and your child's routine.
• Funding and the total bill. Private all-inclusive rates cover meals and care consumables, while funded hours carry separate charges for these items. Request a written quotation showing the distinction for your chosen attendance pattern.
• Settling and dietary needs. Unlimited settling-in sessions and meals tailored to dietary needs are part of the offer. During a visit, discuss how the settling plan would work for your child and, where allergies affect your family, confirm current mealtime practice.

The Early Years Academy Derby suits families choosing between morning or afternoon care and days of different lengths, especially those who value a gradual introduction through personalised settling. Its February 2023 examples give the educational offer substance: vegetable preparation, musical visitors and outdoor challenges connected practical skills with conversation and cooperation.

The Outstanding judgement is dated, while the current decision also rests on the attendance pattern and its cost structure. For parents, the useful balance is flexible booking with a clear distinction between privately paid care and the extras attached to funded hours.