Apple Tree Day Nursery, Sprotbrough

The Old School House gives Apple Tree Day Nursery, Sprotbrough its character: age-based rooms, enclosed gardens and a baby space with a conservatory. Younger children have separate provision from the preschool area.

At its 4 March 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found that children made good progress overall and judged safeguarding effective. The important qualification concerned teaching: staff needed to make more of children's play by improving their planning and the conversations that extend learning. That gives families a useful distinction between positive care and the next step in educational practice.

Apple Tree accepts children from birth to five and has 82 places in total. Full-day and half-day bookings sit alongside term-time attendance, so its practical offer serves more than one working pattern.

Rooms and Ages

Babies have a designated room incorporating a conservatory and garden area, with toys and activities supporting development at each child's pace. This gives the youngest children their own physical setting, while care is organised around each baby's individual needs.

The Toddler room serves children from 18 months to three years, using areas for water and sand, construction, pretend domestic play, early drawing and a cosy space to support learning through play. Those different areas give children choices between active exploration, make-believe and quieter activity as their interests change during the day.

The area headed 3-5 year olds occupies the Out of School Club building, where project-based play, independent choices and objects brought from home for discussion support preschool learning. The emphasis moves towards children explaining ideas and deciding what to do, rather than simply following an adult's activity.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the shared framework: children develop language, movement, relationships and early understanding through play and practical experiences. Apple Tree uses project-based planning for its older children, and planning is displayed in the rooms so parents can see what activities are intended to develop.

In March 2025, children's interests were used to build on earlier learning. A story about a scarecrow prompted three-year-olds to make collages with paper strips, practising hand control while exploring colour. The activity connected a book with making something themselves, giving the story a purpose beyond listening.

Books also reached across the age groups in March 2025. Babies explored textured pages and practised turning them; older children remembered story characters and understood their feelings and relationships. Fiction, factual books, songs and rhymes supported language and knowledge, with early talkers practising short phrases during climbing and jumping. Words were connected to actions children understood.

The limitation was the next step. In March 2025, adults did not always change their questions or demonstrate another way to develop a skill. Families looking closely at learning should therefore pay attention to how practitioners respond once a child has mastered the first part of an activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

Enclosed gardens provide outdoor play space, and the youngest children's room has its own garden area. In March 2025, outdoor physical activity also formed part of children's learning about healthy living. The outdoor provision therefore has both a practical role in the nursery day and a place in children's growing independence.

Preschool outings have included the florist, library and Post Office, alongside a firefighter visiting the nursery. These examples bring everyday community places and occupations into children's experience. They are past examples of outings and visitors, rather than a fixed weekly schedule.

Relationships and Communication

A key person works with each family, keeps an accessible development record and helps a child settle. The baby diary adds daily information, giving parents both an ongoing view of development and updates about their baby's day.

Settling is allowed the time an individual child needs. Staff invite parents to discuss development and wellbeing, and support can extend to toilet training, with spare clothes brought from home. For babies, individual requirements include weaning diets and conversations about care routines.

Communication also includes a termly newsletter and a notice board in the two-year-old room. In March 2025, parents received frequent, detailed updates that explained their children's progress clearly. Families therefore have both general nursery information and individual communication about their own child.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2025 inspection, Ofsted found strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including early identification of learning gaps and close work with families, speech and language therapists, social workers and social care. The useful detail is the mechanism: concerns led to joint work with the people able to help, rather than being left solely within the nursery.

In March 2025, familiar routines supported babies' sleep and older children's toilet training. Children also practised managing their belongings and activities, making decisions and cooperating with others. Staff helped children who struggled with emotions to build relationships and play alongside their peers. These observations show how everyday care and social learning were connected at that time.

Collection arrangements require children to be signed in and out and released only to an authorised adult. A qualified first aider is always on site, and parents can consult the nursery's policy file. These are practical arrangements for families to understand, especially when someone different will collect a child.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 62 Main Street, Sprotbrough, Doncaster, DN5 7RJ. Opening hours are 7.45am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks, with bank holidays and a Christmas closure lasting one week.

A Full Day runs from 7.45am to 6pm. Half Day bookings offer either 9am to 1pm or 1pm to 5pm, and term-time attendance is also offered. The shorter sessions have different start and finish times from the full-day opening window, a material detail when matching childcare to work or other commitments.

Fees are paid in advance, weekly or monthly by arrangement, and booked sessions remain payable when a child does not attend. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The enquiry telephone number is 01302 851156.

Children attending Orchard Nursery School for part of the day can be escorted or collected, helping families combine the two settings.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded childcare is offered, including arrangements involving 30 hours government funding and additional privately paid hours. For children taking their government-funded hours only at Apple Tree, snacks and refreshments carry a separate daily charge; a separate collection charge applies when the 30 hours government funding is split between Orchard and Apple Tree. The fees and food information explains these different arrangements.

Parents supply consumables when needed, including nappies, wipes, creams and prepared formula or expressed milk in labelled bottles. Families should include those supplies in their routine preparation, rather than treating the childcare booking as covering them.

A cook prepares meals in the nursery kitchen each day using locally sourced food, with breakfast, lunch, snacks and a lighter tea forming the food offer. The nursery's food policy provides for allergies and dietary requirements, while drinking water is accessible throughout the day.

• Extending learning. The March 2025 improvement point concerned missed chances to deepen children's play. On a visit, ask how practitioners now adapt questions and demonstrate the next step during activities.
• Choosing a session. The two half-day options run from 9am to 1pm and 1pm to 5pm, while the full day begins earlier and finishes later. Compare those boundaries with the attendance pattern you need, including any Orchard Nursery School transfers.
• Funded-hours charges. Funded-only attendance carries a snacks and refreshments charge, and splitting the 30 hours government funding with Orchard adds a collection charge. Request a written quotation for the particular combination you intend to use.
• Dietary care. The kitchen caters for dietary requirements and allergies, and babies can have individual weaning diets. Allergy-affected families should confirm current preparation and handling arrangements before joining.

Apple Tree suits families choosing between full-day care, morning or afternoon half-days and term-time attendance. Its recognisable strengths are the Old School House setting, the baby conservatory and garden area, and communication that combines a key person with individual development records.

The March 2025 judgement supports a positive assessment for families who value individual care and practical session choices, while identifying a clear priority to extend children's learning.