Partou Small World Day Nursery & Pre-school

An old farmhouse barn, direct garden access from each room and a sensory room give Small World a recognisable character. Natural-material toys and neutral decoration shape the indoor spaces, while preschool children grow seasonal vegetables outdoors and taste what they harvest. The connection between play, growing and eating is concrete.

Partou Small World Day Nursery & Pre-school serves children aged 3 to 60 months at its Hatfield setting, with 97 places in total. At its August 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, while requiring more demanding preschool activities and clearer explanations of unfamiliar vocabulary. Those teaching points matter alongside the grade.

Full-day, morning and afternoon sessions give families different attendance options, with both year-round and term-time childcare patterns.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: everyday play supports language, movement and the skills children build towards school. Alongside that framework, Partou's group-wide child-led approach emphasises children's choices, confidence and curiosity. At Small World, natural-material toys give children objects to explore in the large, neutrally decorated rooms.

In August 2022, preparation for writing included working dough and lifting objects with tweezers, helping children exercise their fingers. Numbers on furniture and stairs brought counting into ordinary movement around the building. These were practical experiences with a purpose, rather than learning confined to a planned activity.

Books also had an active role in August 2022. Children acted out stories as well as hearing them, and two-year-olds recalled a familiar story through a bear hunt outdoors. A lending library let families borrow books to share at home. Together, those experiences connected listening, remembering and conversation across nursery and home.

The same August 2022 findings exposed a weakness in adult-led teaching. During dough making, an adult completed the task instead of letting preschool children attempt it, and conversation did too little to stretch their thinking. Older children also encountered new words without sufficient explanation. A busy activity therefore did not always mean a demanding learning experience.

Outdoor and Community Life

Each room opens directly onto the large garden, giving outdoor play a clear place in the setting's layout. The growing garden lets preschool children cultivate seasonal vegetables and taste them afterwards; a vegetable patch and herb garden add further opportunities to explore plants and food. This makes growing something children participate in themselves.

Yoga and Kixx football sessions add activities beyond the everyday room provision. The sensory room serves children across the age groups, with lights and toys offering different textures to investigate. It provides another kind of space alongside the larger rooms and garden.

Children had a say in their surroundings in August 2022. Through a children's committee, they requested a big story chair for the outdoor area, and it was supplied. Their ideas produced a tangible change: somewhere to sit with a book outside.

Regular updates about children's development are included within the care charge, connecting nursery experiences with family life. In August 2022, key-person relationships helped children settle, and practitioners worked with parents on individual care and learning needs. For families, that combination makes the relationship with staff as relevant as the activities themselves.

At the August 2022 inspection, Ofsted found good support for children learning English as an additional language, including home-language greetings, familiar songs and bilingual books. Cultural familiarity also appeared in role play through foods reflecting children's backgrounds. The detail matters: recognition of a child's home life extended into both communication and play.

In August 2022, low furniture helped babies practise pulling themselves upright, while toddlers worked on drinking from open cups. Those small physical arrangements linked care with growing independence. Supervision was maintained through staff deployment, and accident reviews prompted action to reduce repeat risks.

Meals are cooked at the nursery using a seasonal menu. In August 2022, preschool children explored ingredients through touch and smell before eating, giving food a place in their learning as well as their care.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 70 High Street, Hatfield, Doncaster, DN7 6RY. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday; full days run from 8am to 6pm, mornings from 8am to 1pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. The separate morning and afternoon options allow attendance to fit part of the day rather than requiring a full-day booking.

Year-round and term-time childcare patterns are offered. Bank holidays are closures, and the nursery shuts at 4pm on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Charges run across 52 weeks, including bank holidays, so the charging calendar and attendance calendar need to be considered together.

Getting There

Although the nursery stands on a busy main road, vehicle access uses a private rear lane leading through electric gates to a private car park. That access arrangement is useful for families planning collection and drop-off by car.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through Doncaster Local Authority, with 15 or 30 hours applied according to entitlement. Term-time funding runs across 38 weeks; year-round funding is stretched across 52 weeks, providing 10.96 or 21.92 funded hours each week. Stretching spreads the entitlement across the year rather than preserving the term-time weekly total.

Care, meals and snacks, and consumables are separate charges. Food and drinks attract the meals-and-snacks charge, while nappies, wet wipes and sun cream sit within consumables; both categories remain separately chargeable during funded sessions because funding covers care only.

Joining involves either a non-refundable registration charge or a registration deposit to reserve the child's place, with eligibility governed by the terms and conditions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Preschool challenge. The August 2022 improvement points concerned thinking and vocabulary. On a visit, ask how practitioners now let children attempt tasks themselves and explain unfamiliar words.
• The annual bill. Charges apply across 52 weeks, including bank holidays, and funded sessions still carry food and consumables charges. Compare the written quotation with your intended attendance pattern.
• Choosing activities. Yoga and Kixx football sessions sit alongside garden and sensory-room play. Ask how children take part and whether these activities carry any additional charge.

Small World's strongest appeal is its physical setting: generous rooms, direct access to the garden and a sensory room offer different spaces for play. It suits families seeking morning or afternoon attendance as well as full days, with term-time and year-round patterns extending that choice.

The August 2022 Good judgement supports consideration, but the preschool teaching concerns deserve attention. Families who value practical exploration, growing food and varied indoor spaces have clear reasons to consider Small World, while weighing the attendance pattern and separately charged extras together.