Clarence House Ely

Volcano experiments and cake-making role play give Clarence House Ely a memorable learning story. In January 2022, children explored what happens when vinegar meets baking powder and used pretend recipes to practise numbers. These were activities with a purpose: everyday play became a reason to predict, count and explain.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its January 2022 inspection. Its current age range is three months to five years, at 175 - 179 High Barns, Ely, CB7 4RJ. Full-day care and shorter funded sessions serve different family routines.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the statutory framework for children's learning and care, with play supporting their communication, physical development and growing independence. In January 2022, staff built activities around children's interests and what they needed to learn next. Pretend baking, for example, connected writing recipes with thinking about quantities. The learning came through something children wanted to do.

Science had an equally practical shape that January. Children made model volcanoes using bottles, baking powder and vinegar, discussed possible reactions and used a song to remember scientific vocabulary. This gave them something concrete to test, rather than simply an explanation to listen to.

Books were another part of the January 2022 day. Children chose stories to share individually or in small groups, and returned to familiar books whose language they remembered. Staff also introduced vocabulary during play and sang with children throughout the day. These examples show how conversation, reading and songs could connect with children's own choices.

Rooms and Ages

In January 2022, babies had space for movement and explored paint, while toddlers played with water and sand and chose books for adults to read. Older children took part in the volcano activity. The experiences differed by stage: physical exploration for the youngest children, sensory play and stories for toddlers, and prediction and discussion for older children.

At the January 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described staff supporting children with SEND through knowledge of their families and links with other professionals. That is a dated judgement about practice, rather than a guarantee about an individual child's support today.

Relationships were visible in the January 2022 observations. Children were comfortable with staff, and adults used calm explanations to help them understand behaviour, sharing and turn-taking. Toddlers heard gentle spoken guidance during their activities. For a young child, the way an adult responds matters alongside the activity itself.

The same January findings identified two areas needing attention. Some parents understood their child's day and development but needed clearer guidance on helping learning at home. In small-group discussions, confident children sometimes received more attention, leaving quieter children with fewer chances to contribute. Both points matter when judging whether communication reaches every family and whether less outspoken children are heard.

Sessions and Attendance

Clarence House Ely opens from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The full-day session runs from 8.30am to 5.30pm, with a full-week option across five days; an Early Start session is also offered. There is a one-week Christmas closure.

For 15 term-time funded hours, examples include five mornings from 9am to noon, five afternoons from 1pm to 4pm, or two days from 9am to 3pm plus one morning or afternoon. For 30 hours, examples include five days from 9am to 3pm, or three full days from 8.30am to 5.30pm plus one morning or afternoon.

Stretched examples include two sessions from 9.30am to 3pm for an 11-hour weekly allocation, or four such sessions for a 22-hour allocation. Other combinations pair full days with shorter sessions or use mornings or afternoons. These are examples of arranging an entitlement, rather than independently offered bookings or a promise that every pattern will suit every child.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible children, with 15- and 30-hour entitlements used over 38 term-time weeks or stretched as 11 and 22 hours respectively across 51 weeks. Additional attendance beyond the entitlement is paid for separately. The difference matters for families budgeting across school holidays: spreading funding changes the weekly allocation.

Morning snack, lunch and tea are included in the full-day fee, and breakfast is included with Early Start. Meals and snacks cost nothing during funded sessions.

Funded-only children are exempt from the registration charge, administration charge and deposit, and accessing their funded sessions does not require top-up fees or compulsory extras. For other bookings, a non-refundable registration charge, monthly administration charge and refundable deposit apply. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Quieter children's participation. January 2022 findings identified uneven opportunities to speak during group activities. On a visit, ask how practitioners draw quieter children into discussion and give their ideas time.
• Learning beyond nursery. January 2022 findings called for better guidance to help every parent support learning at home. Ask what individual suggestions families receive alongside updates about the nursery day.
• Attendance and everyday supplies. Full days and funded-only morning, afternoon and daytime patterns meet different routines. During a visit, discuss how the full-day booking or a funded-only combination would fit your child's routine.

Clarence House Ely suits families considering either full days or shorter funded morning and afternoon sessions, including those who want to spread funding across the year. Its January 2022 learning examples give substance to the Good judgement: experiments, pretend recipes and shared books made children active participants. The balancing questions are equally concrete, concerning quieter children's involvement and useful guidance for parents at home.