Blue Sky Day Nursery, Market Weighton

Five care rooms, a garden for each and a larger shared outdoor space give Blue Sky Day Nursery, Market Weighton its character. Children can explore mud kitchens, climbing frames and a wild garden, while indoor soft play provides another place to move when outdoor play is impractical. Outdoor activity has several settings here, rather than depending on one shared playground.

The nursery accepts children aged 2 months to 5 years and has 108 places in total. At its 12 April 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall, with strengths in relationships, preparation for school and children's social development, alongside improvements needed in language support and understanding technology. That judgement gives families a useful starting point, but the detail matters more than the label.

Care can follow a regular weekly arrangement or flexible bookings. The strongest reasons to consider this setting are its separate spaces for different stages, practical outdoor resources and the Kelpies room's emphasis on children approaching school age.

Rooms and Ages

Kelpies serves children due to start school in the following year, emphasising language, early writing, literacy and mathematics through play. Its purpose is clear: give children approaching that transition a space and activities directed towards their next stage. The nursery's five care rooms each have their own garden as well as access to the larger garden, so room-based activities can extend outside.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, covering relationships, communication, movement and later skills such as early reading and number work. Staff observe what children enjoy and can already do, then use that understanding to plan their next learning experiences. It is the shared foundation for early-years provision; the more revealing question is how the nursery puts it into practice.

In Kelpies, the curiosity approach and loose parts play give children materials they can transform through imagination instead of following a predetermined model. Wooden pieces, ribbon and everyday objects can take different roles in a game or construction. This makes the activity about children's choices and experimentation, rather than everyone producing the same finished object.

The outdoor version works on a bigger scale. Branches and logs can become dens, water can be explored with drain pipes, and mud kitchens provide another setting for imaginative play. Younger rooms also introduce loose materials alongside familiar activities such as playdough and sticking. That gives children experience of using these resources before they move into Kelpies.

In April 2023, early writing experiences included drawing with chalk and paint, making lines in sand and recognising familiar letters. Songs, stories and music also featured during the day, with simple vocabulary repeated for babies. However, support for children finding speech difficult needed more varied techniques, and opportunities to explore technology needed further development. Both points matter when considering how learning is adapted to an individual child.

Outdoor and Community Life

The larger gardens contain slides, sand pits and wendy houses alongside climbing equipment. Puddle suits help children use the outdoor areas in different weather, while the wild garden offers opportunities to observe nature. There is room for imaginative play, physical activity and quieter exploration within the same setting.

In April 2023, experiences included bus outings to local attractions and a trip to a sea-life centre. Older children remembered Brush Bus visits, which supported discussions about cleaning teeth and oral health. These were concrete examples of learning extending beyond the room, although they belong to that inspection period rather than a current timetable of visits.

Relationships and Communication

In April 2023, key persons spent individual time with children on their learning goals and relationships. Adults also helped children manage disagreements, ask for a turn and share resources. The emphasis was on giving children ways to handle ordinary social situations, not simply stopping a dispute.

Settling is supported through communication with parents about what children have enjoyed and achieved. The team includes nursery nurses and apprentices, and each room has a room leader responsible for planning activities with colleagues. Continued staff training is part of the team's working arrangements. These roles give families useful points of contact when discussing a child's day or progress.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support strong, with the SENCO coordinating parents, key persons and other professionals, including support for children receiving extra funding. For families considering additional support, the important mechanism was that cooperation around the child, including referrals and meetings, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

In April 2023, preparation for room changes and school included helping children listen, cooperate and agree fair rules in their games. Those are everyday skills with practical value during a transition. Kelpies adds a dedicated stage for children approaching school.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours at Market Weighton are 7.45am to 6.15pm, Monday to Friday. Earlier starts at 7.15am or 7.30am require prior arrangement. The nursery closes on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year, which families need to account for when arranging work and alternative care.

Bookings can be regular each week or flexible. Morning and afternoon sessions, full days and short days are also offered, including arrangements using funded childcare. These are different attendance patterns, rather than simply different ways of describing the opening window. The early-start arrangement is separate from the normal opening hours.

The nursery can be contacted on 01430 871113 or at admin@blueskydaynursery.com. Its address is Becklands Park Industrial Estate, York Road, Market Weighton, YO43 3GA. Each care room has its own garden, with access to the larger shared garden too.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes provision for eligible two-year-olds and preschool funding for three- and four-year-olds. The arrangements include 15 hours and, for eligible working families with three- and four-year-olds, 30 hours. Funding can be used in separate sessions or as part of a nursery day, and can be stretched across term time and school holidays.

Private childcare can be booked alongside these arrangements. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Families comparing combinations of funded and private care should consider their actual attendance pattern, rather than treating entitlement hours as a complete description of the booking.

• Language and technology. The April 2023 improvement points concerned broader support for communication and more opportunities to understand technology. During a visit, ask for examples of how these areas now work in your child's prospective room, especially if speech is a concern.
• Outdoor play across the rooms. Each care room has its own garden as well as access to the larger garden. On a show-around, explore how your child's room uses these spaces and the indoor soft play during winter.
• The complete childcare cost. Funded hours can sit within a nursery day or separate sessions. Request a written quotation for your intended attendance pattern before booking.

Blue Sky suits families seeking regular weekly care as well as those needing flexible bookings; morning or afternoon sessions and full or short days give it a broader role than a single attendance pattern. Its gardens, separate care rooms and Kelpies approach give parents concrete reasons to consider it.

The April 2023 Good judgement supports that consideration, with clear improvement points to explore. Families who value outdoor play and a separate stage before school have useful features to weigh here.