Blue Sky Day Nursery, Pocklington

Three care rooms on separate floors, daily outdoor play and puddle suits for rainy weather give Blue Sky Day Nursery, Pocklington a clear practical character. Children have space for independent exploration as well as activities with adults and other children. Getting outside is part of the routine, rather than something reserved for fine weather.

At its 18 April 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall. The detail gives parents a useful balance: children settled readily, developed independence and enjoyed community outings, while teaching needed more attention to counting, engagement during group activities and purposeful outdoor learning. Those findings describe April 2023 practice, rather than a fresh assessment of today's provision.

The nursery accepts children aged 2 to 60 months at 87 Market Street, Pocklington. Attendance can follow a fixed weekly arrangement or flexible hours shaped around a family's needs.

Rooms and Ages

The three-floor arrangement separates care spaces within the building. Each room has a room leader who works with colleagues on topics and activities, giving planning a room-level structure rather than treating children of different stages as one group.

Activities in the pixie room have included babies tasting gelato during an Italy theme and building an Eiffel tower from toilet rolls; this combines sensory exploration with making things. Toddlers in the imps room have explored France through croissant baking and flag collage, bringing handling ingredients and materials into the same topic. Preschool children in the Elves room have sampled German foods and practised German greetings and polite words, connecting food, language and conversation.

These activity examples are not a fixed timetable.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care: staff watch children's play, identify what interests them and plan activities that help them take their next steps. This is the baseline framework, rather than a special Blue Sky programme. Photographs also contribute to tracking development and deciding what children might explore next.

Practical topic work gives that approach substance. Baking a tractor cake involved weighing ingredients, mixing the batter and decorating the finished cake, so mathematical language and hand movements had a concrete purpose. A butterfly activity followed caterpillars through their development before release into the garden, with children drawing and painting the stages they had watched. One example makes measuring tangible; the other gives children something living to observe over time.

Our Bodies has brought healthy eating and imaginative play together. Preschool children made pasta salad and fruit desserts, printed with fruit and vegetables, and used a home corner converted into a hospital with a bed, waiting room and medical dressing-up clothes. The physical props matter: children can act out familiar roles while talking about bodies and care, rather than only hearing adults explain them.

In April 2023, adults introduced vocabulary during play and allowed children time to answer questions. Babies joined in with nursery rhymes through movement, while older children asked questions of their own. Group teaching was less consistent: some children lost interest because activities were not adjusted sufficiently to sustain their attention. Counting and number use also needed to be woven more frequently into play.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily use of the outdoor play area, supported by puddle suits, makes room for exercise and messy exploration through changing weather. In April 2023, toddlers and preschool children used balance beams to practise steadiness and coordination. However, outdoor activities needed more deliberate planning to extend learning for children who preferred being outside. Access to fresh air and the quality of outdoor teaching are separate questions.

Community experiences in April 2023 included buying nursery supplies in shops and sharing stories at the library. These outings gave ordinary local places a purpose within children's learning. A separate family activity, Stay and Play Messy Morning, runs on the third Wednesday each month from 9.30am to 11.30am, with adults staying alongside children for crafts and experiments before use of the soft play frame. It offers a shared play experience rather than a nursery attendance session.

Relationships and Communication

In April 2023, children sought reassurance from familiar adults and settled into daily routines confidently. Independence developed through ordinary tasks: babies practised feeding themselves, and children made food choices and carried plates at mealtimes. Care and learning met in these small responsibilities, rather than being treated as separate parts of the day.

Communication with families also had a practical rhythm in April 2023. Staff exchanged information at handover and gave parents updates about development, while children's interests and earlier learning informed activity planning. The current approach continues to emphasise sharing what children have enjoyed and achieved. Photographs may be shared on Facebook where permission allows, so consent is relevant alongside the developmental use of images.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified individualised support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with staff exchanging developmental information with other professionals and providers.

The nursery has experience of working with Portage and the Children’s Center, and describes collaboration with families and outside agencies around children's needs. That gives parents a concrete mechanism to explore: how information and advice from those involved with their child will be brought into daily care. Each room's leadership structure provides another practical point of contact for discussing activities and routines.

Cooks prepare fresh meals each day. On funded hours, nursery-supplied meals are charged separately, with the alternative of families sending packed meals that follow the nursery's healthy packed-meal guidance.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas. The booking arrangement is flexible: sessions can be set each week or varied around family needs. The opening window describes when the nursery operates; the attendance agreement determines the care a family books within it.

Nursery enquiries can be made on 01759 529077 or by email to pockadmin@blueskydaynursery.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through the nursery's funding arrangements for eligible two-year-olds and for three- and four-year-olds. The guide describes 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds, the standard 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, and 30 hours for qualifying working families with children aged three or four. Entitlement depends on eligibility; these descriptions are not a promise that every family qualifies.

Funding can be stretched over 51 weeks, using fewer hours each week. That is useful for comparing an annual attendance plan with a term-based entitlement: stretching spreads the hours rather than increasing them. Additional private hours are charged separately, and additional activities such as trips outside Pocklington can also attract a charge.

For funded attendance, nursery-supplied meals and non-food consumables are charged separately. Families can instead bring meals and named essentials, including nappies, wipes, tissues, nappy cream and sun cream. The alternative is part of the charge structure: a family using funded care is not required to pay a fee as a condition of taking it up.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The funding and charges guide explains the distinction between funded childcare, additional hours and supplied items, which helps families compare the whole attendance arrangement rather than hours alone.

• Teaching priorities. In April 2023, group engagement, outdoor learning and counting needed development. During a visit, ask how a group activity is adjusted for children who lose interest and how number work and purposeful outdoor experiences are built into play.
• Care across floors. Three separate care rooms shape the building's organisation. Ask how room moves, outdoor access and daily handovers work for your child's stage.
• Flexible attendance and funded extras. Weekly arrangements and flexible hours serve different needs, while funded care separates childcare from supplied meals and consumables. Agree the attendance pattern and the choice between nursery-supplied items and items from home in the written quotation.

Blue Sky suits families looking for either a regular weekly arrangement or flexible hours, with topic-based play and daily outdoor access. Baking, butterfly observation and room-specific country activities give children concrete things to make, handle and discuss. The separate-floor layout is also a meaningful part of the choice.

The April 2023 Good judgement provides a dated quality benchmark, alongside priorities for group teaching, counting and outdoor learning. Funded attendance offers a choice over supplied meals and essentials.