Our Monkey Club, Branston Road, Burton-on-Trent

Child-led play gives Branston Road its character: children choose their activities, while adults help turn their discoveries into learning. Outdoor exploration is a substantial part of that picture, with water, sand and imaginative cooking providing practical starting points for conversation. This is a nursery for families who value children having an active say in their day.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 26 June 2025 inspection. It has 40 places in total, with a dedicated space for its youngest children alongside its full-day care and preschool provision. Before and after school care extends the offer to families with older children.

The practical choice includes funded-only attendance during school terms or through a stretched arrangement. Those patterns deserve attention: they have different daily lengths and holiday breaks.

Rooms and Ages

Our Dedicated Space for Our Children Under Two serves children from 9 months to 24 months, combining sensory play and child-led exploration with an emphasis on relationships in a calm setting. For a younger child, that means a space designed around early exploration rather than simply joining the activities of older children.

In June 2025, babies had equipment arranged to help them stand, move along supports and begin walking. Older children used crates and tyres for building and balancing. The physical challenge changed with development: early movement for the youngest children, construction and balance for those ready to attempt more.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. In everyday language, it means play and daily routines should help children build communication, movement, independence and social skills. Branston Road's child-led approach gives children choices within that framework, with creativity, physical activity and social development shaping its current offer.

During June 2025, adults watched children's play and assessed what they could already do before planning their next learning steps. Children chose books for adults to read, while simple signs and repeated language supported communication. Conversations during sand and water play also introduced mathematical vocabulary. Learning was woven into activities children had chosen, rather than confined to a separate task.

Independence appeared in ordinary routines too. In June 2025, younger children handled cups and cutlery, while older children chose food and drinks and cleaned dishes afterwards. These are small, useful responsibilities: children practise doing things for themselves while taking part in shared nursery life.

Outdoor and Community Life

In June 2025, the day was organised to accommodate children's preference for outdoor play. At the sand pit, children carried water and explored how adding it changed the material; adults extended the activity through conversation. The mud kitchen area supported pretend meals and drinks shared with other children.

Outdoor play also involved chalk mark-making, movement and action songs. Children practised taking turns with a slide and wheeled toys. Together, these experiences made outdoor time a setting for language, early writing and cooperation as well as physical activity.

Relationships and Communication

In June 2025, settling began with a home visit followed by gradually introduced nursery sessions. Adults adapted their communication and care to individual children. Meeting a child in familiar surroundings before extending their time at nursery gave staff a starting point for understanding that child's routines and responses.

Parents received a conversation at the end of each session, with meetings and electronic information providing further updates. Communication existed through several routes, but the June 2025 improvement priorities included making parents more active partners in children's learning. Receiving information and helping shape learning are different experiences; families should weigh both.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effective, with targeted plans and cooperation with other professionals helping children progress. That finding gives parents a dated assessment of practice, rather than a general promise about support.

In June 2025, meals and snacks supported healthy eating, and lunchtime included at least five fruit and vegetable choices. Fresh air and physical exercise were also part of the day. Food offered opportunities to practise independence as well as to eat.

Staff received training and continuing support in June 2025. The improvement priority was to use further professional development to make teaching quality more consistent. This matters alongside the positive overall judgement: families should look at how adults extend play, respond to questions and support different developmental needs.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, operating for 51 weeks with a Christmas closure lasting a week. Full-day care, preschool provision and before and after school care are offered, with collections from local schools.

Funded-only term-time attendance is two days each week, lasting 7.5 hours per day. Families choose either 8am to 3.30pm or 8.30am to 4pm, providing 15 funded hours weekly. The stretched option runs across 48 weeks, with two six-hour days each week; 9am to 3pm is an example rather than a fixed booking time. It includes two weeks off in August and two at Christmas.

Those funded-only breaks differ from the nursery's general operating calendar. A family needing continuity through holidays should consider the attendance pattern as carefully as the opening window.

Getting There

The address is 240 Branston Road, Burton-on-Trent, DE14 3BT. Families can contact the centre to arrange a visit and discuss enrolment.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through term-time and stretched attendance. Additional charges can depend on the booking pattern, so current prices should be set out in the nursery's written quotation alongside the chosen schedule.

• Holiday coverage. The 48-week funded-only pattern has breaks in August and Christmas. Compare those breaks with your childcare needs before choosing it over term-time attendance.
• Parents' role in learning. June 2025 priorities included closer collaboration with families. During a visit, ask how your observations at home contribute to planning, beyond receiving updates.
• Teaching consistency. Further staff development was another June 2025 priority. Ask how practitioners are supported to extend children's play and how that practice is reviewed.

Branston Road suits families seeking child-led play with substantial outdoor activity, whether they need full-day care, funded-only term-time days or a stretched funded pattern. Its dedicated younger-child space adds a clear point of interest for families starting nursery with a baby.

The Good judgement sits alongside two practical improvement priorities: stronger collaboration with parents and more consistent teaching. The most useful decision is whether its way of supporting children's choices, and its attendance calendar, fit your child and your family.