Growing Places, Merryfields

A former Children’s Centre and a large garden used in all weathers give Growing Places, Merryfields its character. Next to Fareham Academy School, this Fareham nursery combines a light, airy interior with outdoor space that remains part of the offer when the weather changes. For a child who enjoys being outside, that is a useful practical starting point.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its June 2021 inspection. It has capacity for 48 children and accepts ages from six months to five years. The inspection’s strongest examples involved children choosing their play, talking with staff and experimenting with materials; its improvement priorities concerned communication with some parents and greater outdoor challenge for older children.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning and care here: in June 2021, children explored materials, practised language through books and joined musical play. These examples make the framework tangible for parents, showing how conversation, movement and experimentation contributed to the nursery day.

Alongside that framework, the group-wide Growing Places Approach emphasises children’s choices, connections and communication. At Merryfields, the current emphasis is on learning through play and allowing children to develop at their own pace. This gives families a clear picture of the intended style of learning, with children’s interests helping to shape their experience.

In June 2021, older children shaped firm clay with scissors and cutting tools, concentrating on changing its edges and texture. They shared materials with children nearby. The activity brought practical hand skills and cooperation into the same piece of play, an example parents can use when thinking about what their child enjoys doing.

Books and music offered other ways to take part that June. Babies touched fabric books while staff named objects; children played instruments, improvised musical sounds with toys and added singing or animal noises. Spontaneous pretend teaching also prompted questions about stories. Language was woven into several kinds of activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

The large outdoor area is accessible whatever the weather, so outdoor clothing matters to the everyday offer. In June 2021, toddlers used steps on climbing equipment and talked about their view across the garden, while babies investigated water and bubbles. Physical exploration and conversation sat together in these examples.

The outdoor space also carried an improvement priority in June 2021: older children who favoured garden play needed more demanding opportunities. Space alone was not the whole question. The level of challenge mattered too.

Relationships and Communication

In June 2021, staff used predictable routines and emotional support to help children cope with change following disrupted social contact during the pandemic. They checked children’s learning to identify gaps and reminded them gently to cooperate, including when putting toys away before lunch. These are dated examples of how the nursery supported participation in its daily routines.

Communication with parents was less consistent. In June 2021, staff shared play observations with many families, but some parents, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, were insufficiently involved in their children’s learning. For families, the practical issue is whether information flows both ways and helps them understand what their child is working on.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its June 2021 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding arrangements and good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including work with outside agencies and professional advice about communication. Those findings belong to that inspection date.

Staff support also had a practical structure in June 2021: individual meetings gave practitioners opportunities to discuss training, children’s development and concerns. More experienced colleagues advised others about teaching. That describes the support around staff at the time, rather than a current staffing count.

Lunches are prepared each day using fresh seasonal ingredients. For families, food preparation is therefore part of the nursery’s daily provision.

Sessions and Attendance

Merryfields is at Growing Places @ Merryfields, St Annes Grove, Fareham, PO14 1JJ. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year. Closures include bank holidays, a week at Christmas and a summer week, which families need to factor into their childcare calendar.

The Merryfields contact number is 01329 230 000. The provider’s contact form also has a Merryfields option, giving families a branch-specific enquiry route.

Funding and Paid Extras

In June 2021, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. This is an inspection-time funding position.

• Outdoor challenge. More demanding garden play for older children was a June 2021 improvement priority. On a visit, ask how activities now stretch a child who prefers learning outside.
• Communication with every family. June 2021 findings identified uneven involvement in learning, including for some disadvantaged families. Ask how staff share learning and incorporate information from home.
• Cover during closures. Bank holidays and Christmas and summer closure weeks interrupt the otherwise year-round opening pattern. Consider how these fit your family’s care arrangements.

Merryfields suits families seeking care from babyhood through to age five who value a substantial outdoor space and learning through play. Its all-weather garden and daily freshly prepared lunches give the current offer concrete shape. The June 2021 Good judgement adds a dated assessment, with useful examples of language, creative work and cooperation. Outdoor challenge and consistent parent communication remain the most useful points to explore before choosing it.