Little Owls Day Nursery

An Insect Motel, music with Jo Jingles and children pouring drinks from porcelain jugs give Little Owls Day Nursery a recognisable character. This Carlton setting combines learning that follows children’s interests with practical opportunities to become more independent. The small details matter: handling real utensils or investigating insects gives children something concrete to practise, discuss and understand.

At its August 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and identified useful support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities through advice from external agencies. The educational reservations concerned younger children’s communication, rather than the breadth of activities. Those reservations deserve attention alongside the positive judgement.

Children are accepted from one month old through to age five. Brilliant Babies, Terrific Two’s and Pre-School organise the nursery into three rooms. Morning, afternoon and day bookings provide different attendance options, with a minimum of two sessions each week.

Rooms and Ages

Brilliant Babies, Terrific Two’s and Pre-School give the setting a clear progression between stages. Baby sensory activities sit alongside drama for toddlers and preschool children, while sports coaching extends across the ages.

In August 2024, younger children explored oats and cereals through touch, and used scooters, trikes and rocking equipment to practise movement and coordination. Preschool children pursued an interest in making flying spinners, with staff helping them handle tools and consider how to change their designs. These examples show different demands being made of different stages: exploration for younger children, with more planning and problem-solving for older ones.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care, with daily play supporting language, physical skills and early literacy. Little Owls adds in the moment planning: practitioners respond to what interests a child and adjust activities around that interest. This makes the child’s choices part of the learning process rather than simply an interval between adult-led tasks.

Development Matters and Birth to Five Matters are used together as guidance for planning. CoEl, the characteristics of effective learning, adds attention to how children investigate, concentrate and find solutions. These are tools alongside the EYFS, with the practical emphasis on understanding each child and shaping the next learning opportunity accordingly.

Early literacy includes linking language and understanding with reading and writing. Mathematics gives attention to shape and spatial thinking, while art and design provide another route into creativity and understanding the world. The learning programme connects these areas with children’s interests rather than presenting them as separate lessons.

Jo Jingles supplies music classes. Drama activities are for toddlers and preschool children, with sensory experiences for babies; sports coaching develops physical skills, including coordination and smaller movements.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Insect Motel gives outdoor exploration a specific point of interest. Weather, insects and nature become subjects children can investigate, and rain can prompt an activity rather than end one. The outdoor space is used for imaginative exploration as well as general play.

In August 2024, balancing beams gave children opportunities to judge manageable physical challenges. Trikes and scooters offered another way to practise movement.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a dedicated key person. Shared learning journeys give parents a way to follow experiences at nursery, while the emphasis on responding to children’s interests makes information from home relevant to planning. The relationship has a practical purpose: knowing what engages a child helps practitioners choose how to involve them.

In August 2024, settling was organised to help children become familiar with their key person and other practitioners. Babies received comfort from staff they knew, and new children were encouraged gently as they adjusted. Daily conversations with parents also covered children’s development.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The August 2024 inspection also identified two linked improvements: younger children needed questions they could understand and enough time to answer, alongside stronger support for expanding their early spoken language. Some questions interrupted engagement because children could not make sense of them. The important issue is the interaction itself, not simply how many stories or activities fill the day.

Mealtimes contribute to independence. Toddlers and preschool children serve food with help appropriate to their development, sometimes make sandwiches, and pour milk or water from white porcelain jugs. Familiar everyday tasks become opportunities to practise handling utensils and doing things for themselves.

An onsite chef cooks meals fresh each day, including breakfast, cooked lunch, dinner and snacks. Religious, cultural and medical dietary needs are catered for, making food arrangements relevant to both the child’s routine and the family’s requirements.

Sessions and Attendance

Little Owls is at 1-1a First Avenue, Carlton, Nottingham, NG4 1PH. It opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email or by telephone on 0115 940 4388.

The main day runs from 8am to 6pm. A shorter day runs from 9am to 4.30pm, while morning bookings cover 8am to 1pm and afternoons cover 1pm to 6pm. An additional early period runs from 7.30am to 8am.

A minimum of two sessions per week applies. Attendance is offered across the year. The term-time-only funded arrangement delivers the full 15 or 30 hours each week over 38 weeks, under a limited-number booking provision. Closures include bank holidays, two training days and a week at Christmas; normal charges continue during these closures. Sickness and holidays do not attract refunds, credits or replacement sessions, so the cost of a booking extends beyond the days a child actually attends.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes eligible two-year-olds and the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements. Funding can be stretched across 51 weeks. A limited-number term-time-only funded booking arrangement delivers the full 15 or 30 hours each week over 38 weeks. Additional childcare hours are paid for separately. Entitlement eligibility and the nursery’s delivery pattern are separate considerations: stretching changes how funded time is distributed through the year.

Funded time is allocated in the order Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Monday, irrespective of the session attended. The Early Bird session cannot be funded. For parents combining different days, those allocation rules matter when understanding which hours attract additional charges.

Meals on funded places are charged separately, with optional meal packs covering breakfast, morning snack, lunch and tea; formula milk is excluded. Families opting out provide food under the packed-lunch policy, give one month’s notice and opt out of the whole meal provision rather than selected meals.

Contributions towards activities and other consumables on funded hours are also optional and charged separately. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation. A non-refundable registration charge applies except for fully funded places, and is credited to the first invoice after the child starts.

Fees are paid monthly in advance and calculated across 52 weeks. That is a different period from the 51-week stretched funding arrangement.

• Younger children’s language. The August 2024 improvement points concerned understandable questions, time to respond and extending early speech. During a visit, ask how practitioners now adapt conversations for babies and younger children.
• The complete booking cost. The two-session minimum, charged closures and optional funded-place extras all affect the arrangement. Compare a written quotation for the actual days and meal choice your family intends to use.
• Dietary arrangements. Meals accommodate medical, religious and cultural requirements, while opting out involves supplying food for the relevant meals. Families managing allergies should confirm current food-handling practice during their visit.

Little Owls suits families seeking either morning or afternoon sessions, a shorter day or a full day, with practical independence and learning shaped around children’s interests. Jo Jingles, the Insect Motel and everyday food preparation give that approach concrete expression. The August 2024 Good judgement is a useful foundation, balanced by specific questions about younger children’s language support. The booking rules deserve equal attention: session choice is flexible in shape, but minimum attendance, closures and funded-place extras have clear consequences for the family budget.