The Honey Pot Private Day Nursery, Burton Joyce

A maximum of 31 children a day gives The Honey Pot a small-setting character, while cooking, growing vegetables and sharing learning journals connect nursery life with home. This Burton Joyce nursery has capacity for 31 children from birth to five years. The whole-setting figure matters: it is not the size of an individual play group.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its February 2023 inspection. The practical offer combines a key person for each child, meals prepared on site and funded hours spread across the year. Its strongest appeal is the connection between everyday care and children's growing independence, rather than a catalogue of branded activities.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, communication and everyday routines all contribute to their learning. Here, making choices, exploring cultures and celebrations, and building confidence form part of that day. The nursery helps children prepare for their next steps within and beyond nursery.

In February 2023, babies chose their own toys and practised feeding themselves; toddlers attempted to transfer food from serving bowls to their plates. Preschool children managed drinks and cut their food. These are useful examples of independence at different stages, with children taking an active part in routines rather than having everything done for them.

Activities also joined physical skills with early thinking. In February 2023, preschool children used scissors on flowers and paper, persevering with a task that required careful hand movements. Another activity involved water, pipettes and containers of different sizes: counting squeezes brought mathematical language into practical play. The examples give parents a concrete picture of learning through doing.

Food preparation continues that practical emphasis in the current offer. Children help lay tables, cook and chop, and grow vegetables in the garden. The garden therefore has a role beyond outdoor play: it connects growing food with preparing and eating it.

Each child has an allocated key person, giving families a consistent relationship through which to share information about their child. Tapestry, the online learning journal, carries observations and photographs of learning, with a PDF journal sent to parents at each term's end. Staff use these observations to identify strengths and plan subsequent learning. Parents can see specific experiences, rather than receiving only a general account of the day.

At the February 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, with close supervision and sleep monitoring, and described effective key-person care and SEND support through individual plans and collaboration with other agencies. Those are dated judgements, rather than a guarantee about present practice.

In February 2023, settling support included familiar comforts and play chosen to help new children adjust. Staff also gave parents ideas for extending learning at home. For a family weighing the nursery, the useful thread is continuity: settling, daily care and learning were connected through relationships with staff.

A nursery cook prepares food on site, using seasonal ingredients where possible. Breakfast, lunch with two courses, tea, fruit, snacks and cow's milk come at no extra charge, including alongside funded childcare.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 5.45pm on weekdays, across 51 weeks each year. Closures cover bank holidays and a week over Christmas. That calendar is relevant to families arranging care across the year, including those using stretched funding.

Getting There

The address is 2 Nottingham Road, Burton Joyce, Nottingham, NG14 5AE. Enquiries and prospectus requests can be made through the contact form, or families can telephone 0115 9314411.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible working families can claim 30 funded hours from the term following their child's nine-month milestone until school age; all three- and four-year-olds living in England qualify for 15 hours a week over 38 weeks, irrespective of household circumstances. The nursery stretches funded hours across 51 weeks, so the term-time entitlement is distributed over a longer attendance year.

Meals and the listed snacks and drinks carry no additional charge to parents. Government funding itself excludes nappies, wipes, sun cream, activities and extra childcare hours; that exclusion should not be confused with a statement that the nursery charges for each item. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the fees and funded childcare page explains the funding structure.

• Individual learning. In February 2023, curriculum delivery sometimes failed to achieve the intended learning, and activity planning did not consistently address each child's next steps. During a visit, ask how staff now turn observations into activities tailored to your child.
• Quieter children. In February 2023, less confident children sometimes missed conversational opportunities because staff did not draw them into discussions. Ask how a key person recognises and supports a child who is reluctant to speak in a group.
• Your care package. Funding is stretched over 51 weeks and food carries no extra charge. Ask for a written breakdown covering your attendance pattern, additional hours and who supplies or pays for nappies, wipes and sun cream.

The Honey Pot suits families who value a small village setting, an allocated key person and a visible connection between practical activities and home learning. Cooking, garden growing and Tapestry give that proposition substance. Its weekday opening window and stretched funding are useful for families planning care across the year.

The February 2023 picture also contained clear limitations: individual learning needed more precise planning, and quieter children needed more consistent encouragement. Those points deserve attention alongside the appealing scale and inclusive food arrangement.