Steady Steps Nursery and Preschool

Birdwatching becomes counting, listening and purposeful mark-making at Steady Steps Nursery and Preschool. Children use binoculars in the garden, compare their sightings and make food for birds with weighing scales. That example captures the character of this Gosport setting: an interest becomes a learning project, with adults helping children take it further.

Based at Rowner County Infant School on Copse Lane, the nursery has 52 places in total and a current whole-setting age range of 18 months to five years. Its purpose-built modular building sits within the Rowner schools’ community. The school setting is a practical part of its identity, rather than a promise about Reception admission.

At its January 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Outstanding, judged safeguarding effective and found exceptional support for children needing additional help, including individual plans and collaboration with external professionals. That is a strong dated assessment. Later collection-related compliance findings also matter when weighing the setting, and are addressed below.

Attendance follows school terms, with weekday opening hours of 7.30am to 4pm. Alongside nursery provision, Breakfast Club serves a separate before-school purpose.

Rooms and Ages

The Dolphin Classroom has a published room band of 9 to 18 months and a quiet sleeping area, the Nursery Classroom starts at 19 months and combines adult-guided activities with independent play, while the Preschool Classroom starts at 36 months and emphasises creativity, early literacy, social interaction and solving problems.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: children build communication, physical and social skills through play and supported experiences. Steady Steps follows a curriculum based on Development Matters, with a child-centred approach in which practitioners develop activities around children's interests. The practical addition is the way an interest can connect several areas of learning.

Birdwatching connects several skills: recording sightings develops purposeful pencil use, comparing counts introduces mathematical language, and matching calls to book pictures links sounds with print. Children also mix bird food using scales.

Children also make miniature nests and bird houses, consider which nests keep birds warmer and create birds with craft materials. The project connects observation with design and discussion.

In January 2022, reading spaces contained books alongside small figures and decorated spoons for retelling stories. Children also explored tubes and a fan, sending balls through the equipment and watching what happened. Those examples show the kinds of physical resources used at that time to connect storytelling and experimentation with children's own actions.

Outdoor and Community Life

Garden birdwatching brings the natural world into the curriculum. In January 2022, outdoor experiences also included riding bikes across uneven ground in a forest area and building tyre ramps with wooden planks. Children worked together to move materials and try out their ideas. The physical setting supplied opportunities to practise movement and solve practical problems together.

Our Twinning project connects the nursery with the Kindergarten at the ALTafawk Center in Jenin, Palestine, using technology to explore similarities and differences between children's lives. Its value is the specific connection: children have a real setting elsewhere to discuss, rather than only an abstract conversation about the wider world. The project supports the nursery's emphasis on curiosity and mutual respect.

Relationships and Communication

Practitioners build on parents' knowledge of their child. In January 2022, children sought their key person, and staff helped parents feel comfortable leaving their child.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, gives families a shared account of experiences and development through written observations, photographs and videos. Parents can contribute experiences from home and respond to entries. That creates a two-way picture of the child: learning outside the setting can inform what practitioners understand inside it.

The journal also supports moving on. Families receive an exported copy at the July graduation celebration in the year their child leaves, and it can transfer to the next school when that school also uses Tapestry. This is continuity of information, not an admissions advantage.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Makaton Friendly describes a setting that supports people using signs and symbols alongside speech. At Steady Steps, new Makaton signs are introduced weekly within a termly schedule and encouraged during sessions. The practice gives children another way to express choices and join in, with symbols and signs also used around the setting.

EY ELSA Provision supplies emotional support for children under five through an Early Years Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. Its remit includes recognising feelings, friendship difficulties, bereavement, parental deployment and coping with family change. These are concrete reasons a family might use the provision, rather than a general promise that every emotional difficulty will be solved.

The Steady Steps SEN Resource Provision seeks funding for tailored support for children with identified needs. Communication and language work, alongside fine-motor support, can take place individually or in small groups. The staffing structure includes SENCO responsibilities and designated safeguarding lead roles. Those are mechanisms families can discuss in relation to their own child; the roles themselves do not establish effectiveness.

Ofsted's compliance outcomes dated 18 March 2024 and 17 July 2025 recorded breaches involving premises security and collection arrangements, with corrective steps taken on both occasions. The first followed a child leaving unattended; the later outcome described changes to collection procedures and understanding of information-sharing with relevant local authorities. Because collection-related issues recurred, they remain relevant to a parent's decision despite the corrective outcomes.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Rowner County Infant School, Copse Lane, Gosport, PO13 0DH. Nursery opening hours are 7.30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, during term time; school holidays are closures. This gives families a clear operating window, with holiday cover requiring a separate plan.

Breakfast Club runs from 7.30am to 8.40am on weekday mornings in term time and is based in the grounds of Rowner Infant and Junior School. It is out-of-hours provision, distinct from the nursery opening window.

Applications can be submitted at any time. An application form can be collected from the main office or downloaded and emailed. Attendance here does not guarantee a Reception place: families still use the local authority admissions process for a state-school application.

Getting There

General parking inside Rowner Infant School is prohibited; drivers use the surrounding area and approach through the pedestrian side gate. Blue badge holders may drive in and park near the nursery building, keeping school access clear; the walking approach is generally level and the main entrance has a ramp.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered during term time. For three- and four-year-olds, the entitlement described is 15 or 30 hours each week, taken across at least three days; eligible two-year-olds may receive 15 hours weekly. The minimum three-day pattern matters when matching funding to a family's preferred attendance.

Additional hours are paid privately, with charges differing by room. Snacks carry a separate voluntary daily payment. Families receive monthly invoices, and fees remain payable during short absences; longer absences are discussed with the manager. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, while the fees and payment terms explain the charging structure.

• Collection procedures. Collection-related compliance issues arose in March 2024 and July 2025, with corrective changes made. During a visit, ask how authorised collection and premises security work throughout the day.
• Baby-room entry age. The Dolphin Classroom is designed for 9 to 18 months, but the whole-setting age range starts at 18 months. These are conflicting entry-age signals: clarify the applicable starting age before booking.
• Term-time attendance. Nursery hours end at 4pm and school holidays are closures; funded hours for three- and four-year-olds must span at least three days. Compare that pattern with working hours and holiday-care needs.
• Individual support. Makaton, EY ELSA Provision and the Steady Steps SEN Resource Provision address different communication, emotional and learning needs. Ask how support would be planned for your child and how progress would be shared through Tapestry.

Steady Steps suits families seeking term-time nursery care within a school community, and those needing the separate before-school pattern of Breakfast Club. Its child-centred projects have substance: binoculars, bird counts, scales and creative work connect children's curiosity with practical learning. Makaton and emotional-support provision add clear mechanisms for participation and individual help.

The January 2022 Outstanding judgement must be weighed alongside the repeated collection-related findings. Term-time operation and the 4pm finish also shape its suitability.