The Beacon School Nursery, Boys & Girls Aged 3-4

Storytelling with real teapots, making lunch and buying a bus ticket gave learning a practical character here in April 2024. These small experiences connected language, independence and the world beyond the nursery. There was plenty for children to do themselves.

The Beacon School Nursery, Boys & Girls Aged 3-4 accepts children aged three to four in Bedhampton, Havant. At its April 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good, found safeguarding effective and described successful additional support through staff, parents and a speech and language therapist.

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: practical play supports language, movement and growing independence. In April 2024, children exercised coordination with scissors, tweezers and pipettes, and made play dough themselves. These were opportunities to practise control and persist with a task.

Reading had physical space indoors and outside. In April 2024, cosy indoor corners and a large outdoor reading area supported storytelling; The Tiger Who Came to Tea became imaginative play with cups and teapots. Children recalled the story and anticipated its next turn, giving them an active part in reading.

An April 2024 outing brought learning into everyday life. Children travelled by bus to a local park, paid the fare, searched for wildlife and made pictures using flowers. Road-crossing reminders connected the excursion with practical safety. Back at nursery, counting construction bricks and singing number songs supported early mathematics, although work on shapes and mathematical vocabulary needed greater consistency.

In April 2024, staff encouraged children to talk about their feelings and used consistent responses to behaviour. Sand timers helped children manage turns with popular resources. Helping prepare lunch also gave children responsibility during an ordinary part of the day.

Additional support in April 2024 involved the special educational needs coordinator, families and other professionals, with speech and language targets carried into activities. Home languages appeared in books and displays. Communication books carried developmental updates, while information about weekly activities helped parents connect with children's learning.

The address is 106 Park Lane, Bedhampton, Havant, PO9 3HN. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, during term time; the nursery closes for school holidays. That calendar is a significant consideration for families arranging care across the year.

• Interruptions to play. In April 2024, group nappy-changing routines left some younger children waiting and becoming unsettled. Ask how routines now protect children's time for play.
• Mathematical language. In April 2024, staff did not consistently develop children's understanding of shape properties. Ask how shape exploration and mathematical vocabulary are now built into activities.
• Term-time planning. School-holiday closures make the annual calendar important. At a visit, discuss which attendance pattern would work within the nursery's opening hours.

This nursery suits families seeking term-time care for a child aged three to four, especially those who value practical independence and story-based play. Its April 2024 examples give that preference substance: preparing lunch, using tools and extending stories into imaginative play. The two improvement priorities deserve attention alongside those strengths, particularly how daily routines preserve engagement and how staff extend mathematical thinking.