Partou Little Stars Day Nursery & Pre-school

Sensory rooms with lights and sounds, animal encounters through Zoolab and outdoor access that children aged two and over can choose for themselves give Little Stars a recognisable character. This Hadfield nursery combines spaces for different ages with activities shaped around children's interests. There is room for quieter sensory experiences as well as active play.

At its 14 October 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The two improvement priorities concerned clearer developmental information for parents and more deliberate teaching outdoors. Those points matter alongside the positive judgement.

Partou Little Stars Day Nursery & Pre-school has capacity for 86 children, accepting children from birth to five years. Full days, mornings and afternoons are offered, with early and late extensions providing additional flexibility.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play and interaction help children develop communication, movement and understanding. Little Stars builds activities around children's interests, adapting them as those interests change. That gives staff a starting point for engaging each child rather than expecting everyone to enjoy the same activity.

Spacious rooms use natural resources, while separate spaces accommodate different ages. Sensory rooms add soothing sounds and twinkling lights. These give the environment a different pace from the larger outdoor play area, making the physical offer broader than a single busy playroom.

In October 2024, babies had space for crawling and walking, with objects positioned to encourage reaching and movement. Older children used Halloween materials to invent games and discuss their experiences at home. The practical distinction is useful: babies' exploration involved movement and coordination, while older children's play provided opportunities for imagination and conversation.

Language featured throughout the day in October 2024. Staff answered babies' sounds with repeated individual words, used short sentences with toddlers and introduced more descriptive sentences for older children. The progression connected everyday exchanges with children's changing communication needs.

Outdoor and Community Life

Children in the rooms for ages two and above can move between indoors and outdoors through free-flow access. The large outdoor area also hosts Footy Tots, an activity within outdoor play. For families whose children prefer movement and exploration, access to this space is a substantial part of the offer.

Zoolab visits introduce children to animals, and outings take learning into the community. These experiences add encounters beyond the resources inside the nursery; no fixed frequency is attached to them.

Outdoor access and outdoor teaching are different questions. In October 2024, children encountered new language through autumn leaves and received help with activities such as using a tricycle, but learning outside often depended on staff responding to an interest as it arose. More purposeful outdoor curriculum delivery was therefore an improvement priority. A large play area is valuable, but how staff use it matters too.

Relationships and Communication

In October 2024, staff spent time with families before children began attending, helping children become familiar with the people and surroundings. Children turned to their key person for comfort. This makes settling a relationship-building process, with a familiar adult providing a point of reassurance.

Responses to inappropriate behaviour were calm and consistent in October 2024. Staff talked children through what had happened and the effect of their actions on others. When an activity failed to hold a child's attention, staff offered an alternative connected to that child's interests. The emphasis was on bringing children back into play rather than persisting with an activity that had lost them.

An online learning journal lets parents follow their child's development. In October 2024, conversations and app updates included photographs, progress information and next steps. That combination gives parents both examples of the nursery day and topics to discuss with staff.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff identified emerging developmental concerns and worked with parents and other professionals to put support strategies into practice, but the written developmental check for children between two and three years old needed clearer explanations of their individual support needs. The distinction matters: recognising a concern and communicating precisely about it are separate tasks.

In October 2024, staff also discussed differences between people, including why children might eat different foods, and recognised children's effort and achievements. Everyday conversations therefore provided opportunities to talk about individual needs and respect for others.

A seasonal menu brings changing foods into the day. Meals, snacks and drinks have their own charge, separate from care; daily supplies such as sun cream, wipes and nappies sit within the separately charged consumables category.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7am to 6.30pm. Its full-day session runs from 8am to 6pm; mornings run from 8am to 1pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. Those are genuinely different attendance patterns, allowing a shorter session as well as a full day.

An early drop-off session covers 7am to 8am, while late pick-up runs from 6pm to 6.30pm. These extensions sit outside the main day, so a family comparing timetables should distinguish the session booked from the overall opening window.

Bank holidays and the period between Christmas and New Year are closures. Charges apply over 51 weeks, including bank holidays, so the billing calendar includes days when the nursery is closed.

Getting There

The address is 124 Hadfield Road, Hadfield, Glossop, SK13 2DR, with access from the A57, A628 and M67. An online enquiry form handles fee enquiries and other questions, and the nursery's telephone number is 01457 899255.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through Derbyshire Local Authority, with funding typically covering 15 or 30 hours per week over 38 term weeks, subject to eligibility and a maximum of 10 funded hours a day. For year-round attendance, funding is stretched across 51 weeks: the respective weekly allocations are 11.17 or 22.35 hours. Stretching spreads the entitlement across more weeks; it does not fund the whole opening day.

Funding applies to the care charge. Meals and snacks, plus consumables, are charged separately for every session, including funded sessions. The nursery fees and funding information explains these categories; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

On registration, families pay either a non-refundable registration charge or a registration deposit to reserve the place, with eligibility for the deposit governed by the terms and conditions. This sits separately from the ongoing care, food and consumables charges.

• Outdoor teaching. More purposeful learning outside was an October 2024 improvement priority. During a visit, ask how activities now connect the outdoor area with the learning planned indoors.
• Developmental checks. The October 2024 progress-check information needed clearer detail about individual support needs. For parents of children approaching this age, clear explanations of support needs and next steps are an important part of developmental reporting.
• The whole bill. Food and consumables remain separately chargeable during funded sessions, and billing includes bank holidays within the 51-week charging year. Compare the written quotation against the sessions your family needs.

Little Stars suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full days, especially those who value sensory spaces, child-led activities and outdoor access for older children. Zoolab visits add another point of interest. The October 2024 judgement provides a positive assessment, tempered by specific improvements needed in outdoor teaching and developmental reporting. Its practical flexibility should be weighed alongside those teaching and reporting priorities.