Abbey Park Campus Nursery

A vote for the next storybook brought choice and counting together at Abbey Park Campus Nursery in September 2022: children chose a book, tallied their preferences and listened to the winner. Small experiences carried several kinds of learning. The setting sits at Leicester College’s Abbey Park Campus on Painter Street, serving babies through to preschool children.

Ofsted judged the nursery Good on 30 September 2022 and found safeguarding effective. Its capacity is 55 children, with an accepted age range of 0 to 60 months. In September 2022, everyday learning included conversation, children’s participation and families sharing their cultures; improvement priorities concerned settling, continuity of the key person and extending children’s interests into new learning.

In September 2022, babies practised lifting their heads during tummy time, with interesting objects nearby and a practitioner supervising closely. Adults talked to and cuddled them, making interaction part of their earliest experiences. For a parent of a baby, that combination matters: physical exploration and responsive contact were considered together.

Older children’s storybook vote brought choice, language and counting into one activity. Children marked their preference, worked out which book had won and listened together. It gave them a practical experience of making a fair group decision, rather than simply following an adult’s selection.

The EYFS provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care. Here, the September 2022 examples show what that meant in everyday activity: talking over meals, exploring objects, sharing stories and practising physical skills. These experiences joined learning to ordinary routines rather than treating it as a separate lesson.

Objects and treasures encouraged exploration, while parents contributed cultural experiences such as henna painting. Resources represented different nationalities, and activities introduced cultural festivals. That made children’s own family backgrounds part of the learning, with opportunities to recognise differences between themselves and their friends.

There was also a teaching limitation in September 2022: adults sometimes missed the moment to take a new interest further. The useful distinction is between providing something interesting to explore and helping a child discover something new through it. Both matter, and extending those spontaneous interests was an improvement priority.

At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted identified settling plans that needed closer tailoring to individual children, information about preferences that was sometimes gathered too slowly, and changes of key person before some initial relationships were secure. Those findings deserve attention from families whose child needs time to trust an unfamiliar adult.

Each child had a key person in September 2022, and relationships with staff became positive over time. The concern was the organisation of those relationships at the beginning. A designated adult is most useful when the child can build familiarity with them consistently, so continuity belongs alongside the practical settling timetable.

Visual cards helped children learning English understand instructions in September 2022. Staff also demonstrated what they expected, including during tidying. This gave children more than spoken directions to work with. Mealtimes created opportunities for conversation about home and family, including discussion of cow’s milk and oat milk.

Support extended to parents in September 2022 through workshops, including cooking. These connected family support with children’s daily wellbeing by helping parents develop skills they could use at home.

The college nurseries’ shared admissions policy sets out a practical process for children with SEND. Needs are assessed at enrolment, with an application for SEN inclusion funding where the setting’s core budget cannot meet them. For more complex needs, preparations can include a health care plan, risk assessment, training and adjustments to access. The start date depends on those preparations, and families and relevant agencies receive updates while they are being completed.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery’s address is Leicester College, Abbey Park Campus, Painter Street, Leicester LE1 3WA. Opening hours are 8am to 5.15pm from Monday to Thursday and 8am to 5pm on Friday. It operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas; opening hours vary during college holidays.

Full-day attendance is offered. Funded attendance generally uses full sessions. For external families receiving the 15-hour entitlement, some hours may cover part of another session after waiting-list allocations, subject to remaining session availability. For college employees, funded hours may be limited to the hours the parent works for the college. Those conditions make the agreed attendance pattern important when matching childcare to work or study.

Applications use a nursery application form, on which parents indicate their preferred attendance pattern. The college nurseries’ shared waiting-list policy considers application date alongside priorities for parents studying at the college, especially those receiving Care To Learn funding, then staff and siblings, with consideration for children receiving two-year-old funding. Families outside the college can also use the nurseries. This is a college-linked service with a wider community remit.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the 15-hour entitlement and the 30-hour working-parent entitlement, subject to eligibility and the nursery’s session conditions. The 15-hour offer runs over 38 term-time weeks; 30 hours can be taken during term time or stretched into holidays, depending on nursery hours, sessions and parents’ working hours. Parents complete a declaration each term, and working-parent eligibility must be reconfirmed through HMRC.

Additional attendance beyond funded hours is charged separately. Meals are included for families paying full nursery fees; funded users are asked for a voluntary meal contribution, with an option to supply packed food under the nurseries’ lunchbox rules. Eligible parents studying at Leicester College may have childcare costs, and potentially meals, supported through the Learning Support Fund following a successful application.

Getting There

St Margaret’s Bus Station is a 5 minute walk from Abbey Park Campus. The free Hop! bus follows a circular route near the college campuses, giving families another public transport option.

• Settling and a familiar adult. September 2022 findings concerned individual settling plans and early changes of key person. On a visit, ask how your child’s preferences will shape settling and who will remain their familiar adult through it.
• Learning beyond the first interest. Extending children’s spontaneous interests was a September 2022 improvement priority. Ask staff for a recent example of how a child’s curiosity developed into new learning.
• Funding that fits attendance. Funded hours generally cover full sessions; external families receiving the 15-hour entitlement may use some hours for part of another session after waiting-list allocations, subject to remaining session availability. Before booking, agree the session pattern and request a written quotation separating additional hours, meals and any consumables.

Abbey Park Campus Nursery suits families seeking childcare alongside college work or study, as well as external families using funded attendance. Its arrangements accommodate full-day care and term-time funded attendance, with conditional stretching of the working-parent entitlement.

The September 2022 picture had appealing everyday detail: babies’ supervised exploration, storybook voting and family cultures brought into activities. The balancing issue was the start of a child’s nursery life. Families should give the settling plan and continuity of their child’s key person real weight in their decision.