Wingfield Nursery

Support for children who need extra help is Wingfield Nursery’s strongest inspection finding; outdoor access for its youngest children is the clearest caution. At its 8 June 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged inclusion a Strong standard, safeguarding standards met, and achievement, curriculum and teaching, behaviour and routines, and leadership an Expected standard. These are separate judgements, rather than an overall grade.

Wingfield has capacity for 63 children aged 0 to 96 months at 140 Westcotes Drive, Leicester, LE3 0QS. Attendance options include full days and half days.

The June 2026 report card rated the children’s welfare and wellbeing area Needs attention: non-walking babies missed outdoor experiences when it rained. Some activities were also too difficult or lacked a clear learning purpose. The required action was daily, purposeful outdoor experiences for all children by 10 July 2026.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the requirements for children’s learning, development and care. In everyday terms, this brings language, relationships, physical development and early mathematical ideas into play and familiar routines, rather than separating learning from the nursery day.

In June 2026, staff used repeated words alongside songs and stories with babies. Older children explored vocabulary through pretend bus journeys, giving words a context they could act out. Counting pieces of wood and comparing sizes brought mathematical language into play. These examples matter because a child can hear a word, try it and connect it with something concrete.

Imaginative play also included making pretend pizzas from play dough. Books and familiar rhymes sat alongside conversations about growing vegetables and recognising shapes. The useful thread was learning through things children could handle, discuss or pretend to do, rather than relying solely on adult-led group activities.

Outdoor and Community Life

In June 2026, babies who could not walk were kept indoors when it rained, restricting their opportunities to explore different environments.

Other June examples included adults helping children recognise the risks of wet or slippery equipment. That puts supervision alongside opportunities to explore: children were introduced to practical reasons for taking care, rather than only being told to stop.

Relationships and Communication

In June 2026, settling sessions gave children time to get to know familiar staff. Family photographs were another part of the day for younger children, linking nursery life with people they recognised from home. Babies sought comfort from familiar adults before returning to play. For parents, these are concrete details of how settling was organised.

Communication extended beyond updates about activities. In June, families shared children’s interests, cultural backgrounds and routines, while staff discussed learning and development with them. Mealtime expectations were also discussed between home and nursery. This gives the relationship a practical purpose: adults can exchange information that affects the child’s daily experience.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The June arrangements included collaboration with occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and local portage services. Some children used chairs designed to support their posture. Routines and resources were adjusted around individual needs, with planned support reviewed and changed where necessary. These mechanisms explain the inclusion judgement more clearly than a general promise to welcome everyone.

For children learning English as an additional language, staff collected familiar words from families and used visual cues and Makaton alongside communication. Makaton was used as part of the signing support for understanding and expression. Positioning during group activities also received attention so children could see and hear more clearly.

Emotional wellbeing had practical teaching attached to it. In June 2026, stories and conversations helped children discuss feelings, while breathing exercises and yoga were used for calming. During disagreements over resources, adults helped children consider each other’s feelings and work towards a solution. These are useful examples of what support looked like during ordinary moments of the day.

Sessions and Attendance

Wingfield opens from 08:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, offering Full Day, Half day and Full Time attendance. It operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and one week at Christmas.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01162541239 or through the contact form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with funding stretched across 51 weeks to provide 22.4 hours each week. This spreads the funded hours across the year. Additional private hours are charged separately.

On days covered entirely by funding, with no additional hours, a sundries charge covers lunch, tea and specified consumables. Meals are therefore charged separately on those fully funded days; the consumables charge covers wipes, sun cream and wetsuits. Families wishing to supply their own consumables can discuss that alternative with the manager. These charges need to be considered alongside the funded hours themselves.

Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation. The Wingfield fees page sets out the distinction between private attendance, additional hours and charges on fully funded days.

In June 2026, leaders worked with local schools on children’s transition to their next stage of learning. This was preparation for moving on, rather than an admissions entitlement.

• Outdoor access for babies. The June 2026 action concerned daily outdoor experiences, including for the youngest children, with a completion date of 10 July 2026. At a visit, ask how non-walking babies now take part when it rains.
• Matching activities to children. In June 2026, some planned activities were too difficult or lacked a clear learning purpose. Ask for an example of how an activity is adjusted for children at different developmental stages.
• Stretched funding and extras. Funding runs across 51 weeks, and fully funded days carry separate charges for meals and specified consumables. Compare the complete attendance quotation, including any arrangement to bring consumables from home.
• Your child’s daily group. With 63 places across the setting and an age range of 0 to 96 months, how are children grouped, and which spaces would your child use?

Wingfield suits families comparing full-day with half-day attendance, including those considering stretched funded hours across the year. In June 2026, inclusion support combined practical adaptations with professional partnerships.

For families with babies, outdoor participation deserves priority in the decision. The same applies to how staff adapt planned learning: warm relationships and useful support mechanisms sit alongside specific June weaknesses that matter to a child’s everyday experience.