Partou Up & Away Day Nursery & Pre-school

A bug house for preschool conversations and Spanish words inspired by children's holidays give Up & Away's February 2024 nursery day a recognisable character. Physical play mattered too, from babies practising standing to older children joining coached sport. Those details sit alongside a more consequential consideration: repeated regulatory action after that visit.

At its 21 February 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall and judged safeguarding effective; later findings need to be considered separately from that dated judgement. Based in Speke, Liverpool, the nursery accepts children aged 0 to 60 months and has 108 places in total. That is whole-setting capacity, rather than the size of an individual group.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: daily experiences should help children develop communication, physical skills and relationships alongside their play. Here, the February 2024 activities illustrate how those areas can overlap. Exploring insects prompted conversation about where they live, while messy play gave toddlers opportunities to make marks.

In February 2024, babies shared books with staff, toddlers practised climbing, and preschool children had weekly sessions with sports coaches. Each stage had a different physical challenge. The youngest children worked towards standing and walking; older children could test movement skills through apparatus and organised activity.

Spanish learning grew from children's experiences of summer holidays in February 2024. Staff introduced useful words, and children used a farewell when people left. This was a concrete response to children's interests, rather than a language programme whose name alone tells parents little.

Outdoor and Community Life

A bug house supported preschool discussion in February 2024, connecting an actual feature of the environment with language and curiosity about living things. Children named the insects they discovered and talked about their habitats. It gave conversation something tangible to work from.

Local employers also visited regularly in February 2024 to explain their jobs. For children, that brought community life into the nursery through people and their work. These visits complemented books, rhymes and everyday conversation rather than standing apart from learning.

Relationships and Communication

In February 2024, a key-worker system linked children with familiar adults, and staff used assessments to identify gaps in learning and plan a response. Family photographs formed part of the environment. Regular parent meetings provided opportunities to discuss development, while staff helped families reach external advice services.

Support for children learning English included specialist staff training in February 2024. The practical emphasis was communication with both children and their families. For parents, the useful distinction is between a general promise of inclusion and the actual methods used to understand a child's needs and communicate about them.

Daily care had a weakness in February 2024: some young children sat waiting too long before lunch reached them and became restless. Improving the organisation of lunchtime routines was the required next step. The nursery cook prepared meals and snacks at that time; toothbrushing and handwashing also featured in children's health routines.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Ofsted's subsequent regulatory work identified requirements that were not being met in October 2024, April 2025 and April 2026, with corrective action described in each outcome. These were later findings, rather than a replacement overall inspection grade.

In October 2024, the issues involved supervision and mobile-phone use; staff received refresher training, including head counts during movement around the building and gardens, and the outcome explicitly required no further action. In April 2025, action included stronger senior oversight, support for day-to-day management and a review of staff practice following notifications concerning staffing ratios and premises safety.

The April 2026 complaint outcome followed concerns about safeguarding, children's welfare and behaviour support. It described staff refreshing their understanding of safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures after requirements had not been met. Corrective action matters, but the recurrence also matters when families weigh the earlier Good judgement.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, across the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas. That opening window gives working parents a practical reference for their daily schedule.

Getting There

The address is 6 Windward Drive, Estuary Commerce Park, Speke, Liverpool, L24 8QR. Nursery enquiries can be made through the branch enquiry form or by telephone on 0151 427 4444. The enquiry team aims to reply within three working days, so the contact process allows for a response rather than an immediate booking confirmation.

Funding and Paid Extras

In February 2024, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. Families should obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation.

• Repeated safety action. The October 2024, April 2025 and April 2026 outcomes each described corrective action after requirements were not met. At a visit, ask how supervision, management oversight and safeguarding training are checked in everyday practice.
• Lunchtime organisation. Young children waited too long for food in February 2024. Ask how lunch is now organised for the youngest children and how waiting is kept manageable.
• Your attendance and funding plan. The weekday opening window runs from 7.30am to 6pm, while funded provision was recorded in February 2024. Ask for a written proposal covering your booking pattern, funded entitlement and the treatment of meals and consumables.

Up & Away merits consideration by families seeking weekday childcare in Speke who value physical play, conversation and activities connected to children's interests. The February 2024 examples give substance to that appeal: coached sport, Spanish words and insect exploration each had a clear place in the nursery day.

The decision also needs to take account of the subsequent regulatory findings. Corrective action was described, but repeated issues make everyday supervision and management important visit topics. The earlier Good grade is useful context; it cannot carry the whole decision.