First Steps To Learning Pre-School & Day Nursery

Sensory trays for babies, a reading den for older children and weekly Forest School give First Steps To Learning Pre-School & Day Nursery a clear emphasis on learning through doing. Based at the Cadet Centre on Tyrells Close in Upminster, it has 36 places in total and caters for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 16 January 2023 inspection. The current offer includes Explorers, Mini Jetsetters Room and JetSetters, with resources ranging from soft play mats to a play kitchen and accessible writing materials. These give children different ways to investigate, pretend and practise emerging skills as they grow.

Attendance can be full day, half day or term time. That choice matters for families balancing childcare with work or a school calendar, while the educational approach keeps children's interests central to what happens during their sessions.

Rooms and Ages

Explorers Room caters for children aged 6 months to 2 years, combining sensory exploration with colourful toys and soft play mats, so its youngest children have materials to investigate through touch and movement.

For children aged 2 to 3, Mini Jetsetters Room combines puzzles and construction blocks with a play kitchen, dressing-up space and reading nook, bringing problem-solving, pretend play and stories into the same light-filled room.

JetSetters has books, writing equipment, a reading den and resources children can reach themselves, with an emphasis on communication, literacy and independence through choosing and using activities.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets out standards for children's learning, development and care. In everyday play, its areas of learning cover communication, physical development, early reading and writing, maths, relationships and discovering the world. It is the foundation of the day rather than an extra programme. The nursery combines activities led by adults with children's own choices and informal assessment.

Alongside that framework, in the moment planning means staff use children's interests to shape activities as they unfold. The practical value is easy to see in the examples: an interest in tea-making becomes pouring and transferring between cups, while ice play introduces words for describing a changing material. Learning starts with something a child wants to investigate.

Tuff Tray Learning uses trays of materials for sensory exploration and practical tasks. Connecting train tracks involves pushing, joining and manipulating pieces; posting activities bring hand control together with judging where an object fits. These are concrete experiences rather than learning confined to a worksheet or an adult's explanation.

Older children's examples include pretending to be hairdressers and applying a mixture of flour, water and colouring to dolls' hair. Other trays involve sorting coloured rice or making marks in flour used as pretend snow. Such activities connect imaginative play with controlled hand movements and conversation about what children are doing. The curriculum information explains how play and informal observations fit together.

In January 2023, babies investigated insects in mud using tweezers and magnifiers, while toddlers decorated pots and talked about what plants need to grow. Preschool children used story-linked miniature scenes to revisit a familiar narrative. Those examples show how practical materials supported observation, conversation and imaginative retelling at that time.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School, an approach based on practical learning in natural surroundings, takes place weekly for JetSetters. Superstar Sports adds coached physical activities intended to develop coordination and cooperation, with games drawing on football, tennis and basketball. These additions give older children opportunities to move and learn with others beyond their indoor activities.

Trips run through the year and include soft play, a local farm and a transport museum. Climbing and sliding offer physical challenges; animals introduce questions about living things; different forms of transport provide another starting point for exploration. The outings extend the places and experiences children can draw on in their play.

In January 2023, community learning included supermarket visits followed by making smoothies from purchased fruit, and cake sales that involved children in fundraising. Outdoor experiences also included nature trails and gathering leaves for artwork at a local park. However, the nursery's own outdoor activities did not consistently cover enough learning opportunities, and some staff questioning stopped short of extending children's ideas. Both were improvement priorities.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key worker who observes their learning, assesses development and plans subsequent experiences. This gives an individual practitioner a continuing role in understanding the child, rather than relying solely on activities planned for the whole group. Observations are used to follow progress and shape planning around how each child learns.

Settling sessions are arranged after a placement is confirmed. A Settling In Policy and Sleep Policy also form part of the nursery's care arrangements. These provide a basis for discussing a child's routines, especially where a baby is moving between care at home and time in the nursery.

In January 2023, staff used what children already knew and enjoyed when planning activities, and shared their monitoring with parents regularly. Parents' and children's views also contributed to development planning. That inspection-era detail gives families a concrete example of how communication informed the nursery's work, rather than simply describing parent partnership as an aspiration.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and highlighted strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including work with other professionals to review individual targets and adapt activities. The important detail is the mechanism: support involved reviewing a particular child's needs and adjusting what they did, rather than expecting every child to follow an identical task.

Current arrangements include a SEND Policy, child protection and whistleblowing policies, and procedures covering medication and illness. Staff undergo criminal record checks and safeguarding training.

Fresh fruit is served twice daily, and the dietary policy recognises allergies and cultural requirements, with alternatives sought to meet individual needs. Children are encouraged to try foods and, where appropriate, help themselves, making mealtimes another opportunity to practise independence.

Healthy Early Years London is a scheme supporting healthier early years practice, and the nursery has received its First Steps Award. Its participation sits alongside daily physical activity indoors or outdoors. The practical emphasis is on food, movement and habits during the nursery day.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Cadet Centre, Tyrells Close, Upminster, RM14 2QA. Opening hours are 7.15am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, while the Full Day booking runs from 8am to 6pm. Early Start is a separate morning session from 7.15am to 8am. Keeping those times separate matters: the standard full-day session begins later than the opening window.

Half-day and term-time attendance are also offered. The nursery operates for 50 weeks each year and closes over Christmas, with no charge for that closure. For families using care across the year, the Christmas break is therefore a practical part of planning attendance.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01708 226061 or through the contact form. The joining sequence uses a waiting-list form, registration paperwork and confirmation of a placement before settling sessions are arranged. This is a staged process, giving families a defined route from enquiry to starting care.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible two-year-olds, alongside 15 and 30 hours provision and Early Education Entitlement funding. Funding and private childcare are separate parts of the offer. The cost of an individual booking needs to reflect the child's funded arrangement and any private sessions, rather than treating all attendance as having the same charge structure.

Private fees include meals, snacks and refreshments. Payments are monthly in advance, and fees still apply when a child is absent; bank holidays are included in the fee calculation. These terms affect budgeting as much as the price of the booked session itself. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the fees and funding page setting out the attendance and payment terms.

Leaving requires four weeks' written notice to the manager, and charges apply during the notice period if a child leaves earlier. A reduced registration charge is associated with the open-day offer. Uniform is encouraged, with Bespoke School Wear supplying it and an option for delivery to the nursery for collection.

School preparation gradually introduces more structured teaching alongside children's activity choices, and staff liaise with a child's next school over transition. That gives moving on a practical place in the programme: communication with the receiving school accompanies preparation within the nursery.

• Room placement for the youngest children. Explorers Room is designed for ages 6 months to 2 years. At a visit, discuss which room and routines would apply to your baby, including the typical group size and settling arrangements.
• Outdoor learning and conversations. In January 2023, improving the nursery's outdoor learning and making staff questioning more consistent were priorities. Look at how the outdoor space is used now and how practitioners help children develop an idea beyond their first answer.
• The complete funded booking. Private sessions include food, while funded attendance has its own arrangements. Before agreeing a booking, request a written breakdown covering funded-hour delivery and meals.
• Dietary needs. The nursery's policy addresses allergies and alternative foods. Families managing an allergy should confirm current food-handling practice and the arrangements for their child's meals.

First Steps suits families looking for full-day care, shorter half-day attendance or a term-time pattern, with learning built around play and children's interests. Sensory trays, accessible resources, weekly Forest School for JetSetters and coached sport give the offer substance beyond a general promise of enjoyable activities.

The January 2023 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, with outdoor learning and staff questioning the two educational points to examine closely. For parents who value practical exploration and an individual key worker, this is a nursery with a clear approach and useful attendance choices.