Play A Way Day Care Centre

A child's interest in cars became a pretend garage; favourite stories became performances with props. Those August 2021 examples capture the character of Play A Way Day Care Centre in Gillingham: play that gives children something to investigate, make and imagine, rather than simply keeping them occupied.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 6 August 2021 inspection. Today, the centre caters for children aged two to five and has capacity for 35 children. Its Vicarage Road setting combines early-years care with breakfast and after-school provision, giving families with children at different stages a practical reason to consider it.

The strongest evidence of its educational character is the detail of children's play. The important qualification is its age: the inspection account belongs to August 2021, while the current nursery day is organised around activities selected by each child's key person.

Rooms and Ages

Toddlers and Pre-school, covering ages two to five, is the centre's early-years provision, with activities chosen to match each child's development and age. That individual starting point matters more than expecting all children of the same age to tackle identical tasks.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the required framework for learning, development and care, including developing children's communication, physical skills and imagination through play. Here, the current approach gives the key person responsibility for selecting suitable activities, connecting the nursery day to what an individual child is ready to learn.

In August 2021, children's enthusiasm for dinosaurs led to exploring their names, while an interest in vehicles prompted garage role play and making tracks with cars in paint and play dough. These were different ways into learning: imaginative conversation in one activity, experimenting with materials in another. They gave children's existing interests a purpose beyond repeating the same game.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea supplied a starting point for acting out a story with props in August 2021. Children also explored Ramadan as an example of celebrations from other cultures. Stories and festivals broadened the subjects children could talk about, while pretend play gave them a way to participate actively.

Outdoor and Community Life

Physical activity in August 2021 included dancing and negotiating stepping stones. Children also planted cress and searched for insects on occasion. The improvement priority was to take children's curiosity about nature further, developing more opportunities to explore their questions rather than stopping at the initial activity.

Local walks in August 2021 included conversations about crossing roads safely. That connected a practical skill to the surroundings children actually encountered, rather than leaving it as an abstract rule.

At the August 2021 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities supported to make good progress, including through collaboration with outside professionals. A concrete example was the introduction of picture prompts after advice from a speech and language therapist, making routines easier to understand.

In August 2021, staff knew children's personalities and used that knowledge when planning activities. Children could vote for their choice of group game, giving them a direct role in decisions. A dark den offered a space to withdraw when feelings became overwhelming. These examples show how relationships, choice and the physical environment worked together in the inspection-era nursery day.

Communication with parents in August 2021 included photographs and information about children's achievements, alongside invitations to share what children had enjoyed at home. Practical advice covered toileting and food ideas. The exchange worked in both directions: experiences outside nursery could help staff understand a child's interests, while families received examples of learning to discuss at home.

Language development was also an improvement priority in August 2021. Staff supported pronunciation, songs and books, but questions too often restricted children to a choice between answers. More open questions would give children greater room to explain their thinking. This is a useful distinction for parents assessing interactions: an adult can keep a conversation moving while still leaving too little space for a child's own ideas.

Sessions and Attendance

The centre is at Oddfellows Hall, 2a Vicarage Road, Gillingham, ME7 5HZ. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. It operates for 47 weeks of the year, with closures during Easter, May half term, the final two weeks of August and Christmas, as well as bank holidays. Families needing care through school holidays should weigh those breaks alongside the weekday opening window.

Breakfast club runs from 7.30am to 8.30am each weekday, with breakfast and school drop-off for school-aged children. After-school club runs from 3.30pm to 6pm and combines collection with play, games and crafts; children receive a hot meal. These are separate attendance patterns with different purposes, rather than interchangeable portions of the early-years day.

School drop-off and collection cover Napier Primary School and Oasis Academy Skinner Street, subject to change. Holiday club is also offered for school-aged children during school holidays. These services are transport and childcare arrangements, not an admissions advantage at either school.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for children aged three to five and for two-year-olds. All major childcare vouchers are accepted. Funding should therefore form part of the family's attendance discussion, alongside the centre's closure calendar, rather than being considered separately from the days care is needed.

• Holiday coverage. The centre operates for 47 weeks, with breaks at Easter, May half term, late August and Christmas. Match those closures to your working calendar before choosing an attendance pattern.
• Conversation and investigation. The August 2021 improvement priorities concerned open questioning and deeper exploration of nature. During a visit, ask how staff now extend children's explanations and follow up their discoveries.
• The funded arrangement. Funded childcare covers the centre's early-years age groups. Ask how the entitlement fits your intended attendance and whether meals or non-food consumables carry separate charges.
• School collection. Napier Primary School and Oasis Academy Skinner Street are covered, subject to change. Confirm the collection arrangement for your child's school when discussing breakfast or after-school care.

Play A Way Day Care Centre suits families seeking early-years care for a two-to-five-year-old, and those using breakfast club or after-school club for an older child. Its key-person-led activity planning gives the current offer an individual starting point; the August 2021 account adds concrete examples of imaginative play, parent communication and support through visual prompts.

The closure calendar deserves equal weight. Families who can accommodate those breaks have a setting to consider, with useful questions about how today's conversations and nature activities build on the improvement priorities from August 2021.