Park Hill Nursery

Books, a courtyard mud kitchen and water-confidence sessions give Park Hill Nursery a recognisable character. Based at Sunningmead Community Centre in Tiverton, it combines indoor play zones with outdoor exploration and a learning journal that parents can contribute to themselves. The practical appeal is choice: children can attend during term time or across the year.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 22 January 2025, highlighting literacy teaching and finding that children made good progress, while asking staff to give children more chances to do tasks themselves and adjust teaching when attention drifted. Those improvement points matter alongside the strengths.

The nursery has 26 places in total for children aged 1 to 60 months. Full-day, half-day and shorter flexible sessions are offered, with a three-hour minimum.

Rooms and Ages

The Hedgehog Room (0-30 Months) has a carpeted area separated from the main play space, with a reading corner, domestic role play and exploratory play materials for younger children. Defined spaces give babies somewhere quieter to explore while remaining part of the wider nursery. Younger children join older children for meals, so the day includes contact beyond their own area.

Rabbits and Squirrels Area combines creative and messy activities with books, pretend play, mathematics and cooking, and opens onto a partly sheltered courtyard, allowing outdoor play throughout a session.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, covering communication, physical development, relationships, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. It is the common foundation for early-years provision. Here, children's interests and information from home help shape activities, with both child-led exploration and adult-guided play contributing to the day.

In January 2025, a story chosen each month organised learning across different activities. Reading The Hungry Caterpillar led into making fruit kebabs, connecting a familiar book with food, texture and healthy eating. A lending library extended that interest beyond nursery.

During that January 2025 visit, mathematical language also appeared in ordinary routines. Younger children counted through songs, while older children used number language around the cups needed for meals. Learning did not depend solely on a formal group activity. The improvement point was about responsiveness: during freely chosen play, staff sometimes needed to change their approach sooner when children stopped engaging.

Water Confidence is a swimming experience in the local pool's learner area, using buoyancy aids called woggles. Weekly outings take selected groups of up to four children with two adults, following parental permission; families supply a costume and towel. The activity has a separate charge. It offers an experience beyond the nursery's play spaces, but the selection rota means weekly outings should not be read as a weekly swim for every child.

Outdoor and Community Life

The enclosed courtyard includes a mud kitchen, sand and water activities, construction materials and growing troughs. These give children practical things to manipulate and investigate, from building to watching plants develop. Access to the community centre's grass and playground adds another kind of outdoor space beyond the courtyard.

The outdoor environment also includes a covered sandpit, slides, swings and a metal train used for climbing and imaginative play. A separate discovery garden contains a pond, fruit trees and a vegetable patch, with planting and bug hunting encouraging children to notice changes.

Outdoor play takes place daily across different weather conditions. Waterproof suits and wellington boots support wetter days, while sun hats, shade and sun cream are provided for warmer weather. These arrangements make outdoor exploration part of the routine rather than something reserved for fine days.

The canal and local parks provide further opportunities for outings, including watching wildlife and feeding ducks. In January 2025, children also took nature walks, visited an indoor role-play venue and went to the local pool monthly. Those dated examples show the breadth of experiences at that point; the current Water Confidence arrangement has its own weekly selection rota.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who builds activities around their interests, giving parents a particular practitioner to share knowledge with.

Tapestry is the online learning journal used to record children's development and share observations with parents. Families can view entries and add their own observations through an app, helping staff plan around interests that emerge at home.

In January 2025, staff took account of home routines and responded to tired younger children with physical comfort. Families also received information about development and ideas for supporting learning at home. These details give the relationship with parents practical substance, beyond a general promise of communication.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged safeguarding effective and described caring interactions between staff and children. Current staff roles include a designated safeguarding lead, a safeguarding officer and a SENCO, giving safeguarding and special educational needs defined responsibilities within the team. Nursery policies cover child protection, special educational needs, equality, behaviour and health.

In January 2025, emotion cards helped children talk about feelings and consider other people's experiences. Staff explained behaviour expectations and encouraged helpfulness and politeness. The emphasis was on helping children understand their actions, rather than simply issuing instructions.

Younger children's after-lunch sleep uses the dining area, with their own clean bedding supplied; they can sometimes sleep within their play area instead. Parents may leave a sleeping bag for use. This is a shared-purpose sleep arrangement, an important detail for families considering how their child's rest routine will fit the day.

Cooked lunches are prepared using the nursery's upgraded kitchen. Breakfast, snacks and a light tea are included with some session choices, so the food package depends on the session selected.

Sessions and Attendance

Park Hill Nursery operates at Sunningmead Community Centre, Lazenby Road, Tiverton, EX16 4AL. Opening hours are 7.45am to 6pm from Monday to Friday, with 51-week care and term-time-only attendance offered. Closures cover bank holidays and a week over Christmas.

Booking choices include full-day care, half-day care and flexible shorter attendance with a three-hour minimum, alongside full-time and part-time childcare.

Before a child starts, parents complete registration paperwork, accept the privacy notice and sign the nursery contract, retaining a copy themselves. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email at info@parkhillnursery.com or on 01884 258995.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery accepts 2-Year-Old Funding with an eligibility letter or code, Early Years Entitlement and Extended Offer 30 Hours Free Childcare. It also accepts Tax Free Childcare and Childcare Voucher Schemes. Funding hours can be shared between settings; this is separate from the choice between year-round and term-time attendance.

A non-refundable registration charge applies to non-funded children, while fully funded places carry no registration charge. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation for the chosen attendance pattern; the session and registration information explains the arrangements.

Some sessions include breakfast, snacks and light tea. Water Confidence is charged separately, and families provide the swimming kit.

• Independence and attention. The January 2025 improvement points concerned staff completing tasks children could attempt themselves and responding when engagement faded. On a visit, ask how coat dressing, opening lunch containers and freely chosen play now give children more responsibility and sustain their interest.
• Sleep in a shared-purpose room. Younger children generally use the dining area for their after-lunch rest. Discuss how the timing and surroundings fit your child's usual sleep routine.
• Your attendance package. Full-day, half-day and shorter sessions sit alongside term-time and year-round options, with food included in some choices. Ask for one written breakdown covering your intended hours, funded attendance, lunches and non-food consumables.
• Swimming participation. Water Confidence uses parental permission and a selection rota for small groups. Ask how selection works for your child's attendance days and stage of development.

Park Hill Nursery suits families seeking full-day childcare, half-day attendance or shorter sessions, with the further choice of term-time or year-round care. Its clearest attractions are concrete: books connected with practical activities, outdoor spaces with growing and imaginative play, and Tapestry communication that parents can contribute to.

The January 2025 improvement points provide useful questions about everyday teaching and independence. Families who value outdoor exploration and flexible attendance have good reasons to consider it, while those whose decision turns on sleep arrangements or the precise food package should give those details close attention.