Killamarsh Village Day Nursery & Pre-school

A baby garden with soft flooring and grass, toddler spaces for messy play, and daily outdoor time for preschool children give Killamarsh Village Day Nursery & Pre-school a clear emphasis on learning through doing. Its purpose-built premises on Sheepcote Road accommodate children from 3 months to 5 years, with capacity for 42 children in total. Separate age-related rooms give each stage its own environment.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 6 September 2023 inspection, with communication a strength and improvements needed in behaviour guidance and preschool group activities. That balance matters: the examples of adult interaction were positive, but children needed more consistent explanations and fewer distractions during organised learning.

Full-time, part-time, term-time-only and year-round attendance are offered. The practical appeal extends beyond one working pattern, while the room arrangements and parent communication deserve equal attention.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room serves children from 3 months to 2 years, combining creative and sensory play with a black-and-white area, a quiet space for rest, and direct access to a purpose-built garden with grass and soft flooring. These are useful distinctions for parents weighing active exploration against their baby's need for quieter periods.

For children aged 2 to 3, the Toddler Room combines imaginative play in its home corner and small-world spaces with books, painting, playdough and gloop, while outdoor equipment and a smaller garden support physical and sensory exploration. There is room for both energetic movement and quieter activity.

The Pre-school Room, for ages 3 to 5, emphasises recognising names and managing toileting, with support for children still learning those skills and daily use of an outdoor space connected to the room. School preparation here includes practical independence, rather than treating readiness as an academic checklist.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care, bringing play, communication and everyday independence into the nursery day. Activities are adapted to children's interests: the toddler provision also draws on events and festivals, while preschool planning responds to individual needs.

In September 2023, language learning grew out of ordinary play. Adults encouraged babies to copy words during bubble play and helped toddlers describe chalk pictures and talk about holidays. The useful point is the interaction: an activity became a chance to practise expressing an idea, rather than simply producing a picture or catching a bubble.

Mathematics also featured in play that September. Preschool children followed a diagram to assemble connecting shapes, considering colours and the pieces they needed; discussion of magnets introduced how objects attract or repel. These examples linked looking carefully, solving a problem and talking about what happened.

Outdoor and Community Life

Each room has outdoor play space, alongside a small secure garden. Access is built into the room arrangements, with preschool children spending time outside daily and babies able to move directly from their room to their play area.

In September 2023, outdoor activity included crawling, supported use of swings and ride-on toys, digging and balancing on beams. Toddlers also practised waiting during a slide game. Those examples show how movement and turn-taking could share the same activity.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person, introduced during settling or a move between rooms. That practitioner helps children become familiar with their surroundings and adapts care and learning to individual needs. For parents, it establishes a clear relationship through which to discuss routines and development.

The eyLog system is an online learning journal through which staff share observations and activities, and parents can contribute photographs and their own observations. Home experiences can therefore sit alongside nursery experiences, giving both sides a fuller account of what a child enjoys and can do. Account details follow written confirmation of a place.

The Two Year Check is a statutory developmental assessment for children attending between two and three, shared first with parents and then with their Health Visitor. A developmental overview is also passed to the school where a child has been offered a place, supporting continuity when they move on.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, with staff understanding how to raise concerns and arrangements for communicating children's allergies and dietary needs across the nursery. That is a dated judgement, rather than a substitute for discussing a child's current care requirements.

The key-person arrangements include support for families needing specialist help. Preschool toileting support also extends to children who have yet to become toilet trained, so independence is something to develop with staff rather than a prerequisite for participation.

The staff team comprises 20 people working with children: 19 hold a relevant childcare qualification at level 3 or above, and one holds level 2. Staff have also undertaken paediatric first-aid training. These are team characteristics, not a statement about how many adults work in any particular room at once.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Families can use full-time or part-time childcare, with term-time-only and year-round arrangements; the nursery closes for bank holidays and over Christmas. The distinction between attendance across the year and attendance during terms is useful for matching childcare to work and family routines.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 0114 248 8382. There is also an online route for adding a child's name to the waiting list.

Getting There

The address is Sheepcote Road, Killamarsh, Sheffield, S21 1DU, behind St. Giles School. The nursery has its own access path and perimeter fencing, with reception-controlled entry using a password system.

Attendance does not guarantee a Reception place at St. Giles School. Families still need to use the local authority admissions process; the nursery's sharing of developmental information supports transition after a school place has been offered.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for 3- and 4-year-olds, and for children from 9 months to 2 years subject to criteria and eligibility. Additional paid hours are also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Lunch, breakfast snacks and afternoon snacks are charged separately, with families able to supply their own instead. For parents using funded childcare, these food choices remain a separate part of planning the arrangement.

• Preschool group activities. In September 2023, simultaneous story and song groups created noise that distracted children. During a visit, ask how group activities are now organised so children can concentrate on their own session.
• Behaviour explanations. September 2023 findings identified inconsistent explanations when adults stopped unwanted behaviour. Ask how practitioners help children understand the effect of their actions on others.
• Food and individual routines. Families can choose separately charged food or provide their own. Discuss how this works alongside allergies, dietary needs and the Baby Room's sleep arrangements before agreeing a care plan.

Killamarsh suits families seeking either full-time or part-time attendance, including those whose routines favour term-time-only care and those needing childcare across the year. Its clearest practical strengths are age-related environments, outdoor access and a key-person relationship supported by eyLog communication.

The September 2023 judgement provides a positive overall assessment, tempered by specific concerns about behaviour explanations and preschool distractions. Those are useful subjects for a visit. For babies, the garden and quiet rest area merit attention; for older children, the emphasis on everyday independence gives school preparation a concrete shape.