Little Feet Nursery

Woodland adventures at Frith Wood and regular visits to The Green Care home give Little Feet Nursery a recognisable Dronfield character. Preschool children search for insects, retell stories outdoors and spend time singing and drawing with older residents. These are useful extensions of nursery life: children encounter nature and people beyond their own room, with something concrete to talk about afterwards.

Little Feet cares for children from three months to school age on Callywhite Lane. At its November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall, found safeguarding effective and praised targeted support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, while requiring clearer learning intentions and more consistent responses to unwanted behaviour. That judgement is dated. The current offer includes an early years speech and language therapist, age-based rooms and a settling programme built around each child's care routines.

Practical flexibility also matters here, with full days, short days, morning and afternoon sessions alongside flexible hours. The strongest reasons to consider Little Feet are its communication support, opportunities beyond the building and detailed exchange of information with parents.

Rooms and Ages

The room sequence begins with Little Climbers, for babies aged three to 16 months, followed by Little Explorers at 17 to 26 months, Little Divers at 27 to 36 months and Little Rangers for children aged three to four years. Those stages give families a clear picture of the nursery's organisation, rather than treating babies and preschool children as one group.

There are two outdoor playgrounds: Little Climbers and Little Explorers share one, while Little Divers and Little Rangers use a larger area. The three older rooms go outdoors daily; babies use their outdoor space daily from May to September, with outings timed around suitable conditions during colder months. Families need puddle suits and wellies so children can take part. The building's layout also provides accessible routes to rooms and outdoor areas.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning, development and care, including children's communication, movement and social development. Little Feet adds its own curriculum for the age groups, using developmental milestones to guide planning, monitor learning and support handovers when children change rooms. For parents, this creates a shared language for discussing what a child is working towards, rather than receiving only a list of activities completed.

Open-ended resources and questions give children room to make choices and develop their ideas. Materials and activities reflect their interests and experiences, so an adult can build on something a child already wants to explore. The Derbyshire 10 keys of school readiness also guide the curriculum towards preparation for the next stage of education. Alongside this, children help create Golden Rules about treating people kindly, caring for belongings and respecting their surroundings. Independence has a practical expression here.

In November 2022, children developed a space story together, inventing a problem involving an alien and deciding how the characters would become friends. The example illustrates how an interest in the solar system became an opportunity to organise ideas and negotiate a shared narrative. However, staff were not consistently clear about the particular skills their activities were intended to develop. Enjoyable activity and purposeful teaching are related, but parents should be able to understand both.

Outdoor and Community Life

Frith Wood supplies a setting for frequent preschool woodland walks, including insect searches, listening to woodland creatures and acting out stories. These experiences give children material for conversation and imaginative play that comes from a real place. Babies and toddlers also visit the local park, alongside their outdoor play at nursery.

Regular preschool visits to The Green Care home involve songs, pictures and shared snacks with residents. Children meet people from another generation and practise spending time together around a common activity. Community visitors have included Dronfield firefighters as well as doctors, dentists and midwives, opening up conversations about the work people do.

Family events extend those relationships. The annual Summer Fayre brings children and parents together, while the Christmas Carol concert gives families a shared celebration. Stay and Play sessions are held annually at a weekend, allowing parents to join activities and speak with staff and other families outside the working-week routine.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts with two complimentary sessions, normally lasting two hours each, with further sessions possible according to a family's circumstances. Parents join part of the first session and complete a care plan covering matters such as sleep, weaning and milk feeds. This makes the introduction useful for staff as well as children: the nursery begins with details of the baby's existing day, rather than expecting parents to fit everything into a hurried conversation.

Each child has a key person. Tapestry, the nursery's online learning journal, allows staff to share activities and observations and parents to contribute information from home. Its care diary also covers sleep, bottles, nappy changes and food intake, helping families connect the nursery day with the evening at home.

An annual parents' information appointment can take place in person or by telephone. Parents can also arrange discussions with their child's key worker or the SENCO. The daily handover remains part of the exchange, so the app complements direct conversation. When a child leaves, families receive the complete learning journal as a record of their time at Little Feet.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

An early years speech and language therapist provides support for children's communication and development without an additional charge to parents. That is a concrete resource for families concerned about language, rather than a broad promise of individual attention. The SENCO provides another route for discussing a child's needs.

At the November 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that staff worked with other agencies on targeted learning plans and that the SENCO helped parents seek professional referrals and additional funding. In November 2022, staff also exchanged information and activity ideas with other settings attended by children. For a child whose care spans different providers, that exchange can help adults work towards compatible next steps.

The routine includes rest for younger children after lunch. Breastfeeding parents can feed in Little Climbers, and the nursery accepts expressed milk; families supply formula. An in-house chef prepares the food, and the allergy policy is to supply food on site so staff can keep track of its allergens. Meals follow different sugar policies for babies, under-twos and preschool children, with low salt across the age groups.

Sessions and Attendance

Little Feet's address is Callywhite Lane, Dronfield, S18 2XS. Opening hours are 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with bank holidays and a week at Christmas excluded from the year-round schedule. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email or by telephone.

The booking menu comprises a full day of 10 hours, a short day of seven hours and morning or afternoon sessions of five hours. Flexible hours are also offered, with attendance arranged around the family's requirements rather than fixed session start times. Additional private attendance beyond funded hours is charged at the normal session rate, or the hourly rate for one or two additional hours. The opening window and a booked session are different things, so families should plan around the hours they purchase.

Fees are paid monthly in advance, and holidays and illness absences remain chargeable. Ending the contract or reducing standard sessions requires at least four weeks' written notice, with the sessions during that notice period still payable. These terms matter if work patterns change or a family expects to reduce attendance gradually.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including up to 15 weekly hours for qualifying two-year-olds and up to 15 hours, with an extended entitlement of up to 30 hours, for eligible three- and four-year-olds. Funded hours can be used within the 7am to 6pm opening window. Families can use term-time funding or request that it be spread from 38 weeks across 51 weeks, subject to space. Stretching changes how the entitlement is distributed across the year; it does not add hours.

A separate daily consumables charge covers food, drinks and snacks, nappies and wipes, together with items such as first-aid supplies, outings and visiting providers. This charge is not a mandatory condition of taking a place, and the nursery offers discussion of the alternatives. Formula comes from home. For funded attendance, additional costs are set out when funding arrangements are agreed, so the entitlement and the complete childcare bill need to be considered separately.

There is a non-refundable registration charge. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees information explains the session and consumables structure. School preparation includes links with local schools to support transition, alongside the curriculum's emphasis on readiness for the next stage.

• Purpose behind the activities. In November 2022, staff did not consistently explain the skills they wanted children to gain, and responses to unwanted behaviour sometimes differed. On a visit, ask how room planning now identifies the next learning steps and how staff agree their responses to behaviour.
• Babies' outdoor routine. Little Climbers uses its outdoor space daily from May to September, with suitable opportunities chosen during colder months. Discuss how outdoor time and your baby's sleep routine fit together during the season in which they will start.
• The complete funded bill. Funded hours can be stretched across the year, subject to space, and the separate consumables charge covers both food and non-food items. Request a written quotation for your intended pattern, including the options for that charge.
• Changing attendance. Reducing standard sessions requires four weeks' written notice and payment during that period. Families expecting variable work hours should weigh that commitment alongside the flexible booking offer.

Little Feet suits families seeking full days, shorter days or morning and afternoon attendance, with a flexible approach to the hours booked. Its strongest practical assets are communication support from a speech and language therapist, a settling process built around care routines and detailed updates through Tapestry.

Frith Wood and The Green Care home give preschool life a local identity, while younger children have their own outdoor arrangements. The November 2022 learning-intention and behaviour concerns deserve a specific conversation. For parents who value community experiences and close exchange with staff, there is plenty here to examine carefully.