The Avenue Nursery

Two classrooms, a garden growing food for children to taste, and shared celebrations with Holmesdale Infant School give The Avenue Nursery a recognisable character. Ladybird and Butterfly are its rooms, with free movement between indoor and outdoor learning. This is a Dronfield setting for children aged two to five, with school transition woven into its relationships and routines.

At its 6 October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall. That judgement comes with useful detail and two clear improvement points: keeping practitioners involved in children's learning rather than occupied by routine tasks, and giving children more opportunities to practise speaking during play. Both matter when judging the adult contribution to a busy nursery day.

Attendance centres on term time, with holiday opening dependent on demand.

Rooms and Ages

Ladybird has free-flow access between indoors and outdoors, allowing play to extend beyond the classroom. Butterfly shares that indoor-to-outdoor arrangement, giving children access to both kinds of learning environment.

Children help care for produce in the nursery garden and taste it in their food experiences, connecting growing with eating.

In October 2022, outdoor play included forming marks in a sand pit, imaginative activity in a mud kitchen and riding tricycles. Children also studied worms and slugs through magnifying glasses. These examples show the different purposes of outdoor time: experimenting with early writing, moving their bodies and examining living things.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the statutory framework for learning and care, covering areas such as language, physical development, relationships, early literacy and mathematics. Here, the Key Person system connects curriculum planning to each child's needs, so the framework is translated into activities suited to individual development.

Communication and movement have designated lead roles. Every Child a Talker (ECAT) sits alongside the nursery's language provision, with a trained lead professional; Every Child a Mover (ECAM) has a trained lead within the physical-development provision. These are useful points of responsibility for families interested in how those areas are organised.

Mini Movez adds sessions combining dance, yoga, fitness and movement with music. French lessons take place on Tuesday mornings; the contribution towards French is voluntary and applies to children in their final nursery year who attend that morning. Timing matters here: an attendance pattern can determine whether a child takes part.

In October 2022, children chose activities independently, mixed paint for their pictures and worked with play dough. Older children kept trying when counting proved difficult, while younger children explored books and shared stories with adults. The same dated account identified a limitation in adult interaction: descriptive vocabulary was modelled, but children did not consistently get enough chances to use language themselves. A language-rich room needs conversation as well as adult talk.

Outdoor and Community Life

Visitors include people from the police and fire services, a vet, a dentist and St Philips Church, either through recurring visits or links with a topic. These bring encounters with occupations and community life into the nursery. Outings also take place when circumstances allow.

Celebrations shared with Holmesdale Infant School give children contact with school life before moving on.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with two complimentary play sessions of two hours each, supported by a dedicated member of staff. Extra playdays can be arranged when the family or nursery feels they would help. This gives a child time to become familiar with the setting before their usual attendance begins.

Children are supported in choosing their Key Person, who becomes the family's principal contact and tracks their development. Relationships extend across the staff team too. Progress conversations can take place through drop-in meetings or telephone consultations, offering more than one way for parents to stay involved.

Tapestry is the online learning journal used to exchange observations and achievements between home and nursery. Parents can add their own examples, making the account of a child's development broader than nursery experiences alone. Termly planning is shared through a closed WhatsApp group, with topics, activities and intended learning explained so families can explore related ideas at home.

Three staff hold a Foundation Degree in Early Years. Staff receive in-house training and continuing professional development.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO coordinates support, advises colleagues and involves families in decisions; the role also includes specialist assessments and referrals, including to Speech and Language Therapy. The arrangements for additional needs include working with health professionals and helping families seek specialist equipment. For children using another language at home, support can include dual-language resources and activity labels in that language.

At the October 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified effective support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including individual physical-development work and plans developed with families and other professionals. Those are dated findings. Current safeguarding arrangements include designated lead responsibilities held within the management team and staff training in sharing concerns.

Breakfast offers hot or cold choices, snacks allow children to choose when to eat, and lunch can be a Derbyshire County Council school meal or a packed lunch from home. An optional Light Bite offers a further meal later in the day, with vegetarian and vegan choices; families providing packed lunches are asked to include a drink and an ice pack.

When children leave for school, families can download their learning journal and the receiving teacher gets a Transitional Progress Report. That creates a route for information about development to move with the child, beyond the social familiarity gained through school celebrations.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.45am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. The core calendar covers 38 weeks, with opening during school holidays dependent on demand and a two-week Christmas closure. Holiday attendance is optional and paid for only when booked; families receive a letter inviting holiday bookings.

Private childcare is charged by the hour. Fees are payable four weeks ahead during term time, and sibling discounts are offered.

Funded hours are flexible within the opening window, but there are minimum attendance patterns: 15 hours must span at least two days, while 30 hours must span at least three. Both are offered during term time only. A contact form and telephone enquiry route are available for joining enquiries.

Getting There

The nursery is at The Avenue, Dronfield, Derbyshire, S18 2LR, within Holmesdale Infant School. Attending the nursery does not guarantee a Reception place; families still need to use the local authority admissions process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding excludes school holidays and inset days. The costs and funding page explains the charging structure; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Food is separate from the childcare fee: breakfast, snacks, school dinners and Light Bite are optional charged items, with families able to supply their own snacks, drinks and packed lunch instead. The same optional food choices apply alongside funded attendance. Nappies, wipes and creams are supplied by parents, rather than included in either paid or funded childcare.

Voluntary contributions may also be requested towards special activities or expenses, including visitors, outings and parties.

• Holiday cover. The usual calendar is 38 weeks, with holiday opening dependent on demand and a two-week Christmas closure. For families needing care throughout the year, discuss how holiday bookings are organised before choosing an attendance pattern.
• Conversation during play. In October 2022, improvement work centred on adult deployment and children's opportunities to speak. On a visit, ask how routine jobs are organised and how practitioners encourage children to contribute to conversations.
• Funding across days. The 15-hour offer requires at least two days and the 30-hour offer at least three, with funding restricted to term time. These conditions need to fit the family's weekly routine, alongside privately paid holiday care and optional food costs.
• Classroom arrangements. Ladybird and Butterfly both connect indoor and outdoor learning. Ask how children are allocated between them and how the arrangement would work for your child's stage of development.

The Avenue Nursery suits families seeking flexible term-time attendance, including funded hours, and those wanting optional paid holiday bookings when the nursery opens. Its strongest practical features are the indoor-to-outdoor rooms, garden produce, Mini Movez movement sessions and clear channels for sharing children's development with parents.

The school setting adds shared celebrations, while Key Person and SENCO arrangements give families defined contacts. The decision rests on whether the classroom provision and demand-led holiday calendar fit their needs.