Toy Box Nursery

A six-child baby room and gardens beside Central Park give Toy Box Nursery a clear physical identity: a purpose-built, single-storey setting with outdoor space close to its rooms. It has capacity for 36 children, accepting ages from three months to five years, on Ashby Road in Scunthorpe.

At its July 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and disabilities received suitable adaptations and individual help. Those judgements belong to that visit. Later regulatory action is material to a decision today: visits in June and July 2026 raised concerns about hygiene, supervision and unchecked staff having unsupervised contact with children, including during intimate care.

Flexible sessions are offered. The rooms and outdoor arrangements merit attention, but the later safeguarding findings must carry substantial weight alongside the older grade.

Rooms and Ages

Tinies serves the stage before walking, with care organised around babies’ home routines and opportunities to explore at their own pace. For a young baby, that continuity between home and nursery is the practical point of the room’s approach.

Babies, for children who are walking and under two, has a maximum of six children, links with the toddler room when appropriate and uses a sensory garden for outdoor exploration. This is a room cap, distinct from the nursery’s total capacity.

Toddlers accommodates up to 12 children aged two to three, combining communication, movement and growing independence with access between the room and outdoor areas. Pre-School, for ages three to five, combines adult-organised activities with play to develop independence and early learning skills ahead of school.

Learning and Activities

EYFS shapes key-person activities across seven areas of learning and development: in everyday terms, children learn through play, conversation, movement and relationships. Group time brings together storytelling, dance, singing and opportunities for children to share something with others. Activities are planned around individual needs, giving the daily routine a personal starting point rather than treating every child’s next step as identical.

In July 2022, an interest in insects led to garden searches for ladybirds and other activities linked to that interest. Language work included adults echoing babies’ sounds, demonstrating words and expanding vocabulary through stories. These examples show how an interest can connect exploration with conversation, although they describe practice at that time.

Physical challenges were adjusted to the child in July 2022, including changing the height of a climbing step for children who were hesitant. Independence also had practical expression: younger children explored food with their hands, while older children practised using cutlery and preparing fruit for others.

Outdoor and Community Life

Free Flow Play means children can move between indoor activities and the gardens, giving outdoor exploration a place within the day rather than confining it to a single group activity. Bikes, water play and scooters provide different ways to move and experiment; planting and a bug discovery area bring the natural world into play.

Central Park is part of the nursery’s setting, rather than a claim about organised outings. The enclosed gardens and direct outdoor access are the more immediate features for families weighing how much of a child’s day can take place outside.

Relationships and Communication

Home routines are central to the youngest rooms, and families share babies’ preferences and needs before they start. Regular updates and opportunities to discuss a child’s experiences provide a route for communication beyond the daily routine.

In July 2022, children were assigned a key person who learnt about their family, with extra visits and settling sessions used where needed. Parents also received ideas for continuing learning at home, including the rhyme being used that week. These are useful examples of the relationship-based work seen then, rather than a guarantee about a child’s settling experience today.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A lead SENDco role forms part of the team structure. In July 2022, support for children learning English included words supplied by families, translation tools and greetings in children’s home languages. Sensory toys were also used during group activities to help children participate.

Emotional language was the improvement point in July 2022: adults comforted upset children and helped with disagreements, but did not consistently identify feelings or explore another child’s perspective. Naming those emotions matters because comfort alone does not give children the words to explain what has happened.

Ofsted’s later regulatory action required consistent mealtime handwashing and better oversight of staff following the June 2026 visit, then required the nursery to prevent unchecked staff having unsupervised contact with children following the July 2026 visit. On 27 July 2026, unchecked staff were undertaking unsupervised care, including intimate routines; the latest published position is the action requiring this to stop, rather than a finding that it had been completed.

Breakfast, snacks, lunch and tea are home cooked, and the nursery’s food policy provides for dietary, religious and allergy needs.

Sessions and Attendance

Toy Box offers flexible sessions and closes for bank holidays and a two-week Christmas break. That Christmas closure matters for families needing care across the working year, even when their usual attendance can be arranged flexibly.

The address is Ashby Road, Scunthorpe, DN16 1AA. Enquiries can be made using the contact form, by telephone on 01724 857126 or by email at info@thetoyboxnursery.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery participates in the Free Early Education Entitlement scheme for children aged two, three and four. Participation does not establish an individual child’s entitlement or guarantee a funded place. The funding page provides the enquiry route for this scheme.

Current prices should form part of the nursery’s written quotation. For a family comparing funded care with additional paid attendance, the useful comparison is the complete arrangement: the hours booked, food and any supplies parents need to bring.

• Later safeguarding action. The June and July 2026 visits raised hygiene and supervision concerns, culminating in an action against unchecked staff providing unsupervised care. Before committing, ask for the subsequent regulatory outcome and a clear explanation of how staff checks, supervision and intimate care now operate.
• Daily timing. Opening hours conflict: the main nursery information gives 7.45am to 6pm, while the contact information gives 8am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Establish the actual opening window and your flexible session arrangement before planning work commitments around them.
• The complete quotation. Funded entitlement is offered for ages two, three and four, while food provision includes meals and snacks. Request one written breakdown covering funded attendance, additional hours, food charges and non-food supplies, alongside the current allergy arrangements.
• Your child’s room. Babies has a six-child cap, while movement between rooms requires careful handling. During a visit, ask how a key person stays involved through a room change and how practitioners help children name emotions during disagreements.

Toy Box suits families interested in flexible attendance, a capped baby room and easy access to garden play. Its sensory garden, indoor-to-outdoor arrangement and age-based rooms give parents concrete features to assess.

The decision cannot rest on the Good judgement from 2022. Later findings about supervision and unchecked staff providing intimate care are serious, and the latest published action carries more immediate decision value than the older strengths. A satisfactory explanation of the subsequent regulatory position is essential before treating the nursery as a suitable choice.