Incredible Kids Ashby

A Library & Language Room, a dedicated Sensory Room and outdoor spaces linked to the age-group rooms give Incredible Kids Ashby a recognisable character: children have places for quieter exploration as well as more active play. The strongest practical detail is the progression through separate baby, toddler and preschool stages, with older children gradually taking more responsibility for their day.

At its May 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. That positive overall judgement came with two important improvements: more consistent support for younger children's language, and better use of the indoor space so that younger children remain involved in meaningful play. Both matter when choosing care for a baby or toddler.

The nursery serves children aged 3 to 60 months at Ivanhoe Business Park in Ashby-De-La-Zouch. Attendance examples for older children include both term-time and year-round arrangements; their different day lengths are set out below.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room, covering 12 weeks to 18 months, combines space for crawling and exploration with messy play, outdoor access, a kitchen and cots for sleep, while temperature controls and blinds operated remotely make the physical arrangements worth examining alongside the play resources.

For children aged 18 to 30 months, the Toddler Room emphasises doing more for themselves, with direct outdoor access, a quieter corner, somewhere to sleep and facilities for children beginning to use the toilet, so care routines and play can develop together.

Pre-School 1 covers 30 to 42 months and connects indoor play with an outdoor growing area, sandpit, construction space and water wall; a moveable partition between the preschool rooms also allows the spaces to be joined for shared activities.

Children aged 42 to 60 months use Pre-School 2, where choosing activities sits alongside group routines, serving themselves at meals and marking their own attendance, with a mud kitchen, balancing beam and Story Teller Chair outside giving that growing independence a physical setting.

These age bands make the nursery's progression easy to understand. They also give families a useful distinction between the younger preschool stage and the older children's more organised routine. Moving rooms involves a change in expectations as well as a change of space.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care: children develop communication, physical and social skills through play and activities matched to their stage. At Ashby, the older preschool routine combines activities organised by adults with opportunities for children to choose their own play. Independence is practised in ordinary tasks, rather than reserved for a separate school-preparation activity.

The jolly phonics sessions use games and songs to introduce phonics in Pre-School 2. The Library & Language Room adds a quieter setting for books, vocabulary and puppet storytelling, and children of every age can use it. This gives language work a place beyond the main play rooms, with scope for activities involving fewer children.

Textures, lighting and sound are the resources in the Sensory Room, which is also used across the age groups. Its practical value is the different kind of exploration it offers: children can attend to sensory experiences in a separate space rather than depending entirely on the activity in their main room. Neither shared room replaces the age-group rooms; each adds another way to organise the day.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor access runs through the room arrangements, from the babies' unit to the older preschool space. Growing areas and water play offer different starting points for exploration, while the older children's balancing beam introduces a physical challenge. These are concrete resources, rather than an outdoor offer described only in broad terms.

In May 2024, children took part in forest school activities that connected outdoor exploration with caring for living things. Staff explained gentle handling of snails and why butterfly wings should be left untouched; children also remembered learning about bees and pollen. The value of those examples is their combination of curiosity and care: children were learning how to behave around wildlife as well as learning facts about it.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a Key Person, giving families a particular practitioner connected with their child's care and learning. In the older preschool room, that person plans activities and the next steps for the individual child. This provides a link between what a child is doing now and what staff offer next, rather than treating the room's routine as identical for everyone.

Famly, the nursery app, carries information about babies' sleep, food and activities, alongside a spoken handover when they are collected. Toddler families also receive information through Famly and a handover. Those two routes serve different purposes: the app preserves everyday detail, while conversation allows parents and staff to discuss the day together.

In May 2024, staff gathered information from families when children started and continued exchanging it through conversations, digital updates and parents' evenings. Settling therefore involved learning about the child as well as introducing the nursery. Familiarity with individual routines was visible in care: babies were put down in cots when tired, and toddlers received comfort after waking.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received effective support through coordinators working with families, staff and outside agencies, individual plans and appropriately used additional funding. That is a dated assessment of how support worked, with concrete mechanisms behind it, rather than a general promise about inclusion.

Room changes and the move towards school were also planned in May 2024. Staff exchanged information with local schools and arranged opportunities for children to meet teachers, while preschool activities developed independence and social confidence. This transition work concerned preparation and continuity of care.

The younger children's experience needs equal attention. In May 2024, staff used narration and repetition with babies, but did not do so consistently enough to extend their developing language. Some younger children also became unsure how to use the large indoor spaces and temporarily lost involvement in play. These findings make the organisation of space and everyday adult interaction more useful visit topics than the amount of equipment alone.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 3 Norman Court, Ivanhoe Business Park, Ashby-De-La-Zouch, LE65 2UZ. Opening hours are 7.30am to 5.30pm on weekdays. The nursery closes on public bank holidays and for a week at Christmas, including Christmas Eve, so families using year-round care still need to account for those closures.

For children aged 3 to 5 years, attendance examples include three days from 8am to 5pm, either over 38 term-time weeks or over 51 weeks across the year. A separate five-day pattern runs from 9am to 3.30pm, again with term-time and year-round versions. These are useful examples of different attendance commitments, rather than an opening window being treated as the only way to book.

The distinction matters practically. The three-day example concentrates attendance into longer days, while the five-day example spreads it across shorter days. Term-time and year-round versions also serve different family calendars. The examples should not be read as a universal minimum booking requirement.

The Ashby team can be contacted on 01530 415566, and the enquiry form takes a preferred start date and intended days or sessions. Visits can be arranged through that contact route.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered. The Ashby examples for children aged 3 to 5 years show eligible working families using 30 hours of funding in the term-time pattern, or 22 hours each week in the year-round pattern. Funding reduces the private cost in those examples; it should not be read as making the whole attendance arrangement free.

Private childcare is also offered, with priced examples both with and without funding. Families should obtain a current written quotation for their chosen arrangement. The Ashby examples on the childcare costs page provide a useful starting point for comparing attendance patterns.

• Younger children's indoor play. In May 2024, some younger children found the large play spaces difficult to use purposefully. On a visit, ask how the Baby Room and Toddler Room are organised to help children choose and sustain an activity.
• Early language support. The May 2024 improvement priorities included consistency in younger children's communication support. Ask how staff now build conversation, repetition and responses into babies' and toddlers' everyday care.
• The attendance calendar. The older-child examples distinguish three longer days from five shorter days, with term-time and year-round versions. Match the chosen pattern to your working week and account for the Christmas closure.
• The complete quotation. Funded and private attendance examples have different costs. Ask for a written breakdown of your chosen arrangement, including the position on meals and consumables.

Incredible Kids Ashby suits families who value clearly separated developmental stages, direct outdoor access and additional spaces for language and sensory exploration. For older children, it also suits both a three-day pattern with longer hours and a five-day pattern with shorter hours, with term-time and year-round choices.

The Good judgement from May 2024 provides a positive inspection position, but the younger children's language support and indoor play remain the decisive subjects for a visit. The library, sensory provision and practical independence in preschool give parents concrete strengths to weigh against those improvement priorities.