Little Plums Nursery Sneinton

Green’s Windmill gives Little Plums Nursery Sneinton a recognisable Nottingham address, while air-conditioned rooms and a large outdoor area with a soft surface give children space for play indoors and out. The nursery occupies Old School Hall on Windmill Lane. Its character centres on learning through play, with communication between home and nursery built into a parent app.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 31 January 2022 inspection. That judgement provides a dated assessment of care and education, rather than an assurance about every aspect of today’s provision. The nursery accepts children aged 3 to 60 months and has 82 places in total; that whole-setting figure is separate from the size of an individual room.

Families can book full days or morning and afternoon half days, with funded hours and private childcare both offered.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Plums has a stated capacity of 18 children, with sensory play and opportunities to practise crawling and walking for its youngest children. That room size deserves attention when choosing baby care: it describes the room’s maximum, rather than how many children attend on a particular day.

Little Plums emphasises solving problems, communicating and becoming more independent, while Big Plums concentrates on social confidence and independence before primary school. These are different developmental priorities. The progression moves from exploring and expressing needs towards managing more tasks and relationships for oneself.

Across the rooms, wooden furniture is chosen for the relevant age group, and air conditioning provides temperature control. A secure outdoor play area with a soft surface adds a physical counterpoint to indoor activities. Children have room to move as well as resources to investigate.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children’s learning and care, with play used to develop communication, movement, social skills and early understanding of numbers. Staff track development against it and share observations with parents. The nursery’s approach starts with what a child can already do, then plans the next learning steps with the family.

Language connects the activities. Stories, shape, numbers and creative work are explored through interaction and the surrounding world, rather than being confined to table tasks. Visiting specialists bring music, science and language experiences, and short community outings extend children’s experiences beyond the nursery. No fixed frequency is attached to those visits or trips.

In January 2022, number activities moved from counting to recognising numerals and combining groups of objects. This gave learning a sequence, with new ideas building on earlier ones. Sign language was also used alongside speech, although children sometimes needed more thinking time before answering staff’s questions.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play includes access to a large, secure area with a soft surface. In January 2022, children used a climbing frame and experimented with mixtures in tubs, combining movement with exploratory play. Those examples show how physical activity and investigation could share the same space.

Parents are invited to nursery events during the year and can participate in parent groups. This gives family involvement a place beyond individual messages about a child’s day, while community trips introduce experiences outside the familiar room setting.

Relationships and Communication

Staff training includes understanding attachments and helping children and families settle. In January 2022, children turned to their key person for comfort when tired or upset, and staff collected information about children’s earlier experiences before they started. Familiar relationships and knowledge from home were part of the care arrangements.

The parent app supports messages in both directions and lets families contribute their own observations. The group-wide Play at home activities provide things parents can do with their child, including Number and Shape and Books and stories. Families can submit photographs or short videos through Parent Zone so that learning at home contributes to developmental tracking. This makes communication more useful than a stream of nursery updates alone.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described SEND support involving the special educational needs coordinator, families and other professionals. These were dated findings about how support worked, with strategies shared between nursery and home.

In January 2022, family photographs prompted positive discussion of different backgrounds, but children needed more opportunities to use and develop their home languages. The practical issue is whether a child’s existing means of communication receives attention alongside English.

Independence also featured in everyday care in January 2022: younger children practised feeding themselves and pouring drinks, while older children helped with serving and clearing meals. Mealtime organisation nevertheless needed improvement because some children moved around without sufficient staff direction. Routine matters as much as the task itself.

Staff had access to frequent training in January 2022, with individual meetings and supervision used to review workload and wellbeing. This describes professional support at that time, rather than a current staffing count.

Sessions and Attendance

Full Day Sessions run from 8am to 6pm. Half Day sessions can be booked from 8am to 1pm or from 1pm to 6pm, giving families a choice between a complete day and either part of it. Regular bookings and ad hoc private sessions have different charging structures, with a surcharge applying to ad hoc sessions.

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays across 51 weeks of the year. Earlier starts and later finishes can be arranged separately. The nursery closes for bank holidays and a week at Christmas, with a 3pm finish on Christmas Eve.

Getting There

The address is Old School Hall, Windmill Lane, Sneinton, Nottingham, NG2 4QB, at the Green’s Windmill site. Free parking is offered there. Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or an online form requesting a callback.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes provision for children over nine months and for two-, three- and four-year-olds, subject to eligibility. The offer includes up to 30 hours a week during term time, with the option to stretch funded hours across 51 weeks. Stretching distributes the entitlement through the year; it does not add hours to it.

Funded hours are applied first at zero cost, with remaining hours in a part-funded session charged and additional sessions billed at private rates. Meals carry a separate daily charge for sessions that are partly or fully funded, and alternative arrangements are offered.

Fees are paid in advance at the start of each calendar month, and all 51 chargeable weeks apply apart from the Christmas closure. Tax-Free Childcare and childcare vouchers are accepted. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the fees page explains the charging structure.

• Baby room size. Baby Plums has a stated maximum of 18 children. During a visit, ask how the room is organised for younger babies, mobile children and rest.
• Room age bands. Little Plums and Big Plums have conflicting age bands across their room descriptions. Ask which room your child would join and how moves between rooms are decided.
• Language and mealtimes. In January 2022, improvement priorities covered thinking time after questions, home-language development and mealtime organisation. Ask to see how these work in everyday practice now.
• The funded-session bill. Partly and fully funded sessions attract a separate meal charge, with alternatives offered. Request a written breakdown for your intended pattern, including those alternatives.

Little Plums suits families seeking either full-day childcare or morning and afternoon half days, with funded hours that can be spread across the year. Its practical appeal lies in that choice, the outdoor play space and communication that allows parents to contribute observations from home.

The January 2022 Good judgement is useful context. The strongest decision points now are the baby room’s size, the room your child would join, the organisation of daily routines and the complete cost of your chosen attendance pattern.