Sandfield Day Nursery

A purpose-built nursery inside a community recreational park, with a whole room for soft play, gives Sandfield Day Nursery a recognisable character. Its single-storey building in Lenton combines age-specific spaces with outdoor areas, while meals are included for both paid care and fully funded places.

At its 23 August 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Sandfield Good and found safeguarding effective, with an effective key-person system supporting relationships with families. That judgement has a date. The current offer and the practice observed then should be read separately, especially around activities for babies and preparation for school.

Sandfield has 86 places in total and accepts children from two months to five years. Full-time care, full days and morning or afternoon half days give families different attendance options.

Rooms and Ages

The baby room covers the youngest stage through to two years, with routines adjusted around those followed at home and play resources used across the room and outdoor space. Support includes movement and early learning. Weaning support includes fresh food prepared by the cook.

For children aged two to three, the toddler room provision spans two rooms, with language, emotions and physical development supported through play. Its main room opens directly onto an outdoor area with artificial grass, a mud kitchen, bikes, cars and pushchairs. Indoor activities can move outside, giving children more than a separate outdoor break. Potty training begins when the child and parent are ready.

Pre-School, for ages three to five, occupies two large rooms, a smaller group space and two outdoor spaces, with book, maths, music, creative and role-play areas supporting increasingly independent play. The themed area can become a travel agent, vet or doctor's practice. Children can explore familiar roles and communicate their ideas through the resources they choose, rather than relying entirely on an adult to set the activity.

Across six play rooms, child-sized toilets support everyday self-care.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, adult support and developing communication, physical skills and relationships. It is the common early-years foundation. Here, children in the toddler and preschool rooms choose activities around their interests, while practitioners also plan experiences to support their next steps.

In the moment planning builds on what interests a child during play, extending it with adult support; the toddler provision combines this with monthly observations, brief observations and photographs shared online. Pre-School also uses adult-led activities.

In August 2023, babies practised movement during singing, toddlers experimented with chalk, and preschool children worked together to mix colours. Language support included new vocabulary for younger children and questions that gave older children thinking time. These examples show how talking and social interaction sat within ordinary play, rather than being confined to a separate language activity.

The August 2023 inspection also identified that some baby activities were poorly matched to individual development and that older children's curriculum needed greater progression towards starting school. The examples matter: some babies lost interest in a paper-and-crayon activity, while older children needed learning that extended further. These were specific teaching issues, despite the overall Good judgement.

Outdoor and Community Life

Soft play gives movement an indoor setting of its own. Outdoors, the mud kitchen and planting area provide a different kind of exploration for the over-twos, while the preschool garden supports learning about nature. Families looking for both indoor physical play and outdoor resources have concrete features to weigh here.

Large exits connect the preschool rooms with their outdoor spaces, allowing play to extend outside.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person who gets to know them and works with their family on development. Once the child has settled, assessment informs the next steps. Parents have a defined contact for care and learning.

Communication has several routes. An online app shares activities and developmental next steps, while stay-and-play sessions, parents' evenings and multi-agency meetings support exchanges with families. Daily feedback is also welcomed. These arrangements let parents contribute what they know about their child as well as receive updates from nursery.

In August 2023, staff exchanged information with parents and offered ideas for continuing learning at home. Babies chose their own toys, toddlers attempted serving food with spoons, and preschool children managed handwashing, toileting and collecting lunch equipment. Independence was built into ordinary routines.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Practitioners work with parents and carers on individual needs and help families access outside agencies when necessary. The toddler team also works with health visitors on two-year checks. These are practical support mechanisms: family knowledge and outside input can contribute to understanding where a child needs further help.

Staff hold childcare qualifications at least at level 3, alongside training in first aid, food safety and safeguarding; recruitment includes suitability checks before employment and further checks afterwards. These are arrangements for care and staffing, rather than a substitute for the dated safeguarding judgement.

In August 2023, sleeping babies and younger children were monitored by staff who stayed in the room.

Food is cooked freshly on the premises, with baby and toddler adaptations and provision for dietary needs including vegetarian diets and allergies. The four-week menu includes dishes such as lentil dahl with chapatti and salmon pasta bake; meat is Halal, and the combination of meals and snacks makes food a substantial part of the offer.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year, excluding bank holidays. There is also a Christmas closure of one week. This is an across-the-year nursery, with a defined holiday break that families need to build into their childcare arrangements.

Attendance choices are full-time, full day and half-day AM or PM. Full-time attendance runs Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6pm.

Getting There

The address is Ashburnham Avenue, Lenton, Nottingham, NG7 1QD. Sandfield sits within a community recreational park, close to the university, QMC and the city centre.

General enquiries go through the contact form, by telephone on 0115 979 2424 or by email to info@sandfielddaynursery.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the working-parent scheme from nine months, the two-year early learning programme and the universal 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds. Eligible working parents can use up to 30 funded hours. For the two-year and three- and four-year funding arrangements, delivery can be term-time over 38 weeks or stretched across the nursery's 51-week year.

Fully funded places carry no additional charges and include meals. Private childcare is also offered, with meals included in its prices.

For two-year funding, families must provide their eligibility letter or code; three- and four-year working-parent funding requires an eligibility code and an application each term. The fees page explains the funding structure. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Baby activities. In August 2023, some activities did not match babies' individual development closely enough. During a visit, ask how practitioners now choose and adapt play for a baby at your child's stage.
• Progression towards school. The August 2023 improvement point concerned extending older children's learning. Ask for an example of how a preschool child's next steps become more demanding as they prepare to move on.
• Settling and familiar routines. Free settling-in sessions are offered, and the baby room adapts routines around home life. Use a visit to discuss how your child's feeding, sleeping and separation routines would shape those sessions.
• Dietary care. Meals are included and dietary adaptations are offered. Families managing allergies should confirm current preparation and serving arrangements for their child's needs.

Sandfield suits families seeking full-time attendance or a combination of full days and morning or afternoon half days, with meals included and funded hours that can be delivered term-time or stretched. Its soft-play room, age-specific outdoor areas and parent communication give the offer practical substance.

The dated Good judgement is encouraging, but the baby-planning and older-child progression points deserve attention. The deciding question is how well today's activities match your own child's stage, alongside whether the attendance choices fit your family's routine.