Gingerbread 2 Nursery

A roof top garden gives preschool play an unusual setting at Gingerbread 2 Nursery, while younger children have outdoor spaces assigned to their own areas. Inside Launde House in Oadby, the nursery separates baby, toddler and preschool experiences rather than treating early childhood as one continuous room. Its offer spans children aged two months to five years, with capacity for 82 children across the setting.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 21 February 2022. The useful detail beneath that judgement is a day built around conversation, practical independence and play, alongside improvement points about participation in group activities, emotional understanding and staff supervision. That is a dated assessment. Families choosing care now should give those specific areas attention rather than relying on the grade alone.

The nursery is charity-run, and its premises include separate spaces for creative play, eating and rest. Opening hours are 7.45am to 5pm on weekdays; funded childcare follows a stretched arrangement across 49 weeks.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room occupies two rooms, with an emphasis on the three prime areas of learning alongside opportunities across all seven areas. A separate sleep room, a book corner and a combined creative and eating area give different activities their own space, while a walkway connects the room to the garden. For a baby moving between play, meals and sleep, that separation is a practical consideration.

Creative and sensory activity sits alongside play with educational resources in the Toddler Room, which also extends across two rooms. An interactive white board and iPads are used for nursery rhymes, early number work and phonics; the second room also accommodates lunch. The arrangement gives messy and sensory experiences a place alongside the main play space.

Pre-School includes three rooms, a kitchenette and access by stairs to the roof top garden. Resources include toys used to encourage imaginative play and language, with a Snack Bar and dining space in another room. The indoor layout therefore gives preschool children more than one type of activity space, rather than placing every experience around the same tables.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, communication and growing independence belong together in the nursery day. The room descriptions make that tangible through books, sensory activities, imaginative resources and early language and number work. These are everyday experiences through which young children practise skills.

In February 2022, babies experimented with shape sorters and played with small animals in sand, while toddlers painted and preschool children recognised their names and pictures to mark their attendance. Those examples show how activities were matched to different stages: handling and trying things for babies, developing control for toddlers, and recognising meaningful print for older children.

Conversation also ran through ordinary routines in February 2022. Staff used complete sentences during lunch, introduced more precise vocabulary when discussing flowers, and sang in different languages so babies learning English could hear words from home. The practical value was language woven into familiar experiences, rather than restricted to a separate talking activity.

Numeracy and Literacy Clubs are an additional service for children at Gingerbread 2 Nursery, held on Tuesdays from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. Their status as an additional service matters when comparing the ordinary nursery day with activities a family might choose separately.

Outdoor and Community Life

Each area has its own outdoor space, with the roof top garden assigned to preschool children.

In February 2022, preschool children took responsibility for holding a door for friends going outside, while babies helped clear spilled sand with a dustpan and brush. Small tasks like these made participation part of play. They also give parents concrete examples of the independence encouraged at that time.

In February 2022, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described a designated SEND practitioner working with colleagues and other agencies, while asking the nursery to improve support for children in larger groups, help with understanding feelings, and staff meetings about responsibilities. These findings combine an important positive judgement with specific limits to practice at that visit.

The SEND arrangements in February 2022 involved observing children's development, identifying concerns and acting on advice from other agencies.

Practical independence was visible in February 2022 care routines too. Babies held pieces of fruit themselves, toddlers washed their hands with an adult nearby, and preschool children took turns serving lunch. Responsibility increased with children's stage of development, with support alongside it.

There were limits to emotional and group support in February 2022. Some children struggled with movements in a meditation activity and did not receive enough help, and some upset children were not helped to understand their feelings. Staff development targets also needed greater precision. Those concerns matter for a child who needs reassurance, extra guidance or a different way to join an activity.

A cook prepares meals daily in the nursery kitchen, with breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks provided as appropriate. The nursery sets out a vegetarian food policy excluding nuts, eggs and sweets; families managing allergies should confirm how that policy is put into practice for their child.

Sessions and Attendance

Gingerbread 2 Nursery is at Launde House, Harborough Road, Oadby, Leicester, LE2 4LE. It opens Monday to Friday between 7.45am and 5pm. The earlier finishing time is an important consideration for a working day that extends beyond the afternoon.

Attendance can be across the year or term-time. Those are different practical choices: one supports a routine through most school holidays, while the other follows a term-time attendance pattern. Funded attendance has its own rule, however, and should not be assumed to follow the same choice.

The nursery opens through the year with three weeks of closure. Easter, summer and Christmas are the holiday periods identified for those breaks, so even an across-year arrangement needs room for planned closures in the family's childcare calendar.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0116 271 1165, by email to info@gingerbreadnursery.co.uk, or through the nursery's enquiry form. The form includes a location choice for Gingerbread 2 Nursery and a question about funded care, helping distinguish this branch from the other settings in the group.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare at Gingerbread 2 Nursery is delivered only through a stretched arrangement over 49 weeks. Hours are distributed across the year rather than concentrated into term-time attendance, making the funding pattern relevant to families who need childcare during school holidays as well as terms.

Private childcare is also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the fees and funding information explains the branch's stretched model. The additional Numeracy and Literacy Clubs should be considered separately from the ordinary attendance arrangement when a family puts together its booking.

• The 5pm finish. Weekday opening ends at 5pm. Compare that with the working day and collection arrangements before choosing an attendance pattern.
• Attendance and funding follow different rules. Across-year and term-time attendance are offered, but funded hours are stretched over 49 weeks. Request a written booking proposal showing the funded allocation, any private hours, and the treatment of meals, consumables and clubs.
• Support during group activities. February 2022 findings called for better participation in larger groups, stronger help with feelings and clearer staff development meetings. During a visit, discuss how staff now adapt activities and help a child who becomes upset or finds participation difficult.
• Food exclusions. The nursery's food policy excludes nuts and eggs and follows a vegetarian approach. If your child has an allergy, confirm the current handling arrangements and how their individual dietary needs would be managed.

Gingerbread 2 Nursery suits families seeking either across-year attendance or a term-time pattern, provided the 5pm closing time works for them. Its room layout offers concrete reasons to consider it: babies have a separate sleep room, toddlers have creative and sensory space, and preschool children use a roof top garden.

The February 2022 Good judgement provides a dated quality assessment, with practical independence and communication prominent in the everyday examples. The improvement points deserve equal weight. For families using funded childcare, the decisive practical detail is the 49-week stretched model: the attendance pattern and the funding arrangement need to work together.