Broadway Nursery

Sensory play for babies, woodwork activities and a large enclosed outdoor space give Broadway Nursery a practical, hands-on character. This Peterborough setting cares for children from three months to five years. Its appeal lies in learning through things children can handle, change and investigate, alongside care that follows a baby's familiar routines.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 10 May 2022 and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received individually planned support involving families and other professionals. That judgement needs to be read alongside a later compliance action: in August 2026, risk assessment and effective supervision required improvement. This is a material consideration for families.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room centres on sensory exploration, with textures, sounds and visual materials alongside space for tummy time, crawling and early walking. The emphasis is on discovering through movement and interaction. Talking, singing and reading also feature in baby care, giving communication a place before children begin using words.

Repetition shapes the Toddler Room, with drawing, construction, puzzles and stories providing opportunities to practise emerging skills. In Pre-School, physical development, communication and emotional development sit alongside activities intended to encourage curiosity. These are different stages of the same journey.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the standards for children's learning, development and care; here, children learn through play, with adults extending their ideas and planning experiences around their interests. Child-led exploration and adult-led activities both have a place. A key person observes each child's development and uses that knowledge to shape what comes next.

Yoga Classes add relaxed movement, Woodwork introduces practical making, and Art Class gives children opportunities to create. These additions sit alongside the everyday learning framework. Their value is the variety of ways children can participate: movement, handling materials and expressing an idea need different kinds of attention.

Kitchen role play uses real vegetables and fruit with pots and plates. Toddlers and preschool children also make tracks and ramps from planks and reused boxes. Familiar objects become resources for investigation, rather than play depending entirely on ready-made toys.

In May 2022, children explored changing textures by mixing water with cornflour and investigated capacity by transferring water between containers. However, planned activities sometimes lacked a sufficiently precise learning purpose, so they did not consistently extend children's existing understanding. More regular coaching and observation of staff practice were also needed, including attention to questioning and allowing children time to answer.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large enclosed outdoor space provides room for physical play. Preschool activities include running, climbing and games involving coordination, while the toddler offer includes equipment for movement and construction activities that exercise smaller hand movements. Outdoor activity therefore sits alongside the work children do with puzzles, drawing and craft materials.

In May 2022, children grew and harvested vegetables in the garden and followed the changes involved in a butterfly's development. Recycling also formed part of their experiences. These examples connected ideas about food, living things and environmental responsibility with things children could observe directly.

Relationships and Communication

Babies' individual patterns for feeding, sleep and play guide their care. Following those routines gives families a concrete starting point for continuity between home and nursery, especially when a child is too young to explain what they need.

The key person plans experiences around the child's interests and development, while parents can contribute their own knowledge of learning at home. Nursery software carries updates to families, with staff using iPads to share learning. Communication therefore includes both planned observation and everyday information about a child's experiences.

Settling is gradual: Broadway recommends at least two or three introductory visits, spread over two weeks where possible, with scope to add visits when needed. The purpose is to let children become familiar with the room, practitioners and other children before their usual attendance begins.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In May 2022, staff used pictures and signing to help children learning English communicate. Where children needed formal support plans, preparation included arrangements for their next stage of learning. These are useful examples of how communication and transition were handled at that time.

Following a regulatory visit on 3 August 2026, Ofsted found requirements were not being met and issued an action requiring staff to understand and use risk assessments while providing appropriate, effective supervision, due by 3 September 2026. The latest published position is the compliance action dated 7 August 2026. Families should give this later finding substantial weight alongside the older Good judgement.

CCTV and video-controlled door entry are part of the premises arrangements. Those systems address access to the building; the August 2026 action concerns how children are supervised and risks managed during their care.

Sessions and Attendance

Broadway opens from 8am until 6pm on weekdays, throughout the year except bank holidays. This gives families an operating window across the working day, with holiday planning needed around bank-holiday closures.

The address is 134 Broadway, Peterborough, PE1 4DG. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 01733 838090. Booking involves an application and completed paperwork; acceptance of a reservation is subject to the registration charge and completion of the documents.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible two-year-olds, with 15- and 30-hour entitlements for eligible three- and four-year-olds. Participation in funding does not itself establish a family's eligibility. Agreed fees form part of the childcare contract.

Parents supply sunscreen, a toothbrush and toothpaste, alongside labelled seasonal clothing and spare clothes. These items belong on the family's preparation list rather than being assumed to come with attendance.

Preparation for school includes practising routines and building independence, alongside stories, phonics games and counting activities. The emphasis is on skills children can use in their next setting, including managing themselves and joining in with others.

• Supervision and risk assessment. The 7 August 2026 compliance action required changes, with a deadline of 3 September 2026. Ask what action was taken and what the subsequent monitoring established before deciding on a place.
• Purposeful teaching. In May 2022, some planned activities needed clearer learning intentions and staff practice needed more consistent coaching. During a visit, ask how practitioners now decide what an activity should teach and review its effect.
• Your attendance and total costs. The nursery operates across the year and offers funded childcare. Ask for one written proposal covering your intended attendance, funded-hours arrangement, meals and consumables, so the practical commitment is clear.
• A baby's adjustment. Individual routines and introductory visits are central to the baby offer. Use a visit to discuss feeding and sleep patterns, the room's usual group size and how additional settling visits would work for your child.

Broadway suits families seeking play-based baby, toddler or preschool care across the year, with individual baby routines, practical activities and digital communication. Sensory exploration, making and outdoor movement give parents concrete reasons to consider it.

The decision must also take account of the August 2026 supervision and risk-assessment action. The 2022 Good judgement provides historical context, but the later requirement for change deserves priority in conversations before joining.