Rise and Shine Day Nursery

Garden play, interest-led learning and visits to the community Friends club give Rise and Shine Day Nursery a character that reaches beyond its rooms. Based on Ledbury Road in Peterborough, it welcomes children from 3 months to 5 years and has capacity for 32 children. Four age-based rooms separate the youngest babies from children preparing for school.

At its 2 April 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged all evaluated areas to meet the Expected standard and safeguarding standards to be met. That is an area-by-area assessment, rather than an overall grade. The practical detail beneath those judgements matters: children explored materials, took increasing responsibility for everyday tasks and spent time outdoors, while improvements were required in toothbrushing, staff interactions and the targeting of training.

Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings give families different ways to organise attendance. The minimum booking is two sessions each week.

Rooms and Ages

Tadpole Room takes children from 3 months to 2 years. Ladybird Room serves ages 2 to 3, as does Caterpillar Room. Butterfly Room is for children aged 3 to 5. These are age bands, rather than promises about the number of children sharing a room on a particular day.

The four-room arrangement gives the nursery a progression from baby care towards preschool experiences. Activities are adapted to the age-based rooms, with construction, imaginative play, creative work and movement forming part of the day. The garden adds an outdoor setting for exploration.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: in everyday terms, children build communication, physical and social skills through play and daily routines. Alongside this, in the moment planning means activities and learning plans respond to children's interests. It gives their current curiosity a role in deciding what happens next.

In April 2026, practical activities included babies handling cereal to explore texture, toddlers working dough with tools and older children experimenting with powder-paint colours. Those examples show how a shared emphasis on exploration took different forms across the ages. Learning involved hands and materials, as well as conversation.

Books also linked group activities with independent play in April 2026. Leaders had an action plan to make early-literacy teaching more consistent between age groups. Children heard stories, returned to familiar books and recreated them through imaginative activities. Counting, shape and measurement were taught explicitly. In the garden, adults supplied vocabulary that older children used when describing ingredients for mud kitchen recipes, connecting language with their play.

Outdoor and Community Life

Visits include farms, parks and the library, alongside participation in local church activities. Preschool children also visit the community Friends club. These experiences introduce people and places beyond the nursery, giving children more to talk about and explore together.

In April 2026, the outdoor area included balance beams for physical play and fruit and vegetables that children could harvest for snacks. The garden therefore served different purposes: movement, growing food and imaginative activity. Children of different ages played alongside one another outdoors, with reminders about sharing and taking turns.

Relationships and Communication

In April 2026, children starting nursery had gradual settling sessions shaped around their needs. Key persons offered reassurance, while staff worked with parents to reflect babies' sleep and weaning patterns. That combination made settling a process of learning about the child, rather than expecting every family to follow an identical timetable.

Communication in April 2026 included daily conversations, parents' evenings and progress updates through an online app. Parents could join story sessions and borrow books from the nursery's lending collection. This connected reading at nursery with reading at home, while giving families several ways to discuss their child's development.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received effective support, with individual planning and collaboration with speech and language and occupational therapists. Home visits before children started helped staff understand family circumstances, and additional funding supported meals and home-learning resources.

In April 2026, stories and discussion helped children identify emotions and find words for their feelings. Everyday independence was also practised through handwashing, clearing plates and managing coats and wellies. Staff supervised eating and sleeping, with attention to children's individual needs.

There were clear development priorities in April 2026. Toothbrushing was not adapted consistently for younger children, interactions needed to be more consistently effective throughout the day, and training needed a closer match to weaknesses in staff practice. Those points matter because ordinary routines and adult conversation occupy so much of a young child's day.

Children attending in the morning or for a full day receive a home-cooked meal; fruit snacks and a light afternoon tea are also offered. For funded attendance, families can pay separately for a meal or supply a packed lunch.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, afternoons from 1pm to 6pm, and full days from 8am to 6pm. A minimum of two half-day sessions per week applies, with morning or afternoon bookings counting towards that pattern. Families can also book a full week.

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, closing on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas. A half-day pattern can therefore suit a family needing a shorter block of care, while a full-day booking covers both sessions.

Getting There

The address is 108 Ledbury Road, Peterborough, PE3 9PN, at the entrance to Jack Hunt School. That is a location reference and carries no promise about a later school place.

Enquiries and booking discussions can be made by telephone, email or the contact form. These routes give families a direct way to start the joining process.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery accepts government funding described as 15 and 30 hours for children aged 2, 3 and 4, alongside privately paid sessions. Funded meals are charged separately unless families send a packed lunch, so the food arrangement is a separate decision from the childcare hours.

Childcare vouchers are accepted, and a sibling discount applies to families registering siblings. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees and session information sets out the booking structure and funded-meal choice.

• Everyday practice. The April 2026 priorities covered younger children's toothbrushing, the consistency of adult interactions and more precisely targeted staff training. During a visit, ask how these changes now work across the rooms.
• A regular booking commitment. The minimum is two half-day sessions per week. This suits families seeking a recurring pattern; consider whether mornings, afternoons or full days fit the week you need.
• Funded attendance and food. Funded children can have a separately charged meal or bring a packed lunch. Decide which arrangement fits your child and your daily preparation.
• Baby-room planning. Tadpole Room spans 3 months to 2 years. Ask how its usual group size and the organisation of sleep and active play accommodate children at different stages.

Rise and Shine suits families looking for morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day care, with an interest-led approach and experiences beyond the nursery through the Friends club, library and farm visits. Its four age-based rooms provide a clear route from baby care to preschool.

The April 2026 assessment gives a measured picture: expected standards across the evaluated areas, accompanied by specific improvements to everyday practice. Families should weigh the community activities and flexible session choices alongside those priorities, especially when choosing care for a younger child.