The Day Nursery

Peterborough Museum next door, cathedral grounds on the outing list and natural materials indoors give The Day Nursery a clear city-centre character. Its approach combines child-led play with opportunities to explore the surrounding community. The garden is small, but outdoor life extends beyond it through walks, gardening and the Daily Mile, a routine of movement outside.

At its 14 January 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged achievement, behaviour and routines, welfare and wellbeing, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance to be Strong standard, with safeguarding standards met. This is a report card with separate judgements rather than a single overall grade. The useful detail lies beneath those headings: language, independence and carefully targeted support recur throughout the account.

There are 64 places in total, for children from 3 months to under 5 years. Five rooms provide a progression from babies to preschool, with moves guided by development rather than birthdays alone. Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance serve different family schedules, while bookings run across the year rather than during term time only.

Rooms and Ages

Room 1 is approximately for babies aged 3 to 12 months; Room 2 takes the next stage, around 12 to 18 months; Room 3 is approximately for children from 18 months to 2 years. Room 4 follows, from around 2 years to 2.5 or 3 years, before Pre-School from approximately 2.5 or 3 years onwards. These are guides, with each child's development determining the move.

A garden and Sensory Room are shared resources across the nursery. In January 2026, babies had space for crawling, opportunities for safe climbing and equipment for pulling up to stand. Adults repeated words during face-to-face exchanges, bringing movement and early communication into the same everyday care.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the common framework: children develop communication, movement, social skills, early literacy and mathematics through play and activities suited to their stage. The Day Nursery adds In The Moment Planning, where practitioners follow children's interests and intervene to extend an activity when there is a useful opportunity. Children can reach resources themselves and choose how to use them. That gives them practical control over their play.

The Curiosity Approach shapes the environment through natural materials, authentic household objects and loose parts that can be used in different ways. Families help source objects reflecting different homes and cultures. A resource need not have one predetermined use, so children can experiment, change their plan and return to an idea. These materials and teaching choices complement the EYFS.

First Signs introduces baby sign language as a way for babies to communicate their needs alongside developing speech. Dance Classes reach every room through a visiting teacher each week during term time, while Sports Classes bring a weekly term-time coach to older children. These sessions carry no separate charge to parents. The different activities give babies and older children their own routes into communication and physical participation.

In January 2026, mathematics appeared in ordinary tasks: children measured cooking ingredients and considered how many children would fill the spare seats at tea. Books also extended beyond nursery through a lending library. Learning was connected to things children could do, discuss and revisit, rather than confined to a separate lesson.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Daily Mile gives children outdoor activity every day, alongside garden play and walks into the community. Peterborough Cathedral provides grounds for regular walks; Central Library offers book borrowing and workshops; Peterborough Museum gives children access to changing exhibits next door. Shopping trips to Peterborough Market supply ingredients for cooking, linking an outing with something children later make.

Older children attend the annual Childrens Christmas Nativity at Peterborough Cathedral, with parents welcome to join. Central Park is another destination for picnics and play when the weather suits. These are concrete uses of the city-centre setting, with different purposes rather than simply a change of scenery.

Eco Schools Club brings sustainability and environmental learning into nursery life. The garden has a bug hotel, children help sort recycling, and planting uses collected seeds and reused pots. Rainwater is collected for play and water is reused for plants and cleaning outdoor equipment. The small outdoor space therefore supports close observation and practical habits as well as physical activity.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person linking home and nursery, with daily communication both in person and through Famly. A staff buddy provides continuity when the usual key person is away. This gives parents a regular contact while making cover part of the arrangement.

Famly holds each child's Learning Journey, combining daily photographs with detailed monthly assessments used to plan the next steps. Parents can contribute their own photographs and observations from home, so an interest or achievement outside nursery can inform the discussion. Nurserycam adds room viewing, restricted to the child's own room during their booked attendance.

A Parent Partner Coordinator organises family involvement through stay-and-play opportunities, coffee mornings and weekend events such as a park picnic. The language of the month invites family members to share stories in that language. Parents can also discuss their work or interests with children, giving family knowledge a place in the nursery day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that children formed close relationships with their key person, made substantial progress, and received effective support for special educational needs and/or disabilities through individual targets and a flexible SEND curriculum. In January 2026, staff matched babies' care to their home routines, worked with families and professionals on targeted support, and helped eligible families access additional funding for equipment and resources usable at home or nursery.

Dual-language books were part of the parent lending library in January 2026, and families were invited to read in their home language. School preparation included parent information sessions on independence, self-regulation and children's development. That work connected nursery routines with things families could practise at home, rather than treating preparation for school as a task completed only by staff.

Millie's Mark recognises the nursery's paediatric first-aid training for staff working directly with children. Fingerprint access controls entry, and parent rules restrict admission to named adults and prohibit opening the door to another family without staff permission. These are specific arrangements; the dated safeguarding judgement above is the assessment of their effectiveness.

A full-time chef cooks fresh food daily, using Eat Better, Start Better guidance for menu planning, with termly and seasonal menus informed by family input. The nursery offers dietary and cultural adaptations and operates a strict No Nuts Policy; allergy-affected families should discuss current practice before attendance.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 32-34 Priestgate, Peterborough, PE1 1JA. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The morning session runs from 8am to 1pm, and the afternoon from 1pm to 6pm. A full-day funded session runs from 8am to 6pm. These are different booking patterns, rather than an assumption that every child attends for the whole opening window.

Early attendance can be booked from 7.30am or 7.45am until 8am for an additional charge. The nursery operates for 51 weeks, closing for bank holidays and a week between Christmas and New Year. All bookings are year-round. Regular attendance is required, and funded-session holidays must not exceed 4 weeks; persistent low attendance can lead to termination of a place.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01733 890555 or by email at manager@thedaynurserypeterborough.co.uk. Fees are due at the start of each month, and booked sessions remain payable during illness or holidays. These terms matter when comparing the total commitment with the days a family expects to use.

Getting There

Trinity Street has a designated on-street parking area allowing 20 minutes for collection and drop-off. Families must observe the double-yellow restrictions on Trinity Street and Priestgate, making the short-stay area the relevant option rather than stopping on the pavement outside.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding includes working-family entitlement from 9 months, support-based entitlement for eligible 2-year-olds, and the 15-hour and eligible working-family 30-hour entitlements for children aged 3 and 4. Funding is stretched over 51 weeks; term-time-only bookings are not offered. Funded sessions use an 8am-to-6pm day, with the nursery's funding arrangement offering one or two days according to the entitlement.

The funded-hours package has a voluntary food-and-consumables payment. Families either opt into the whole package or opt out completely and supply everything their child requires, including meals, under nursery guidelines; partial opt-outs are not permitted, and the opt-out route is subject to availability. Purchasing extra private hours is not required to use that route. The nursery also reserves the right to change or withdraw the all-inclusive service if opt-outs make it financially or operationally unviable.

Privately paid sessions include meals, with baby formula supplied by parents. Parents also supply nappies or pull-ups, wipes and sun cream. The nursery pays for its additional classes, so these do not carry a separate activity charge. The funded sessions and charges policy explains the package choices; current private prices should form part of the nursery's written quotation.

• Funded package choice. Opting out means supplying the whole set of required items, including food, and partial opt-outs are excluded. Discuss the complete daily arrangement and its written terms before choosing between the two routes.
• Baby-room fit and outdoor space. Room moves follow development, and the garden is small, with community walks extending outdoor experiences. At a showaround, ask how the youngest room's group size and daily routine would work for your baby.
• Allergy arrangements. A strict No Nuts Policy sits alongside dietary adaptations. Families managing allergies should confirm food handling and the requirements for any meals brought from home, especially under the funded opt-out arrangement.
• Next steps for inclusion. In January 2026, the next step was to deepen the impact on disadvantaged children, children with SEND and those facing other barriers, including children known to social care. For a child needing additional support, discuss how individual targets and home-nursery collaboration translate into their daily activities.

The Day Nursery suits families wanting morning sessions, afternoon sessions or full-day funded attendance within a year-round arrangement. Its strongest practical combination is child-led play indoors, regular use of Peterborough's community spaces and close communication through a key person and Famly. The January 2026 report card gives a strong assessment across the areas examined.

The choice comes with clear commitments: year-round bookings, attendance expectations and a funded package that requires an all-in or all-out decision. For families comfortable with those terms, natural materials, signing, visiting activity teachers and city outings give the nursery day plenty of concrete substance.