Achievers Day Nursery

A climbing space indoors, a planted Bottom Garden outside and seven childcare rooms give Achievers Day Nursery a clear emphasis on movement and exploration. This single-site nursery on Old Laira Road in Plymouth combines age-specific spaces with shared play facilities. Children have different places to be active, rather than spending their whole day in one room.

At its 24 February 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged achievement, behaviour and routines, welfare and wellbeing, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance to meet the Expected standard, with safeguarding standards met. The practical improvement priorities matter: older babies and toddlers needed more opportunities to speak, and changes between daily activities needed better organisation. These are useful points against which to assess the nursery's everyday practice.

Achievers accepts children aged 0 to 60 months and has 140 places in total. Flexible weekly bookings carry a minimum attendance commitment.

Rooms and Ages

Seven childcare rooms organise play around developmental stages, with age-appropriate cot rooms, milk kitchens and toilets. Children are supported to move rooms at intervals during the year.

The Tiny Baby room combines soft, bright surroundings with sensory exploration and support for individual care routines, curiosity and early movement. The Big Baby room gives walking babies a larger space, with messy activities, a story corner and role play supporting exploration, language and growing independence.

Two toddler rooms have their own nappy-changing and toileting facilities. Their routine emphasises activity and exploration, while the approach allows flexibility as children develop independence and communication. Preschool activities place more responsibility with the child: serving snacks, recognising their name and getting dressed sit alongside circle-time contributions. School preparation is practical as well as educational.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning and care: play develops communication, physical skills and relationships alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding of the world. At Achievers, practitioners assess children during play and plan activities around their next developmental steps. Children are not tested.

Each child's Key Worker follows development, with photos, video and written observations contributing to reports every six months. Families can follow the experiences behind these updates through the Parent Portal. See the curriculum information.

In February 2026, learning included preschool experiments with a toy boat and water, while toddlers practised counting and babies heard number words in songs. Signing was used throughout the day, giving babies and children who were not speaking another way to communicate. However, conversations with older babies and toddlers sometimes relied too much on instructions and questions inviting brief answers. The distinction matters: using signing consistently does not remove the need to encourage speech.

Outdoor and Community Life

Scheduled outdoor play uses the Bottom Garden, with grass, planting, a slide, climbing space and a shaded deck, plus sand, water and play kitchens. A separate all-weather terrace accommodates bikes, trikes and group games.

Every age group uses the Indoor Play Area daily for its ball pool, soft play and climbing facilities. The space also hosts wildlife visits, music and dance.

Topic-linked events include World Book Day and World Science Week. Play-and-stay sessions and an annual preschool end-of-term party give families shared occasions.

Relationships and Communication

Around six weeks before starting, families meet the room leader to plan settling, using a Settling in Checklist to gather information about the child. An allocated Key Worker leads family communication and gives updates during initial sessions, providing continuity from planning to attendance.

The Parent Portal combines booking, payment, daily updates, reminders and developmental information. Existing families use its messaging system to contact practitioners about their child. Reception staff help with account setup and booking queries.

In February 2026, babies were helped to settle through familiar songs and comforting cuddles. Preschool children could choose a cuddly toy to take to the sleep room for a nap. These examples show how comfort and rest were incorporated into the day at that time.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SEND specialist works with practitioners, families and outside agencies on additional support, including needs that may be temporary or longer term. At the February 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that children, including those with SEND or other barriers to learning, made progress, with professional advice informing targeted support plans. That judgement sits alongside a current mechanism for coordinating support with parents.

Daily organisation still deserves attention. In February 2026, babies waited too long at snack tables without staff interaction while handwashing and serving were completed. Toddlers went to wash their hands together, leaving staff uncertain about who had finished and allowing some children to drift away. Better planning of these transitions was an explicit improvement priority, not simply a question of adding more activities.

Cooks prepare food on site from fresh ingredients, with a six-week menu rotation. The allergy and dietary policy involves discussion with families; parents may need to supply meals when a requirement cannot be accommodated.

Building security includes facial recognition at the entrance, reception-controlled access and alarmed external doors. These arrangements control entry and exit.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, closing on bank holidays and during the week between Christmas and New Year.

Online booking lets families vary days and hours weekly, with a minimum of 24 hours each week excluding holidays. This suits changing work schedules more readily than occasional short visits.

Bookings can be changed or cancelled until Tuesday evening for the following week; later bookings attract a charge and require confirmation. Each required week needs a booking, submitted and paid within four hours online.

Cancellation refunds go back into the child's account, with remaining credit returned to parents when the child leaves. Sickness-related absence does not receive a refund under the nursery's terms. These conditions make the booking deadline and illness policy relevant to the overall childcare budget.

Getting There

The address is 247 Old Laira Road, Laira, Plymouth, PL3 6DG. New families can use the contact form, telephone 01752 224747 or email office@achieversdaynursery.co.uk; nursery visits can also be booked.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes support for eligible working parents from the term after a child reaches nine months, and Me2 funding for eligible two-year-olds under its income criteria. Families can choose standard funding of 15 or 30 hours over 38 weeks, or stretched funding of 12 or 24 hours over 48 weeks. The choice changes how support is spread through the year; it does not establish eligibility for an individual family.

Meals and additional activities are included in the booking price, including funded bookings, subject to the dietary exception described above. Parents have the option to supply consumables such as wipes and sun cream. Non-funded hours are payable when booked; peak-hour bookings cost more, and spreading funded hours across additional sessions incurs a session charge.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The funding and charges information sets out the options, while the payment process requires families to review the price before completing a booking.

• Younger children's conversations. Encouraging speech among older babies and toddlers was a February 2026 improvement priority. During a visit, ask how practitioners now extend children's answers during play and snacks.
• Waiting between activities. In February 2026, babies waited too long at snack tables without staff interaction, and toddler handwashing was poorly organised. Ask how these routines have been changed and how children are prepared for the next activity.
• Flexibility with a weekly commitment. Variable days and hours come with a 24-hour weekly minimum outside holidays and a Tuesday-evening deadline. Compare these conditions with your actual working pattern, including weeks when you need less care.
• Dietary accommodation. Families may need to provide food when the nursery cannot meet a dietary request. Confirm current arrangements for your child's allergy or dietary needs before agreeing the booking plan.

Achievers suits families who want age-specific childcare spaces, daily opportunities for active play and a single system for communication and bookings. Its flexible-hours model serves both changing weekly schedules and regular attendance, provided the weekly minimum and advance-booking deadline fit family life.

The gardens, indoor play facilities and planned settling process give the offer substance. The February 2026 improvement priorities are equally concrete: richer conversations for younger children and smoother everyday transitions. Those points should carry weight alongside the facilities when deciding whether Achievers is the right fit.