Flying Start, Marjon

Garlic butter, letters from a travelling pen pal and outdoor shepherd huts give Flying Start, Marjon a recognisable character. Its November 2024 nursery day brought food, movement and conversation together, with babies exploring ingredients while preschool children helped prepare something for lunch. Learning had practical uses.

At its 19 November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, while identifying a need for older children to explore their interests and ideas more deeply. That balance matters: there was plenty to engage children, but adult conversations did not consistently take their thinking far enough.

Based at Marjon University in Plymouth, the nursery has capacity for 59 children and accepts ages 0 to 60 months. Whole-setting capacity is a different measure from the number of children sharing a room or attending on a particular day.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. Here, its practical expression in November 2024 included stories, counting, physical play and cooking, connecting early skills with activities children could take part in themselves.

Every morning that November, children across the age groups had an uninterrupted hour devoted to movement, followed by cooking. Preschool children made garlic butter for lunch, practising hand movements and doing things independently; younger children investigated garlic through smell and texture. The same ingredient supported different experiences according to the child's stage.

Bertie, the pen pal supplied letters about travels around the world. In November 2024, small-group reading led into learning about Loy Krathong, a Thai celebration involving flower-filled boats floating along a river. Children located Thailand on a map and watched videos of the celebration. This gave discussions about other countries something concrete to build on.

Books also featured throughout that November day, with staff reading to small groups and using expressive voices to draw children into familiar passages. Preschool counting included adding together the boys and girls in a circle and seeing the calculation written on a board. Pretend restaurant play brought another purpose to early writing: children acted as waiters and made marks as they took orders.

Outdoor and Community Life

In November 2024, babies explored plants, insects and natural objects in their own forest school area, an outdoor space used for learning about nature. Outdoor learning therefore began with the youngest children, rather than being reserved for preschool.

Shepherd huts and trips to a local forest also formed part of the outdoor experiences that November. Staff training in forest school had informed these developments. For families who value exploration beyond indoor activities, these are useful examples of how the nursery used its surroundings.

Relationships were an important part of the November 2024 day. Children sought and received comforting cuddles, enjoyed friendships and played together. These small interactions matter as much to a young child's experience as the planned activity timetable.

Moves from the baby room to the toddler room were planned around children's readiness in November 2024. That puts the emphasis on helping a child become comfortable with the next stage, rather than treating a room change simply as an administrative move.

Food therapy sessions that November helped children become willing to try more foods, alongside lunches they enjoyed. Cooking and sensory exploration gave food a place in learning as well as mealtimes.

School preparation in November 2024 included group participation, listening to other children and practising taking turns. These were everyday social skills, giving children opportunities to rehearse the shared routines of their next stage.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, across the year. It closes on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas. Those closures need to fit the family's annual childcare arrangements as well as its usual working week.

Getting There

The address is Marjon University, Derriford Road, Derriford, Plymouth, PL6 8BH. Direct telephone enquiries go to 01752 776460.

Funding and Paid Extras

In November 2024, the nursery received early education funding for children aged two, three and four. Current prices should come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Older children's conversations. In November 2024, interactions in the toddler and preschool areas did not consistently extend children's ideas. At a visit, ask how staff now follow a child's interest into a longer discussion or investigation.
• Food and the family bill. Cooking and food therapy featured in November 2024. Ask for one written explanation of today's funded attendance arrangements and who pays for meals and non-food consumables, especially if food preferences affect your child.
• Christmas cover. The nursery closes for one week at Christmas as well as bank holidays. Families needing childcare throughout that period will need to accommodate the closure.

Flying Start, Marjon merits consideration for families seeking weekday childcare across the year who value practical learning and outdoor exploration. The November 2024 examples are memorable: children cooked, followed Bertie's travels and investigated nature from babyhood. The counterweight is equally specific: older children's thinking needed more sustained adult attention. That is the most useful point to explore alongside the nursery's everyday routines.