Leapfrog Neighbourhood Nursery

Counting flour into dough, learning to pour a drink and talking through familiar stories give Leapfrog Neighbourhood Nursery a practical character. At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The strongest examples involved children learning through ordinary tasks, with independence developed alongside language and early mathematics.

This is the setting at 10 Yarborough Road, Southsea, PO5 3DZ, with capacity for 40 children and an accepted age range of 11 to 60 months. Capacity describes the whole nursery, rather than the number of children sharing a room or attending together. That distinction matters when weighing the scale of care for a younger child.

Attendance includes full-day and half-day bookings, alongside funded afternoons: Comprehensive All-Inclusive stretched bookings include food and non-food consumables, while Core EYFS families provide both from home.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the statutory framework for learning, development and care: here, play and daily routines provide opportunities to practise communication, physical skills and early number ideas. In September 2025, teaching also used the HighScope approach, with practical learning illustrated by choosing play, handling dressing-up clothes and developing self-care skills.

Mathematics was woven into activities that already interested children. In September 2025, dough-making involved counting flour, while construction and stories introduced ideas about colour, shape and size. Number work therefore had a purpose children could understand. Staff also demonstrated how to handle scissors and cutlery, giving children specific skills to practise rather than relying solely on free exploration.

Relationships and Communication

In September 2025, key-person arrangements helped staff connect nursery experiences with children's lives at home. Personal family photographs gave children something familiar to discuss. New starters received comfort and predictable routines, with staff responding to their need for reassurance. For parents, the useful detail is how those relationships were expressed through everyday care.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted identified two improvements: quieter children needed activities adapted more effectively, and changes between daily activities sometimes took so long that children lost interest. These are material qualifications to the Good judgement. A child who contributes less readily needs deliberate support, while lengthy pauses can interrupt learning even within an otherwise predictable routine.

Collection arrangements require photographic identification and the child's password when a different authorised adult collects. Families must also keep health and dietary information current. These are concrete procedures parents need to understand before care begins.

The nursery has a nut-free policy, and families must keep food containing nuts off the premises. Food and non-food consumables are included within Comprehensive All-Inclusive stretched bookings, while Core EYFS families supply both from home; the policy therefore also matters when packing a child's food.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, at 10 Yarborough Road, Southsea, PO5 3DZ. Telephone enquiries use 02392 643776, with email contact through admin@leapfrognursery.com. The nursery closes for bank holidays and Christmas.

Comprehensive All-Inclusive bookings include full days and half days, with term-time or year-round arrangements. The minimum attendance requirement can be met through any two half-day sessions or one full day under this model.

Core EYFS is a funded, term-time afternoon model booked a term at a time, subject to availability. Its minimum is two afternoon sessions, including attendance on a Monday or Friday. Additional regular sessions, ad hoc bookings and summer holiday sessions cannot be added within this model. For families needing care across school holidays, that is a substantial difference from Comprehensive All-Inclusive attendance.

Two staff-training closures each term end the day at 4pm, with four weeks' notice and full fees applying. Families arranging collection around work need to account for those shorter days as well as the usual opening window.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government funding is offered through 15-hour and 30-hour arrangements, with Comprehensive All-Inclusive funding usable term time or stretched across the nursery year, subject to availability. Core EYFS funding is restricted to term-time afternoons. Eligibility is confirmed each term, and families using funding codes must reconfirm them every three months.

Comprehensive All-Inclusive stretched bookings and additional non-funded sessions include food, personal-use items and non-food consumables in the fee. For Comprehensive All-Inclusive term-time bookings, their inclusion depends on paying the consumables charge.

Core EYFS bookings exclude food, personal-use items and non-food consumables from the fee. Families provide these from home, bringing them daily and taking them home afterwards.

A non-refundable enrolment charge applies once a place is confirmed in writing if the booking contains partly funded or non-funded sessions. Term-Time Mix funded bookings and Core EYFS term-time bookings do not incur that charge. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, so families should compare the complete cost of their intended pattern.

Ending a place or permanently reducing attendance requires at least one month's written notice. Bookings cannot be paused temporarily and then reinstated, and ordinary holiday or sickness absences remain chargeable. Those terms favour a settled attendance pattern rather than one regularly adjusted around changing plans.

Getting There

Elm Grove has nearby bus stops, and on-street parking is offered outside the Yarborough Road setting. For families using either option, the residential-street location is the practical starting point for planning collection.

• Support for a quieter child. September 2025 findings identified uneven adaptation of activities for children who participated less confidently. During a visit, ask how the key person encourages your child to contribute and recognises their learning.
• Changes between activities. In September 2025, some routine transitions left children waiting long enough to disengage. Ask to discuss how those moments are organised now, especially if your child finds waiting difficult.
• The funded model changes the arrangement. Core EYFS means term-time afternoons and supplies from home; Comprehensive All-Inclusive offers different attendance options and charge structures. Compare a written quotation for the model and pattern you intend to use.
• Food allergies. A nut-free policy applies, including to food families bring. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice and discuss their child's dietary requirements before starting.

Leapfrog suits families choosing between full-day and half-day attendance who value practical learning and stories. Term-time funded afternoons offer another option through Core EYFS, provided its attendance restrictions and home-supplied items fit family life.

The Good judgement has substance behind it: everyday independence, purposeful mathematics and relationships built around familiar experiences. The reservations are equally concrete. Support for quieter children and the management of routine transitions deserve attention when deciding whether this nursery fits a particular child.