St Jude's Church Nursery

Five colour-coded rooms, a church connection and unusually detailed SEND work give St Jude's Church Nursery a clear identity. The setting serves children aged two to school age at Silver Street, Portsmouth, PO5 3BW, with capacity for 95 children. Ofsted rated it Good in January 2024 after a Requires Improvement judgement in February 2023.

This is a large, long-established provision, but its offer is organised around smaller age or need groups called Rainbows, Sunbeams, Stars and Sparkles. Children choose between rooms through a free-flow system, while every morning and afternoon includes an hour in the garden. Morning, afternoon, short-day and full-day patterns are published alongside term-time and 51-week arrangements.

Rooms and Ages

The Blue Room is a large preschool space for physical play, construction, early mathematics and writing, with a book nook and home corner. The Yellow Room gives the same Rainbow group a messier offer: water, sand, woodwork, sensory materials and creative work. Together, they let preschool children move between active, imaginative and hands-on learning rather than spending the day in one fixed room.

Younger Sunbeams and Stars use the Green and Orange Rooms. Green centres on water, sand, sensory and textured play and includes a small sensory nook; Orange adds role play, books, writing, construction and small-world resources. The Red Room is a tranquil base for the Sparkles group, where a small group receives support from the SEND team.

Learning and Named Experiences

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the areas of learning, development and care. Here, staff use children's interests and assessed next steps to decide what to teach next, so play should build communication, physical development, early mathematics and independence rather than simply occupy time.

In January 2024, children counted scoops while making sandcastles and compared heavier, lighter, more and less using scales. Song, stories and conversations introduced words including broccoli and magnetic. The curriculum was broad and varied, while leaders were asked to make interactions with younger children more consistently strong and to give children enough time to think before answering questions.

The garden brings climbing, bikes, mini sports, gardening and games into both daily sessions. Church staff and clergy also make regular visits to share stories and songs, while a Christmas Nativity play and an Easter celebration bring families into recurring events.

Children have a key person who observes development, agrees next steps with families and adapts the learning environment around individual interests. In 2024, children settled well, sought staff for comfort and play, shared books with friends and helped one another with water-play aprons. Clear expectations and adult modelling supported kind, careful behaviour.

SEND provision is a genuine strength. The nursery uses Child Support Plans reviewed at least termly, works with health visitors, speech and language therapists and outreach officers, and adapts the EYFS where needed. Its SENCO uses Portage SEND Best Practice Assessment Documents, and the nursery says it was the first in Portsmouth to gain the Portage stamp of approval. In January 2024, SEND was a standout strength: tailored planning helped children progress exceptionally well.

In January 2024, families also had access to a lending library and a community table with everyday essentials. Children learning English as an additional language heard staff use home languages alongside English, helping them build confidence and begin using new English words.

Safeguarding arrangements were effective in January 2024. The nursery publishes a safeguarding procedure covering recruitment checks, visitor records, staff training and supervision of children.

Sessions and Attendance

Published weekday patterns are a morning session from 8am to 1pm, an afternoon session from 1pm to 6pm, a short day from 9am to 4pm and a full day from 8am to 6pm. Families can use term-time provision across 38 weeks or full-year provision across 51 weeks, with specific holiday, bank-holiday and inset closures listed annually.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery publishes funded early education for eligible two-, three- and four-year-olds. Its session table allows funded hours to be used against the stated patterns, with private attendance quoted separately. Current nursery-specific prices should be obtained in writing for the required schedule.

Children receive milk or water and fresh fruit midway through each morning and afternoon session. Families provide a named packed lunch when a child stays over lunchtime.

Getting There

The nursery is on Silver Street in Southsea and is part of St Jude's Church's local mission. It describes a close link with St Jude's Primary School. Families should check the school's admissions arrangements separately.

• Younger children's interactions. The 2024 inspection asked leaders to strengthen coaching so that work with younger children is consistently high quality. This makes the consistency of adult interaction an important point to explore.
• Lunch and care items. Families provide a packed lunch for children staying at midday. Ask what must be brought for the child's age group and how dietary or allergy needs are handled.
• Church character. Regular visits, Christian values, the Nativity and Easter celebration are part of nursery life. Families of all faiths and none are offered places, but parents should decide whether this character suits them.

St Jude's combines the scale of a 95-place setting with a room system that gives different kinds of play a clear home. Blue and Yellow broaden preschool activity; Green and Orange serve younger children; Red provides a calmer SEND base. The daily garden hour, free-flow choices and concrete mathematics seen at inspection make the curriculum easy to picture.

It should suit families seeking morning or afternoon sessions, a short day or a full day, with either term-time or 51-week provision. Its strongest case is for parents who value detailed SEND planning, community support and a visible church connection. The main question is whether the improvement work identified in 2024 has made adult interaction equally strong across the younger groups.