St Jude's Church Nursery

Colour-coded activity rooms, a quieter space for supported play and a Christian community identity give St Jude's Church Nursery a clear character. Children choose between rooms rather than spending the whole session in one activity space. The church connection also reaches into the day through visiting clergy, stories, songs and celebrations with families.

On Silver Street in Southsea, Portsmouth, the nursery accepts children aged two to five and has capacity for 95 children. At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall and found safeguarding effective. The useful detail behind that judgement includes children helping one another during play, staff planning individual learning steps and close work with families.

Morning, afternoon, Short Day and Full Day bookings offer different ways to organise attendance. Term-time and full-year provision are separate calendar choices, making the distinction between the length of a session and the weeks attended important for parents.

Rooms and Ages

The rooms are organised around activities, with children assigned to Rainbows, Sunbeams, Stars or Sparkles according to age or need. Free flow means children can move between learning areas, choose an activity that interests them and spend time completing it at their own pace. For a child absorbed in construction or imaginative play, that gives room to continue an idea.

The Blue Room serves preschool children with space for movement, construction on different scales, early writing and maths, alongside a book nook and home corner. The Yellow Room gives preschool children opportunities for woodwork, art, sensory exploration and play with sand and water. These are different kinds of working space, rather than simply different names for age groups.

For younger children, The Green Room combines messy and sensory activities with a small sensory nook. The Orange Room brings together a home corner, books, early writing, construction and small world play. The Red Room is a quieter setting for the Sparkles Group, where children receive support from the SEND team in a small group.

Learning and Activities

EYFS is the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care; here, play provides opportunities to practise language, movement, early maths and social skills. The nursery's free flow organisation sits alongside that framework. Adults also use scaffolding: giving support that helps children take the next step in an activity, with their interests informing the learning planned for them.

In January 2024, staff used everyday play to introduce mathematical ideas: younger children counted scoops while making sandcastles, and older children compared the contents of scales. Songs, stories and conversations also introduced vocabulary. These examples connect learning to something children are already doing, rather than separating it into formal lessons.

There were weaknesses alongside those strengths. In January 2024, some adults working with younger children needed more coaching to make their interactions consistently effective, and questioning sometimes moved on before children had enough thinking time. The practical issue is the adult's response to a child's idea: extending it while leaving space for the child to answer or experiment.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Garden supports bike riding, climbing, gardening, games and mini sports. Children spend an hour there during both morning and afternoon sessions, giving outdoor activity a defined place in the nursery day. The activities cover energetic movement as well as opportunities to tend plants and play together.

St Jude's Church contributes regular visits from clergy and church staff, who share songs and stories. A Nativity play is performed for parents at Christmas, while families also attend an Easter celebration. These experiences make the Christian ethos tangible, so its place in a child's everyday experience deserves attention alongside the rooms and resources.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who observes their development and involves parents when deciding the next learning step. Children's interests also inform adjustments to the learning environment. This gives families a direct role in planning, with discussion centred on their own child's development rather than only on the group's activities.

In January 2024, children turned to familiar adults for reassurance and companionship during play. Younger children made space for friends sharing books, while older children helped one another with aprons for water play. Staff set expectations for behaviour and helped resolve disagreements, giving children practical examples of how to share space and consider others.

Family support extended beyond conversations about development. In January 2024, a lending library helped parents share books at home, and a community table gave families access to everyday essentials. Those arrangements linked nursery life with home life in concrete ways. Parents can also help regularly within a nursery group, bringing another form of involvement into the setting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENCO coordinates provision for children with SEND and supports colleagues with assessment and adjustments. Where developmental concerns arise, families are invited to discuss them with the SENCO; advice may come from a Health Visitor, Speech and Language Therapist or Outreach Officer. This is a defined route from noticing a concern to discussing the support a child needs.

A Child Support Plan (CSP) is developed with parents for a child identified as having a special educational need, with reviews at least termly and achievable steps guiding the work. Portage SEND Best Practice Assessment Documents support assessment, and the nursery has achieved the Portage stamp of approval following staff training and a supporting portfolio. The Red Room adds a quieter physical space to those planning arrangements.

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found SEND support highly effective, with personalised plans shaped jointly by parents and external professionals helping children make substantial progress. In January 2024, staff also used children's home languages alongside English, helping children participate in conversation while developing their English vocabulary.

The management structure includes safeguarding lead and deputy roles, and staff have advanced paediatric first aid training. These are specific arrangements for responsibility and emergency response. They sit alongside the dated safeguarding judgement, rather than replacing it with a general assurance about care.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Morning Session runs from 8am to 1pm, Afternoon Session from 1pm to 6pm, Short Day from 9am to 4pm and Full Day from 8am to 6pm. A shorter day therefore has different start and finish times from either session, which matters when matching attendance to work or other commitments.

Term-time provision runs for 38 weeks, while full-year provision runs for 51 weeks. The two calendars have different holiday arrangements, and the full-year calendar also includes closure days. Families should treat the calendar choice as part of the booking decision, rather than assuming that a Full Day booking determines attendance throughout the year.

The address is Silver Street, Portsmouth, PO5 3BW. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 023 9282 1726 or by email at nursery@sjs.church.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and privately paid sessions are offered. Funding options cover eligible two-year-olds from the term after their second birthday, universal early education funding from the term after a child's third birthday, and additional funding subject to working-parent conditions. The younger starting age mentioned in the funding rules does not change this nursery's accepted age range.

The session structure allows funding to cover five hours for a morning or afternoon, seven hours for Short Day and ten hours for Full Day. The prices and funding page sets out those booking options; families should obtain a current written quotation for their chosen arrangement.

Parents supply a packed lunch when a child stays for lunch, while milk or water and fresh fruit are provided midway through morning and afternoon sessions. Lunch planning therefore remains a home responsibility.

The nursery describes itself as closely linked to St. Jude’s Primary School. Attendance does not guarantee a school place, and families still use the local authority admissions process.

• Christian life. Church visitors, the Nativity play and Easter celebration are part of the offer, and families of all faiths and none are welcomed. During a visit, discuss how those experiences fit your family's preferences.
• Adult interaction. In January 2024, further coaching for staff working with younger children and more thinking time during questioning were improvement priorities. Ask how staff now support a younger child's conversation and independent ideas.
• Support planning. The Sparkles Group, quieter Red Room and termly Child Support Plan reviews offer specific arrangements for additional needs. Discuss how a plan and room use would work for your child.
• Booking and daily supplies. Four session lengths sit alongside term-time and full-year calendars, and parents provide lunch. Ask for a written breakdown for your chosen pattern, including which non-food supplies you would bring.

St Jude's suits families seeking a Christian nursery with child-led movement between activity rooms and a structured route for additional support. Morning and afternoon sessions serve different needs from Short Day or Full Day attendance, while the calendar choices add another practical distinction. Its January 2024 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, with adult interaction and thinking time remaining useful points to explore. The strongest reasons to consider it are concrete: varied working spaces, planned outdoor time and support organised around the individual child.