The Play Academy

A rooftop garden for the youngest children and a kitchen hatch where children can watch meals being made give The Play Academy a clear practical character. This Southsea nursery combines purpose-built spaces with play shaped around children’s interests. Babies have somewhere separate to sleep; preschool children have a room connected to garden space. Those details matter more than a general promise of stimulating childcare.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, finding highly effective education, rapid progress and effective safeguarding. The inspection took place under the name Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery; The Play Academy is the current name of the same setting at 37 Elm Grove, Southsea, PO5 1JF.

There are 80 places in total, with an age range of three months to five years. That is the capacity of the whole nursery, not the size of an individual room. Full-day and half-day sessions are offered, with shorter wraparound periods at either end of the full day.

Rooms and Ages

The Nest serves children from three months to two years, with a separate sleep room, a messy room and a rooftop garden; its learning emphasis combines relationships and communication with movement and curiosity. Separating sleep from messy play gives these different parts of a baby’s day their own space. The garden also gives the youngest children an outdoor setting attached to their unit.

Explorers takes children from two years to two years six months, using a spacious, light room for play that develops creativity, social skills and problem solving. This is a separate stage between the youngest provision and preschool. Its emphasis puts playing with other children alongside working things out, rather than treating learning as a sequence of adult-directed tasks.

Investigators has a purpose-built room incorporating garden space and free-flow access, with an emphasis on independent choices, early reading, number skills and solving problems. Preschool preparation here includes pursuing interests and tackling challenges through play. Respect for other people and the environment sits alongside the skills children will use when they move on to school.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the framework for learning, development and care: children build communication, physical and social skills through their everyday experiences and play. Alongside that framework, The Play Academy uses a child-led, play-based approach. Activities are adapted to children’s interests and abilities, giving staff a way to connect learning with what a child already wants to explore.

Cooking makes that approach tangible. Children take part in food preparation linked to their learning and to festivals, including Vietnamese spring rolls for Tet and pumpkin soup for Halloween. These are concrete opportunities to handle ingredients and explore recipes. The open kitchen hatch adds another connection: children can watch their meals being prepared and talk about what is happening.

In January 2024, early reading and mathematics were prominent in the nursery’s activities. Oral-health learning also involved practical experiences: children handled toothbrushes, experimented with brushing and used games to distinguish healthier food choices. Learning about teeth therefore extended beyond being told to brush them. Children had opportunities to practise the actions and talk about food.

Outdoor and Community Life

In January 2024, children made weekly visits to a local forest school, giving them time outdoors to explore the natural world. Pilates classes involved experimenting with movement and flexibility. These were different ways of using the body: one through outdoor exploration, the other through guided movement.

Community experiences at that time included library visits and singing for residents of a local home for older people. Parents contributed songs in other languages and foods from different countries, while children learnt about celebrations including Eid and Diwali. Those activities connected learning with people and places beyond the nursery rooms.

Children also contributed ideas through a council and questionnaires completed with parents. In January 2024, their suggestions had led to the purchase of an annual aquarium pass. It was a concrete example of children having a say in an activity, rather than adults choosing every experience for them.

The youngest children’s accommodation makes rest a practical part of care. A separate sleep room in The Nest allows sleep and active play to happen in different spaces. Relationships are an explicit part of that room’s approach, alongside helping babies communicate and develop confidence through adult interaction.

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received tailored support, with assessments guiding activities and SENCos working with parents and other professionals to address communication needs. That finding gives substance to inclusion: support involved identifying a child’s needs and adjusting what happened next, rather than relying on a general statement of welcome.

In January 2024, small-group activities addressed difficulties with language and social communication. Children were familiar with routines and took responsibility for putting away their belongings. Staff modelled respectful interactions, and children played cooperatively. Predictable routines and opportunities to manage small tasks were part of the daily experience at that date.

Food is cooked on site by a chef, and the nursery’s dietary policy includes catering for restrictions and allergies. Children can watch preparation through the open kitchen hatch and discuss the cooking, linking the meals they eat with how food is made.

Partnership with parents is also part of the current approach: staff work with families to support children’s development and learning. The January 2024 activities show some practical forms that involvement took, from parents sharing cultural experiences to helping children complete questionnaires at home. Families were involved in contributing to nursery life as well as receiving information about it.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 37 Elm Grove, Southsea, PO5 1JF. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm. The nursery operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and a week at Christmas.

A full day runs from 7.45am to 5.45pm. Half days run either from 8am to 1pm or from 1pm to 6pm. Morning wraparound covers 7.30am to 7.45am, while evening wraparound covers 5.45pm to 6pm. These short additions extend the full-day session to the opening window; the afternoon half day already ends at 6pm.

The minimum attendance requirement is two full days. That condition matters when weighing the half-day options against a family’s preferred weekly pattern. Joining enquiries and visit bookings can be made through the nursery’s enquiry form, by telephone or by email.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with a separate daily charge for meals and consumables on funded days. For private sessions, the fee includes freshly cooked meals, snacks, nappies and wipes, together with trips and visiting groups. The distinction is important: the private-session inclusions should not be read as the charge structure for funded attendance.

Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, based on individual requirements. The sessions and fees page sets out the attendance patterns and separates the funded-day meals and consumables charge from the session fees. Families comparing arrangements need to consider both the time booked and the items charged alongside funded hours.

• Combining sessions. Half days sit alongside a minimum requirement of two full days. At a visit, ask how the half-day options fit into the weekly booking you have in mind.
• Settling a baby. The Nest has separate spaces for sleep, messy play and outdoor time. Ask how settling would be organised around your baby’s routines and how contact with their key person would work.
• Funded-day extras. Meals and consumables carry a separate daily charge on funded days, while private-session fees include food, nappies and wipes. Compare the complete written quotation for your intended pattern.
• Dietary needs. The nursery’s policy includes catering for allergies and dietary restrictions. Families affected by an allergy should confirm the current preparation and serving arrangements before starting.

The Play Academy suits families considering full days or half days who can accommodate its minimum two-full-day attendance requirement. The short morning and evening wraparound options add flexibility around the full-day timetable.

Its strongest practical features are easy to identify: a separate sleep room and rooftop garden for The Nest, garden access for Investigators, and cooking that children can watch and take part in. The January 2024 Outstanding judgement provides a strong inspection position, while the current rooms and child-led approach explain what families are choosing today. Funded-day extras and the attendance minimum deserve close attention alongside those strengths.