Tops Day Nurseries: Southsea Nursery

In August 2024, books about feelings, toy cars on ramps and yoga illustrated how children practised language, explored ideas and understood other people at this Southsea nursery. At its August 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The detail behind that judgement matters more than the label.

Tops Day Nurseries: Southsea Nursery, at 16 Bruce Road, accepts children from three months to 59 months and has 78 places in total. Its inspection account combines warm relationships with purposeful activities, alongside a specific weakness in organising group experiences.

In August 2024, babies explored blocks hidden in cornflour while staff repeated the object's name with their faces visible. Words were connected to something children could see and handle. Toy farm animals, textured books and photographs also linked sensory exploration with early language.

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care, bringing play, communication and physical development into the nursery day. In August 2024, toddlers' interest in cars led to experiments with ramps: staff demonstrated different speeds, then introduced another ramp so children could compare vehicles. An ordinary interest became an introduction to mathematical ideas.

Older children practised balance and coordinated movement through yoga in August 2024. Maps and postcards prompted conversations about families' backgrounds and experiences, while cleaning the role-play area gave children practical jobs to share. These examples show learning extending beyond adult-led discussions into movement, conversation and participation.

In August 2024, children sought comfort from familiar staff and had close relationships with their key person. Books about emotions helped them talk about worry, fear and affection, including what had helped them feel better. That gave feelings a vocabulary rather than leaving children to express everything through behaviour.

At the August 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language made good progress, supported by effective work with parents and professionals. Parents contributed to assessments in August 2024, helping staff connect learning at nursery with what children already knew elsewhere; health visitors were among the professionals involved in support.

The address is 16 Bruce Road, Southsea, PO4 9RL. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year except bank holidays. That opening window is useful for comparing the nursery with a family's working day.

In August 2024, the nursery provided funded places for children aged two, three and four. This is a dated account of its funding participation. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Group activities. In August 2024, an overcrowded story session led to interruptions and children losing engagement. The improvement priority was better organisation of activities; on a visit, ask how story groups are arranged now.
• Baby care. With children accepted from three months, ask how sleep and settling would work for your child's attendance pattern.

This nursery merits consideration for families who value language-rich play, emotional understanding and practical participation. Its August 2024 examples are specific: babies connecting words with objects, toddlers comparing cars on ramps and older children practising yoga. The counterweight is equally concrete: group activities needed better organisation. Families seeking care across the year can weigh those strengths against how their child responds to shared activities and the nursery's weekday opening hours.