Twinkle Cottage Day Nursery

A detached cottage, regular library visits and outings to Portsmouth’s seafront give Twinkle Cottage Day Nursery a recognisable Fratton character. The setting combines play chosen by children with adult-led activities, while a key person connects each child’s learning with home. Its appeal lies in these concrete arrangements: opportunities to explore beyond the nursery, a structured day that can change with individual needs, and regular communication with families.

At its March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with positive findings about support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those learning English as an additional language. That is a dated judgement. The same visit identified two improvements: protecting uninterrupted learning and making support for practitioners, including those training, more consistent.

Twinkle Cottage accepts children from 3 months to 5 years and has 48 places in total. Full days, shorter days, morning sessions and afternoon sessions provide several attendance patterns rather than a single all-day arrangement.

Rooms and Ages

Comets and Planets share an example routine built around children’s chosen play, a welcome song, group time, stories and garden activity; Little Stars and Milky Ways have an example day combining child-led exploration with adult-led learning, singing and time outside. These are useful descriptions of how the day is organised rather than a rigid timetable for every child. The routines can change to accommodate individual needs and spontaneous learning.

The Little Stars and Milky Ways example routine includes sleep and nappy changes. Those care needs sit within the day alongside play, rather than being treated as interruptions to it. For Comets and Planets, the example includes a snack period alongside garden access and children’s own activities. Families can weigh the balance between shared routines and time to pursue an absorbing piece of play.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care: here, children encounter language, physical activity, relationships, early mathematics, books, creative expression and exploration of their surroundings through play and planned activities. Practitioners use observations to decide what a child might learn next, then plan the indoor and outdoor provision accordingly. This gives the activities a purpose beyond keeping children occupied.

Attention and listening receive explicit emphasis in adult-led activities. Children also have opportunities to choose resources and direct their own play. The daily examples place songs and stories alongside these choices, so quieter shared experiences form part of a day that also includes movement and exploration.

In March 2022, mathematical ideas appeared in practical activities: older children compared shapes while cutting, and toddlers used fingers to explore counting. Teaching was adjusted to different starting points, including varying the language used during play with potato-head toys. These examples show how ordinary materials can carry learning, rather than requiring a separate formal lesson. They belong to that visit, rather than describing today’s activities.

Outdoor and Community Life

Regular visits to the local library extend children’s experiences beyond the cottage. Parks, local transport and the seafront also feature in community outings, bringing everyday places into the nursery’s offer. Parents and carers can join parent sessions, giving families a way to participate in nursery life rather than receiving updates alone.

In March 2022, children used a garden equipped for running, climbing and scooting. That provided opportunities for physical play outdoors as well as indoors. The combination of a garden routine and community outings is worth weighing for a child who enjoys movement and exploring different surroundings.

Relationships and Communication

Settling has a defined starting structure: three free sessions, arranged after the deposit has been received, with extra sessions possible when a child needs more time. The first includes time together in the room and a discussion with the child’s Key Worker about development; later sessions introduce time apart. That gradual approach gives the family and staff opportunities to exchange information before a child settles into their usual attendance pattern.

Communication continues through handovers and an online learning Journal. Parents receive progress updates, can discuss development with the key person and may view their child’s development records. Daily verbal feedback and termly newsletters serve different purposes: one keeps families connected with the child’s day, while the other covers nursery news and policy changes. Parent involvement also includes special activity days.

In March 2022, families could borrow resources from a lending library and attend open mornings. These arrangements linked learning at nursery with home and gave parents a closer understanding of the activities their children experienced. They are useful examples of parent participation at that time, alongside the current communication arrangements.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that visual prompts helped children with SEND and those learning English as an additional language communicate, but also identified uneven support for some practitioners in training and occasions when routines cut short concentrated play. Both findings matter: accessible communication supports participation, while consistent adult interaction and sufficient time help children make the most of an activity.

Current routines allow for individual care needs, including sleep, toileting and nappy changes. Comfort blankets and dummies are welcomed during settling, with arrangements for keeping them at nursery. Collection procedures require advance notification when someone different collects a child, together with photo identification or the security password. These are practical arrangements, rather than a substitute for the dated safeguarding judgement.

School preparation includes liaison with local infant-school teachers. This is transition work: helping staff exchange information and supporting the move from nursery to school. It should be understood as preparation for a new setting, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

At 115 Fratton Road, Portsmouth, PO1 5AJ, the nursery opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 6pm. It operates across 51 weeks, closing for public holidays and a week at Christmas. The handbook asks families to collect by 5.55pm so there is time for a handover before closing.

The Full Day runs from 7.30am to 6pm; School Day offers a shorter 8.30am to 4pm pattern. Morning choices are Early Morning, 7.30am to 1pm, and Morning Session starting at either 8am or 9am and ending at 1pm. Afternoon Session runs from 1pm to 5pm, while Late Afternoon extends that finish to 6pm. The Full Week rate applies only when a child attends five full days each week.

Funding examples also include an 8.45am to 4pm day combined with a morning or afternoon session. For older children, Kids Camp runs during school holidays for ages 5 to 8, from 8.30am to 4pm, with payment in advance. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone.

Funding and Paid Extras

Twinkle Cottage accepts 30 hours of NEG funding from the term after a child reaches 9 months, as well as two-year-old funding. Funding normally runs across 51 weeks, with limited term-time provision. Hours beyond a child’s funded allocation are charged separately, so the funded entitlement and the booked attendance pattern need to be considered together.

Parents provide packed lunches and breakfast cereal or bread; snacks and high tea are prepared in the nursery kitchen, with high tea for children over weaning age and the food arrangements linking these to the sustainability charge. The nursery publishes a nut-free policy and gives lunchbox instructions intended to reduce choking risks.

Wipes are included in the provisions, while the sustainability charge also contributes towards them and other consumables; parents supply named sun cream. This is a mixed arrangement rather than a single all-inclusive consumables position. The charge also covers items such as messy-play materials and cooking activities. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, alongside the structure explained on its fees page.

For working-family funding, the joining deposit is refunded once the final invoice has been settled, but is retained if the family does not take up the place; families receiving low-income two-year-old funding do not pay a deposit. Leaving requires four weeks’ written notice, and moving funding to another nursery requires a month’s notice. Fees continue during illness and holidays, including public holidays, while the Christmas closure is excluded.

• Uninterrupted play. In March 2022, some children left absorbing activities early for lunch, and support for practitioners in training was inconsistent. During a visit, ask how routines now protect sustained play and how adults receive support with their interactions.
• Food and consumables. The fee list includes snacks and high tea for children over weaning age, while the food information assigns them to the sustainability charge. Have the quotation explain how these fit together for your booked hours; families managing allergies should also confirm current food-handling practice.
• Settling around your child. Three free settling sessions provide the starting pattern, with extensions possible. Use the settling discussion to explain sleep habits, comfort items and how your child responds to separation.

Twinkle Cottage suits families considering full days, shorter School Days, morning attendance or afternoon sessions, with a year-round structure and funded arrangements also in the mix. Library visits, seafront outings and a day combining children’s choices with shared activities give the offer substance. The March 2022 Good judgement is a positive starting point, balanced by specific concerns about interrupted learning and support for practitioners in training. Settling arrangements and regular key-person communication add practical reasons to consider it, while the written quotation needs to make the food and consumables structure clear.