YMCA Nursery, Whale Island

Helicopters, remembrance activities and the rhythms of naval family life give YMCA Nursery, Whale Island a character closely tied to HMS Excellent. Civilian families are welcome too. This Portsmouth nursery combines that unusual setting with age-specific rooms, story-linked sensory play and practical support for children spending time apart from a serving parent.

At its March 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that coordination between the special educational needs coordinator, families and other professionals helped children receive targeted support. The same visit identified a clear teaching improvement: questions sometimes came too quickly for children to consider an answer. That matters in a nursery where books, signs and conversation play such a large part in learning.

Children can start from four months, progressing through Adventurers, Explorers and Discoverers. Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings, alongside Breakfast Club, give families several attendance patterns rather than a single day-length option.

Rooms and Ages

Adventurers caters for children aged four months to two years, with emphasis on familiar routines, reassurance and relationships as babies begin exploring their surroundings. For the youngest children, the organisation of care matters as much as the activities: familiarity gives them a consistent starting point for play and learning.

Explorers, for two- to three-year-olds, develops communication, growing independence and confidence through active play and predictable routines. Discoverers, for three- to four-year-olds, puts greater emphasis on friendships, independent thinking and everyday abilities that help children prepare for school. The progression is practical, moving from security and exploration towards doing more for themselves.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the required framework for children's learning, development and care, bringing those elements together through their everyday experiences. At Whale Island, a weekly story provides a concrete thread: children hear it daily, then revisit its ideas through creative work, messy play and associated Makaton signs. Here, the signs connect communication with the book and activities children are already exploring.

This gives the week continuity. A story is more than a listening activity when children can return to its ideas through what they handle, make and communicate. Seasonal sensory experiences add another source of material for play, while the shared book keeps different activities connected.

Little Steps, Giant Leaps is the group-wide school-readiness approach used here, addressing emotional, social, physical and early learning skills. Its scope extends beyond letters and numbers: confidence and relationships belong alongside practical development. It sits alongside the required framework rather than replacing it.

In March 2024, babies explored instruments and responded enthusiastically to familiar songs, while older children searched for insects using checklists to identify their finds. Stories were also used playfully, with changes to familiar wording encouraging children to remember what came next. These examples show how music, observation and recall could emerge from activities children enjoyed.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor learning forms part of everyday life, giving children opportunities to move, investigate and explore. In March 2024, children were learning safety expectations for the firepit and outdoor physical equipment. The teaching connected activity with understanding how to use the space safely.

HMS Excellent adds experiences beyond ordinary outdoor play. Children can watch helicopters taking off and landing, and see them close up; remembrance activities include making pieces to share with serving personnel on the base. These experiences connect nursery life with the community around it, especially for children whose families serve in the Royal Navy.

Relationships and Communication

Settling has a clear sequence: three sessions lasting one hour each, with a parent or carer staying for the first and the child attending independently for the next two. The first session introduces the key person, room and routines. The following sessions give children time to become familiar with nursery before their regular attendance begins.

That structure makes the transition tangible for parents. It also gives children repeated contact with the adults and spaces they will use, rather than making their first regular session the starting point for every new relationship.

Support around deployment is part of the nursery's current offer. Simple routines help children maintain a sense of connection during a parent's absence. In March 2024, staff also used ways of exchanging information with parents posted overseas, while parent evenings provided opportunities to discuss children's development. For service families, communication across a separation is an everyday care issue, not an occasional extra.

Photos, updates and messages bring parents into their child's day, alongside end-of-day handovers. These channels serve different purposes: a photo offers a glimpse of an activity, while a conversation allows families to exchange information about care and routines.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO role forms part of the branch team. The March 2024 examples included activities tailored to individual learning needs, with staff working alongside parents and other professionals. The useful distinction for families is between a general promise of inclusion and support shaped around an individual child.

Independence also appeared in small care routines in March 2024: babies practised managing bibs and cleaning their faces, while older children helped themselves to food and poured drinks. Healthy habits were explored through vegetables during play and toothbrushing activities using large pictures of mouths. These are manageable tasks children can practise, rather than abstract lessons about looking after themselves.

The current daily rhythm includes a rest period after lunch, with quieter routines and comfort. Fresh meals are part of the offer, with options for dietary requirements and allergies; arrangements for an individual child's needs deserve careful discussion before attendance begins.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is HMS Excellent, Whale Island, Portsmouth PO2 8ER. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, closing on bank holidays and for a week at Christmas, so families need to account for those breaks in their childcare plans.

Full Day Care runs from 8am to 6pm. Morning Session is 8am to 1pm, and Afternoon Session is 1pm to 6pm. Breakfast Club covers 7.30am to 8am and includes breakfast, providing a separate early-start option before the main sessions.

Enquiries can be made directly through the nursery's contact form, email or telephone. A deposit accompanies the booking form and is refundable after the child leaves, subject to the applicable terms. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Getting There

Both military and civilian families can attend, including families outside the base community. Access for nursery collection and drop-off requires a DBS check, although formal security clearance is not required; this is a practical step to resolve before regular attendance starts.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the Working Family Childcare Offer, universal funding from the term after a child's third birthday and funding for eligible two-year-olds receiving qualifying benefits. The working-family offer provides up to 30 hours from the term after nine months, subject to eligibility, with term-time delivery over 38 weeks or stretched delivery over 51 weeks. Universal three-year funding provides 15 hours per week.

Paid full-day and morning sessions include their specified snacks, hot lunch and consumables; afternoon sessions include a snack and consumables. During fully funded sessions, meals are charged separately when required, and a voluntary consumables charge applies, with children eligible for EYPP exempt. Children under two cannot bring lunchboxes. Additional attendance beyond the funded allowance is paid for separately, so funded hours and the total booking cost remain different things.

Preparation for school includes support for transitions to Harbour Schools, Stamshaw Junior School and Ark Dickens Primary Academy. This is preparation for the next stage, not an admissions entitlement.

• Base access. A DBS check is required for nursery collection and drop-off. When booking a visit, ask how the access process works for the adults who will regularly collect your child.
• Language development. In March 2024, questioning sometimes left children too little thinking time. During a visit, ask how practitioners now pace questions and allow children to respond.
• Funded meals for younger children. Meals during funded sessions are charged separately, and under-twos cannot bring lunchboxes. Discuss the feeding and allergy arrangements for your child's booking before agreeing the attendance pattern.
• Settling and separation. The settling plan includes two independent sessions after the initial parent-accompanied session. Ask how that sequence will work alongside your child's routines or a forthcoming parental deployment.

Whale Island suits service families who value care connected to naval life, and civilian families comfortable with the base-access arrangements. Its attendance options accommodate both full-day bookings and shorter morning or afternoon sessions, with Breakfast Club supporting an earlier start.

The clearest attractions are concrete: story-linked sensory activities, a staged settling plan and support during parental separation. The March 2024 Good judgement provides a dated assessment of quality, with questioning technique the specific improvement to keep in view. This is a nursery whose community setting has a direct role in children's experiences and family support.