Partou Radcliffe Road Day Nursery & Pre-school

Climbing frames and vegetable patches give Radcliffe Road’s private outdoor space a practical appeal: room for physical play alongside things children can grow. Bright, spacious indoor rooms complete the setting in West Bridgford. At its 19 October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective.

Partou Radcliffe Road Day Nursery & Pre-school has 66 places in total and accepts children from 3 months. Its strongest practical combination is outdoor space, food cooked on site and a choice between full days, mornings and afternoons. These give families different ways to fit nursery into their week rather than a single attendance pattern.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children’s learning, development and care. The October 2022 sand-play examples below show what this means for children: developing language, physical skills and understanding of shapes and quantities through play, alongside everyday care. Alongside this, the group-wide Partou experience gives children a choice of activities, with staff supporting their exploration. The practical emphasis is on following an interest and doing something with it.

In October 2022, sand play combined imaginative cooking with learning about shapes and quantities. Children filled tins, discussed their pretend cakes and added natural materials. It was an example of several kinds of learning happening within one activity: using hands, finding words and exchanging ideas with other children.

Another October 2022 activity involved uncovering toy dinosaurs from clay using tools. Children drew on earlier knowledge while talking about dinosaurs and extended their vocabulary. The interest supplied the starting point; conversation and investigation gave it educational purpose.

At the October 2022 inspection, Ofsted also identified uneven questioning and differences in staff understanding of the chosen learning approach, which meant children sometimes received unequal learning opportunities. Some adults concentrated too much on the finished activity, while others developed the conversation around it. Consistency mattered as much as the resources themselves.

Outdoor and Community Life

The private outdoor space contains climbing frames and vegetable patches, giving physical activity and growing their own places in the nursery environment. Indoors, the bright rooms provide space for learning activities. This combination is useful for parents who want outdoor play to sit alongside the indoor day.

In October 2022, outdoor water play exposed the inconsistency in staff practice: some adults encouraged experimentation on a slide, while others stopped it because children could become wet. That example makes the improvement point concrete. It concerned how adults supported exploration, rather than simply whether outdoor equipment existed.

In October 2022, children approached staff for comfort and asked questions readily. The youngest children were encouraged to persist with small challenges, including retrieving a stuck musical instrument from a basket. These observations put relationships and emerging independence together: an adult could provide reassurance while allowing a child to keep trying.

Work with parents also informed activity planning in October 2022. Staff gathered information about children’s existing abilities and experiences at home, then used it to shape what happened next. For families, that is a more useful form of partnership than communication that only describes the nursery day after it has happened.

Regular updates about children and their development are included within the care fee. That gives parent communication a place in the ordinary service rather than making it an extra. The group-wide child-led approach also gives families a useful subject for discussion: how staff turn a particular child’s interests into their next learning experiences.

Meals are prepared at the nursery from seasonal menus, with a three-to-four-week rotation. Procedures address food allergies, and different meal choices accommodate dietary requirements; families with allergies should confirm current practice before their child starts.

Sessions and Attendance

Full days run from 8am to 6pm, morning sessions from 8am to 1pm, and afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm. Term-time-only attendance and year-round childcare are both offered. The difference matters for families matching care to working days or needing attendance during school holidays.

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Bank holidays and the period between Christmas and New Year are closures, while charges apply across 52 weeks, including bank holidays. Families should account for that distinction between attendance and billing when comparing the overall cost.

Getting There

The address is 124-126 Radcliffe Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5HG. An on-site car park provides a practical option for families bringing children by car.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through Nottinghamshire Local Authority for eligible families. Funding typically covers 15 or 30 hours per week over 38 term weeks, with a maximum of 10 funded hours a day. For year-round attendance, funding is stretched over 51 weeks, giving 11.17 or 22.35 funded hours each week respectively. The annual pattern therefore changes the weekly allocation; it does not make every attended hour funded.

Full private fees include care, meals and snacks, and consumables as separate components within the total. Consumables cover nappies, wet wipes and sun cream. During funded sessions, meals and snacks and consumables are charged separately because funding applies to care only.

Registration involves either a non-refundable registration fee or a registration deposit, depending on eligibility under the terms and conditions. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation. That quotation should be read alongside the chosen attendance pattern and the treatment of funded hours.

• Consistency in learning. The October 2022 improvement priorities concerned questioning and staff understanding of the learning approach. On a visit, ask how staff now support the same exploratory activity consistently across the day.
• Closures and billing. Charges cover 52 weeks, including bank holidays, although the nursery closes on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. Include those periods when comparing quotations.
• Food allergies. Meals are cooked on site and allergy procedures form part of the food arrangements. Confirm how your child’s particular dietary needs would be handled in current practice.

Radcliffe Road suits families considering morning or afternoon sessions as well as full days, with both term-time-only and year-round attendance to weigh. Its private outdoor space and on-site cooking give the daily offer substance. The dated Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, while the October 2022 concerns about consistent adult interaction remain a useful subject for a visit.