Scallywags Day Nursery

A six-place room for the youngest babies and a preschool garden with a vegetable patch give Scallywags a clear physical character. This Oakham nursery separates the earliest stages of care from the more independent preschool years, with five named groups connecting the two. The practical benefit is a progression through different spaces rather than one room expected to serve every stage of childhood.

Scallywags Day Nursery, at 42 Cold Overton Road, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6NT, accepts children aged two months to five years and has 93 places in total. At its September 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall. That is a dated judgement, alongside a current offer that includes weekly preschool French, outdoor learning and communication through Famly.

Full days, shorter days and morning or afternoon sessions support different weekly routines. The strongest reasons to consider Scallywags are more specific than its hours: a small youngest-baby room, direct garden access from the baby spaces and a purpose-built preschool with room for quieter activities as well as physical play.

Rooms and Ages

The Little Ladybirds has a maximum of six babies, with comfortable feeding chairs, a calm setting and access straight into the garden. That room cap is useful for parents weighing the scale of their baby's first childcare setting; it is separate from the nursery's total capacity.

For older babies, The Bumble Bees combines opportunities to get moving with stories and messy play, and opens directly onto outdoor areas at both the front and rear of the building. The emphasis changes as babies become more mobile. Outdoor access belongs to their own room, rather than being solely a preschool feature.

Children join The Caterpillar Crew around their second birthday, where exploration, growing independence and language development sit alongside a bathroom arranged for different stages of toilet learning. Rhymes, simple games and circle time give staff several ways to encourage children to use words while following their interests.

The Butterfly Bunch introduces more organised activities while retaining space for children's own ideas and imaginative play, preparing them for the next room. The transition is developmental: children move onwards when ready for the preschool stage.

In The Dragonfly Den, the preschool space has areas organised around learning, a quiet room with a book corner, an IT area and sensory lights, and open access to the garden and vegetable patch. A bark-covered climbing area and a covered outdoor space extend the choices beyond the main room. Children can therefore move between active exploration and quieter occupation within the preschool environment.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes learning through play, conversation, movement and increasing independence. At Scallywags, this includes listening to stories, exploring quantities with objects, making pictures and music, and practising everyday skills such as using cutlery and managing clothing. These are connected parts of the day, rather than learning confined to a formal activity slot.

For children ready to begin, literacy includes linking sounds with letters and blending sounds, alongside books and rhymes. Practical mathematics uses objects and quantities to develop counting and recognition of numbers. Painting, construction and role play give children other ways to express ideas, so early learning is broader than preparation for reading alone.

Weekly French sessions for preschool children add another language through enjoyable activities with a French teacher. Weekly English as an additional language sessions offer a separate language opportunity. Mini Music Makers brings music led by a music teacher, adding specialist input to the nursery's own singing and creative activities.

In September 2021, staff used action words while young children stirred water, and children experimented with the sound of their voices through a plastic pipe. These examples show how ordinary play can supply material for language and discovery. The same dated account also identified a weakness: conversations did not consistently correct children's misunderstandings, making the accuracy of adult explanations an important point for families to explore.

Outdoor and Community Life

Three outdoor play areas give physical activity a substantial place in the nursery day. Bikes, tricycles and ball games sit alongside the preschool garden's climbing provision. The vegetable patch adds something different: an outdoor space connected with the natural world, rather than movement alone.

Outdoor Adventure Learning provides outdoor learning within Rutland for preschool children. Within the garden, September 2021 examples included toddlers propelling tricycles up and down a small slope and babies receiving hand-held support as they began walking; those observations belong to that period, rather than a description of today's daily timetable.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a Key Carer who works with parents on development and progress, while each group has a room leader available for discussion. That gives families both an individual point of contact and someone responsible for the wider room team. It is a useful distinction when a question concerns either one child's routine or the group's arrangements.

Famly brings observations, messages and invoices into the same app. For parents, the benefit is a direct communication route alongside conversations with staff, with learning updates and practical administration together. The youngest-baby room also uses a daily diary linking home and nursery, sharing a daily record of the baby's development between nursery and home.

In September 2021, settling began with brief periods that increased gradually, and staff gathered information about children's interests and care routines from parents. Familiar routines were then carried into nursery life. The point for families is concrete: settling involved learning about the individual child as well as introducing the building and staff.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2021 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support good, with individual staff spending time one to one with children who needed that support. These findings describe practice at that date. They do not establish what any particular child would receive now.

Practical preparation includes spare clothes, suitable outdoor clothing and additional underwear during toilet learning. Parents supply nappies and bring sun cream and sun hats for summer outdoor play. Those requirements matter to the daily handover: care depends partly on keeping the child's supplies appropriate to their stage and the weather.

A nursery cook prepares fresh meals on site each day, using a seasonal menu; the nursery caters for allergies and religious or vegetarian diets where possible. Formula feeds are supplied, and expressed breast milk can be kept refrigerated. Food arrangements therefore support babies as well as children eating nursery meals, while dietary accommodation retains its stated condition.

Preparation for school includes growing independence, attention during stories and the preschool room's learning activities. In September 2021, staff used changes in their storytelling voices to hold children's interest. This is preparation through everyday habits, with no named school pathway attached to it.

Sessions and Attendance

Scallywags opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am until 6pm, for 51 weeks each year, closing on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. Its regular weekly booking pattern can begin with two mornings and extend to a whole week. The arrangement suits families establishing a repeated routine rather than treating each attendance day as a separate booking.

A Full Day runs from 7.30am to 6pm, while the Short Day finishes at 4pm after the same start. Morning sessions end at 1pm, and afternoon sessions begin at 1pm and finish at 6pm. A weekly pattern uses the full-day hours. These choices make the finishing time as important as the number of days: a shorter day, a morning and an afternoon are different ways to organise care.

Telephone and email provide the enquiry routes. Visits require an appointment, and a free introductory session lasts two hours, with parents able to stay with their child or leave during it. That offers a practical first experience of care before making a commitment.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered on a stretched basis only, with a maximum of 22 hours weekly spread across 51.5 weeks, including bank holidays in the funding calculation. This calculation sits alongside the nursery's bank-holiday closures; it is a funding arrangement, rather than an offer of attendance on those days.

Additional hours beyond the funded allocation are paid separately, with monthly payments. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the fees and funding page explains the session choices and stretched arrangement. Families comparing patterns should consider the paid hours alongside the funded allocation.

Fees are paid monthly in advance. A deposit is due when a place is accepted and is credited against the first month's fees. Nappies and summer sun cream come from parents, so these supplies belong in the household's practical planning alongside attendance and payment arrangements.

• The youngest room. The Little Ladybirds has a six-baby cap and direct garden access. On a visit, ask how feeding, rest and outdoor time are organised within that small room.
• Conversation and learning at home. September 2021 improvement points concerned accurate explanations during play and guidance for parents to extend learning at home. Ask how staff now handle children's misconceptions and share useful activities through Famly.
• Stretched funding and session length. Funding is stretched only, while the choices include mornings, afternoons and a Short Day. Compare the paid hours attached to the weekly pattern you actually need.
• Dietary requirements. Catering for allergies is offered where possible. Families managing an allergy should confirm current food preparation and dietary arrangements before choosing a pattern that includes meals.

Scallywags suits families seeking a progression from a small baby room to a preschool with substantial outdoor space, and those choosing either morning or afternoon sessions as well as full or shorter days. French, Mini Music Makers and Outdoor Adventure Learning give the offer recognisable content. The September 2021 Good judgement provides a dated quality reference; the useful questions now concern how staff extend learning, communicate with home and organise care within the room a child will join.