Partou Curiosity Corner Day Nursery & Pre-school

A large outdoor field and shared activities with the care home next door give Curiosity Corner a recognisable character: space to explore, and contact with people beyond the nursery. Recycled objects and everyday materials add another thread, giving children resources they can use imaginatively rather than for a single prescribed purpose.

At its 4 November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received targeted help supported by external agencies. That judgement sits alongside specific improvements required in curriculum planning and behaviour support, plus later safety actions discussed below.

The Southport setting has 78 places in total and accepts children aged 3 to 60 months. Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings serve different family routines.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, including learning through play and building communication, physical and social skills. Alongside that shared foundation, activities here are shaped around individual children's interests and needs. Open-ended indoor resources and recycled, real-life materials give children scope to decide what to make or investigate.

In November 2024, the youngest children's learning centred on relationships with their key person, while toddlers practised managing emotions and playing beside others; preschool children developed questioning and rule-following skills for school. These were different emphases for different developmental stages, rather than a single activity plan applied to everyone.

Practical play supplied concrete learning opportunities that November. Children worked together on railway layouts, experimented with water and made artwork using colour. Younger children explored size with construction blocks and capacity by filling containers with sand; older children investigated quantities and how they change. Staff added vocabulary to younger children's play and encouraged older children to explain their ideas. Books, familiar songs and actions also featured in the day.

The curriculum needed closer attention, however. In November 2024, some practitioners did not fully understand its intended learning, so activities occasionally lacked a precise purpose. This matters because an appealing activity should also have a clear connection to what a child needs to learn next.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor learning makes the large field more than an occasional destination. Nature exploration and physical play are part of the regular offer, giving children space to move and investigate their surroundings.

The neighbouring care home partnership brings a different kind of experience. Children share stories, songs and activities with older people, extending their social contact beyond children and practitioners. Together with the use of everyday and recycled materials, this gives the nursery's day a practical, community-facing character.

Relationships and Communication

In November 2024, staff gathered detailed information about children when they first started and responded to distress with comfort and reassurance. For babies, relationships with a key person were central to the day. The practical value is continuity: adults begin with knowledge of the child rather than expecting every newcomer to settle in the same way.

Independence also featured in everyday routines that November. Children were encouraged to attempt tasks before adults stepped in, and shared play gave them opportunities to practise waiting and taking turns. Behaviour support was less consistent: staff intervened when needed but did not always explain why an action was wrong or what its consequences were. Families should weigh the caring interactions alongside that specific weakness.

Regular updates about children's development form part of the care fee. Meals are prepared on site using a seasonal menu; food and drink are charged separately from care, as are consumables including wipes, nappies and sun cream.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Later safety history deserves attention because risk management arose more than once: Ofsted confirmed that the action concerning exposure to risks had been met following the response on 20 January 2025, and that the safety and complaints-recording actions had been met following the response on 12 June 2026.

The June 2026 response included clearing fire evacuation routes, staff training in assessing risks and daily management monitoring. Outstanding complaints and their outcomes were also logged. Those are recorded outcomes, rather than a new inspection grade; the November 2024 grade should be read with its date attached.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays. The booking choices are a full day from 8am to 6pm, a morning from 8am to 1pm, or an afternoon from 1pm to 6pm. An early drop-off session runs from 7.30am to 8am, allowing an earlier start alongside the main booking.

Year-round and term-time attendance are both offered. Bank holidays are closure days, and Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve finish at 4pm. Charges run across 52 weeks, including bank holidays, so the annual charging pattern matters as much as the chosen session.

The address is 63A Scarisbrick New Road, Southport, Merseyside, PR8 6PA. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01704 884088, and visits can be booked.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through Sefton Local Authority. For eligible families, funding typically covers 15 or 30 hours a week across 38 term weeks, with a maximum of 10 funded hours a day; for year-round attendance, it is spread across 52 weeks, giving 10.96 or 21.92 funded hours per week respectively. Term-time attendance uses the corresponding weekly entitlement during the term weeks. These are different ways of using funding, so families comparing quotations need to compare the same attendance pattern.

Funding pays for care. Food, snacks and consumables remain separately chargeable during funded sessions as well as private sessions. The meals charge covers drinks and food while children attend, while the consumables charge covers daily care items such as nappies, sun cream and wipes. A funded entitlement therefore does not remove every part of the bill.

Joining involves either a non-refundable registration charge or a registration deposit, with eligibility governed by the nursery's terms. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, which should distinguish care, food and consumables.

• Safety routines after repeated action. Risk management required action in January 2025 and again in June 2026, with both outcomes recorded as met. During a visit, ask how daily checks and clear evacuation routes are maintained in practice.
• Purposeful learning and behaviour explanations. November 2024 improvements concerned staff understanding of the curriculum and helping children understand consequences. Ask for an example of how a current activity supports a child's next learning step and how staff explain boundaries.
• The annual bill. Charging spans 52 weeks and includes bank holidays, while meals and consumables remain separate even during funded hours. Compare the written quotation for your chosen morning, afternoon or full-day pattern across the year.

Curiosity Corner suits families considering morning or afternoon sessions as well as full days, with either year-round or term-time attendance. Its outdoor field, use of everyday materials and neighbouring care home partnership give the offer substance. The dated Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, balanced by curriculum and behaviour improvements and repeated, subsequently met safety actions. The strongest decision rests on both the everyday experiences and how consistently current routines are carried out.