Bole Hill Nursery

Six rooms, weekly football with Kixx and an annual Tropical Butterfly House trip give Bole Hill Nursery a recognisable character. This large Walkley setting takes children from three months to five years, with outdoor space supporting play across the age groups. Its appeal lies in the progression from individual baby routines to preschool activities that build independence, movement and early writing skills.

At the 18 May 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good overall and found safeguarding effective. That dated judgement provides a useful quality reference, while the current room offer gives families concrete details to weigh: sensory exploration for younger children, instructor-led yoga for the two-to-three age group, and football coaching for preschool children.

The nursery has capacity for 131 children in total. That is a whole-setting figure, rather than the number sharing a room or attending together. Full-year and term-time contracts give families different attendance options, with an additional early-start arrangement during term time.

Rooms and Ages

The six-room structure separates several stages of early development. For parents of a baby, the important distinction is between care built around an individual routine and the increasingly social play described for older children. The room names also make the progression easy to follow.

• Sunshines, for babies aged three to twelve months, emphasises individual care and comfort, with home routines discussed during settling visits spread across a month.
• Sunbeams, for approximately twelve to eighteen months, combines tactile exploration using jelly, flour and shaving foam with painting, construction play and early conversations through music and stories.
• Moonbeams, for approximately eighteen months to two years, develops sensory exploration, coordination and communication through sand, water, craft materials and imaginative toys.
• Starlights, for children aged two to three, brings together independence, toilet training, outdoor bikes, gardening and a weekly instructor-led yoga session.
• Stardust, also for ages two to three, combines self-help skills and creative play with outdoor exploration and its own weekly instructor-led yoga session.
• Snowdrops, from age three to school entry, develops early writing and physical skills through scissors, mark making, balance bikes, scooters and obstacle courses.

The practical value of these descriptions is their specificity. A younger child's day includes materials to touch and manipulate; an older child's day adds opportunities to manage tasks independently and practise more controlled movements. Activities are attached to particular rooms, rather than presented as an identical offer for every age.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. Here, the room activities translate that framework into play: handling materials, talking with other children, building, moving and beginning to make meaningful marks.

Snowdrops adds weekly Kixx football sessions, led by coaches and designed as an energetic, age-appropriate introduction to physical activity through football. This is a concrete addition to the everyday outdoor equipment. Children get a recurring coached activity alongside opportunities to use scooters and balance bikes.

For Starlights and Stardust, weekly yoga is led by a qualified instructor. The timetable therefore gives these children a different movement experience from their outdoor play. Snowdrops group time covers sounds and letters, weather and the days of the week, while scissors and mark making give early writing preparation a practical form.

In May 2023, babies were encouraged to crawl, and low-positioned resources helped toddlers practise standing and moving. Older children used beanbag games for mathematics and built with sand. These examples show the inspection-era emphasis on learning through physical activity and handling objects; they should be read alongside the current room activities rather than as a description of every day now.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor space is part of the nursery's offer across its rooms. Starlights and Stardust play outside in different weather, using bikes and footballs and exploring gardening and small creatures. Families need clothing suited to that approach: outdoor play is a regular part of the room descriptions rather than an occasional treat.

Snowdrops has an annual trip to the Tropical Butterfly House, where children meet and handle animals. The named destination gives preschool families a clear example of learning beyond the nursery. In May 2023, community outings also formed part of children's experience, helping them encounter the wider world.

Relationships and Communication

For Sunshines babies, settling begins with visits over a month and conversations about routines at home, preferences and other needs. This makes the transition a shared task between family and staff. The useful detail is the information exchange: staff can build care around what a baby already knows, rather than treating settling as a single introductory visit.

In May 2023, the key-person arrangement helped children form relationships, and settling sessions were adjusted to individual needs. Parents were involved in children's learning, while support accompanied both the move into nursery and the later move to school. These are dated examples of how relationships were organised, rather than a guarantee about a particular child's transition.

Toilet training in Starlights and Stardust is coordinated with the child's key worker when the family feels ready to begin. That gives parents a defined person with whom to agree the next step. Independence is also built into these rooms' activities, so self-care sits alongside play and language development.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that children needing additional help were identified promptly, with effective support for SEND and English as an additional language and regular information-sharing with other professionals. The important mechanism was the connection between identifying a need, putting support in place and discussing development with others involved in the child's care.

The current staff structure includes a SENCO role and a designated safeguarding lead, supported by safeguarding deputies. Staff qualification types include nursery nursing and early learning and childcare diplomas. These describe the team's structure and training; the dated inspection judgement remains the basis for assessing effectiveness.

Food is cooked on site, with a three-week menu reviewed twice yearly and fruit and vegetables sourced from a local greengrocer. The cooks cater for specific diets, allergies and babies beginning weaning, with breakfast, hot lunch, a lighter tea and fruit snacks forming the food offer.

Sessions and Attendance

Bole Hill Nursery is at 85 Bole Hill Road, Walkley, Sheffield, S6 5DD. Families can contact the manager by email or telephone to enquire about joining.

Regular opening hours are 8am to 6pm, and care can be full time or part time. Contracts can cover the full year or term time; afternoon attendance is also offered. These are separate decisions from the opening window, so a family's contract needs to match both the days required and the part of the day attended.

During term time, the Early Birds session extends the start of care from 7.30am to the regular 8am opening. The nursery opens for 51 weeks, excluding bank holidays, and closes on Christmas Eve before reopening on January's first working day. Fees are not charged for that Christmas closure or bank holidays.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded places are offered for eligible children from nine months. The entitlements described are 30 hours weekly for most working families from the term after a child reaches nine months, and 15 hours weekly for all three- and four-year-olds and some two-year-olds. Funding runs for 38 term-time weeks and is not stretched across the year.

Meals are charged separately from nursery fees, while nappies and wipes are included for children under three; for children receiving 30 funded hours, a voluntary daily service charge includes meals. The distinction matters when comparing a funded-hours arrangement with additional paid care, because the funded entitlement and food charges are separate parts of the bill.

A deposit is credited against the final bill, and an administration charge is non-refundable. Withdrawal requires one month's notice; otherwise the deposit is forfeited. Fees are invoiced monthly in advance and reviewed annually, with increases applied in April. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the funding and fees page explains the charge structure.

• Challenge for older children. In May 2023, teaching did not consistently stretch the most-able children. During a visit, ask how Snowdrops adapts activities for a child who already handles the starting task confidently.
• Language and toddler routines. The May 2023 improvement points included more familiar rhymes and stories and clearer toddler routines; younger children were not consistently encouraged to put toys away. Ask how these elements now shape the room's day.
• Term-time funding and early starts. Funding covers 38 weeks, while the nursery's full-year offer spans 51 weeks and Early Birds operates during term time. Match the proposed contract to the weeks and start times your family needs.
• Dietary needs. The cooks cater for allergies, specific diets and weaning. Families affected by allergies should confirm the current preparation and serving arrangements for their child's needs.

Bole Hill Nursery suits families choosing between full-year and term-time attendance, including those considering part-time or afternoon care. Its strongest practical attractions are the staged room structure and activities parents can picture: sensory materials for younger children, weekly yoga for the two-to-three rooms, and Kixx football and the Tropical Butterfly House trip for Snowdrops.

The May 2023 Good judgement is a dated quality reference, with clear improvement points around challenge, language opportunities and toddler routines. Those points make a visit more useful: concentrate on how the relevant room supports your child's next stage, as well as whether the contract fits family life.