Children 1st Sheffield Nursery School

A marketplace role-play area, cultural celebrations and fundraising for Sheffield Children’s Hospital give this city-centre nursery a recognisable character. Children 1st Sheffield Nursery School combines imaginative play with opportunities to learn about other people, both through family celebrations and a local charitable cause. Everyday experiences carry much of the learning.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, while identifying improvements needed in hygiene routines and the organisation of transitions during the day. Those concerns matter alongside the positive findings: families should weigh the quality of activities against how smoothly ordinary care routines work.

The nursery has capacity for 148 children, with a current age range of 2 to 60 months. It offers morning and afternoon sessions alongside two day-length options, giving families a choice between shorter attendance and care extending into the early evening.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care. Here, that means learning through play and conversation, with adults using observations of children’s development to decide what to introduce next. It is the foundation of the provision, rather than an extra programme.

Imaginative play has a concrete setting in the marketplace role-play area. Natural materials also feature in the learning spaces, giving children things to explore and use creatively. These are useful details for parents who want a nursery day built around active involvement rather than a succession of adult explanations.

In January 2024, older children explored a science reaction with staff encouraging them to consider which materials they would need. The activity introduced vocabulary such as prediction while asking children to work out an answer. Younger children made pictures using coffee, sticks and herbs. The materials differed, but both examples gave children something practical to investigate.

Language learning also ran through ordinary activities in January 2024. Stories, songs and repeated phrases helped children encounter words more than once; staff used children’s home languages to explain English vocabulary. For a child learning English, that approach connected new words with meanings they already understood.

Cookery sessions involve handling ingredients and developing practical skills, with opportunities to explore how ingredients grow. Alongside these, the nursery offers yoga and community trips. Its group-wide Forest School addition brings learning into the outdoors; the experience sits alongside the early years foundation stage rather than replacing it.

Outdoor and Community Life

Cultural festivals are part of nursery life, involving children and their families. In January 2024, celebrations included Diwali, and children also visited local building sites. Those examples extended learning beyond familiar toys and activities, introducing both cultural experiences and aspects of the working world.

Sheffield Children’s Hospital is the nursery’s chosen charitable cause. Fundraising planned throughout the year includes sponsored challenges, bake sales and dress-up days. For families, this creates opportunities to take part in nursery life together; for children, it makes helping other people a practical activity rather than an abstract idea.

Relationships and Communication

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding and good support for children with SEND, including promptly developed individual support plans and collaboration with outside professionals. That gives parents a dated assessment of practice, rather than a general promise about care.

The manager also holds the SEND lead role, and there is a separate manager for the under-twos provision. This gives families identifiable responsibilities to discuss when considering how their child’s care will be organised. The important question is how those roles translate into support for an individual child.

In January 2024, children were encouraged to respond kindly when another child was distressed, while adults adjusted their teaching to children’s emotional development. Older children took on responsibilities such as preparing for lunch. These small tasks gave children a part in the day’s routines, rather than keeping responsibility entirely with adults.

Communication in January 2024 included detailed information for parents about care and learning. Staff also observed and assessed children’s development before planning subsequent teaching. Together, those practices connected what happened during the nursery day with what families understood about their child’s learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Independence was visible in January 2024 through children serving lunch and pouring drinks for themselves. However, hygiene teaching was uneven: staff supported handwashing around meals and toileting but did not consistently reinforce nose-wiping or covering coughs. The weakness concerned the everyday repetition needed to make healthy routines familiar.

Transitions also needed attention in January 2024. Before lunch and after younger children woke from sleep, poorly organised transitions sometimes reduced children’s engagement. For parents of younger children, the organisation of these quieter moments deserves as much attention as the planned activities.

An on-site chef prepares meals, using local ingredients where possible, and menus accommodate differing dietary requirements. This makes food preparation part of the nursery’s own daily operation.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 39 Scotland Street, Sheffield, S3 7BS. Business Days run from 8am to 6pm; Nursery days finish earlier, running from 8am to 5pm. Mornings are 8am to 1pm, and Afternoons are 1pm to 6pm. The difference between the two day options is useful for families whose working day ends at different times.

Attendance is offered across the year. The nursery operates over 51 weeks, with Christmas week and two staff training days forming its stated closures. Enquiries can be made through the nursery’s online enquiry form or by telephone.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children aged nine months and above can access the 15 Hours or 30 Hours funding offer. Funding is stretched across the nursery’s 51 operating weeks, and up to 10 funded hours can be used per day during Nursery or Business day sessions. Any remaining entitlement can be applied towards its other regular sessions, so funding and the chosen attendance pattern need to be considered together.

Private fees include milk and formula, snacks and cooked meals, plus nappies, wipes, nappy cream and sun cream. Activities are included too. Funded sessions have a different structure: food, health and hygiene consumables, and activity enhancements attract separate charges, with no activity charge for under-twos. Additional unfunded hours are charged separately.

Invoices are issued monthly, with the same payment each month. A non-refundable registration charge applies, and a deposit is credited against the first invoice. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

• Everyday routines. The January 2024 findings called for more consistent hygiene teaching and less waiting around lunch and waking from sleep. During a visit, ask how these routines now work for the youngest children.
• Funding and the total bill. Meals and consumables are included in private fees but charged separately during funded sessions. Request a written quotation for your chosen Business Days, Nursery days or shorter sessions, including the relevant additions.
• Individual care. The manager is also the SEND lead, with separate management for under-twos. Use a visit to discuss how support, settling and communication would be organised around your child; families managing allergies should confirm current dietary arrangements.

Children 1st Sheffield suits families seeking either morning or afternoon attendance, as well as those choosing between a shorter nursery day and a Business Day ending at 6pm. The marketplace play area, cultural celebrations and Sheffield Children’s Hospital fundraising give the setting a clear identity. Practical learning and the dated SEND findings are reasons to consider it, while hygiene and transitions remain specific points to explore before joining.