Sharrow School Childcare Services

In June 2024, communication shaped everyday play at Sharrow School Childcare Services: staff used pictures, puppets and stories to help children listen and join in. At its June 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Outstanding, finding excellent progress, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The strongest case for choosing it lies in those everyday interactions.

Based at Sharrow School on Sitwell Road in Sheffield, S7 1BE, the setting has capacity for 30 children aged two to five. Its Children’s Centre and wraparound provision sit alongside the school’s nursery, with separate arrangements for applying to Reception. Full-day childcare has both term-time and full-time contracts, while wraparound provision extends the nursery day.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children’s learning, development and care: here, play, conversation and shared activities provide the practical context for developing those skills. The Children’s Centre allows children to explore their interests at their own pace. That gives individual curiosity a place in the day rather than expecting every child to pursue the same activity together.

In June 2024, staff introduced vocabulary through experiences children could recognise. Food in the home corner and at snack time became a subject for description; water play gave meaning to words about movement and handling materials. Pictures, puppets and signing supported attention alongside spoken language. For a child building confidence in communication, these are several ways into the same activity.

Dear Zoo supplied a concrete example of shared reading that month. Children explored the flaps of a large book and anticipated what would happen next. The interest was in participating in the story, rather than simply hearing an adult read it. Parent workshops also explored books and reading, connecting nursery experiences with opportunities for families to join in.

Outdoor and Community Life

Physical play and social learning overlapped in June 2024. Children assembled an imaginary train from crates and larger objects, then practised taking turns and helping one another find a seat. The materials allowed them to shape the game themselves; the shared activity gave them something meaningful to negotiate.

Wind the Bobbin Up accompanied movement activities that month, alongside Row, Row, Row your Boat. Dancing and action songs sat alongside making patterns in sand and water, with activities planned around the control needed for later writing. These were small, purposeful experiences, rather than writing practice brought forward into toddlerhood.

Relationships and Communication

In June 2024, the nursery employed seven childcare staff, and relationships with families included sharing words from home languages, traditions and celebrations. Parents contributed to activities as well as conversations about their children. For families using another language at home, that creates a practical connection between the child’s familiar experiences and nursery life.

Emotional support was woven into play that month. Staff used affection, encouragement and reassuring expressions when children needed help, and supported those finding it difficult to manage feelings or join others. Sharing and courtesy were practised through ordinary interactions. The emphasis was on helping children participate, rather than treating behaviour as separate from their immediate needs.

Settling has a formal place in the admissions process. Once a family accepts a place, a meeting follows to complete the admission arrangements, and a start date for the transition programme is offered. This gives the child and parent a planned introduction before attendance becomes routine.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2024 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding and highly effective SEND support, with staff identifying developmental needs early, planning precise next steps and working with speech and language therapists and education psychologists. Additional funding supported individual help and staff training. The important detail is the route from recognising a need to acting on it.

A SENCO role specifically covers the Nursery and Children’s Centre. That provides an identified coordination role for families discussing additional needs, while the inspection-time examples show how specialist advice was translated into support for children.

Sessions and Attendance

The Children’s Centre offers full-day care from 8am to 5pm, with a choice of term-time or full-time contracts. Wraparound care for children aged three to four runs from 8am to 8.45am and again from 3.15pm to 5pm. These are different arrangements: one supplies a childcare day, while the other adds care around nursery attendance.

Wraparound care and Holiday Play Schemes are restricted to children attending Sharrow. Holiday Play Schemes run from 8am to 5pm for ages three to eleven, except at Christmas. For families considering the setting, the distinction between a Children’s Centre contract and care attached to school attendance matters more than the overall opening window.

Applications for the Children’s Centre go directly through the school, using its application form or the office. The admissions policy provides for a written offer and written acceptance, followed by the admission meeting. Withdrawal or a reduction in provision requires at least four weeks’ notice; withdrawal notice must be written, and that period may be charged or taken from funded entitlement.

Getting There

The address is Sharrow School, Sitwell Road, Sheffield, S7 1BE. A small car park serves staff and visitors, including two disabled spaces with wheelchair access; free roadside parking is permitted away from yellow zig-zags and double yellow lines.

Funding and Paid Extras

The Children’s Centre offers 15 or 30 hours of free provision for eligible families, alongside paid additional hours. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation. Funding and extra paid attendance are separate parts of the arrangement, so the contract should match the childcare pattern a family intends to use.

Attendance at the Nursery or Children’s Centre does not improve a child’s chances of admission to Sharrow School. Reception applications go through Sheffield City Council. Familiarity with the setting is therefore separate from securing a school place.

• Placement for a two-year-old. Children may attend either the Children’s Centre or Nursery, depending on their developmental stage and availability in each. At a visit, ask which provision would receive your child and how the transition between them works.
• Care tied to Sharrow attendance. Wraparound care and Holiday Play Schemes are for Sharrow children. Families seeking care around another setting need to weigh that restriction against the separate Children’s Centre contract options.
• The complete funded arrangement. Eligible families can use funded provision and buy additional hours. Ask how funded hours, meals and consumables would be set out in your child’s written agreement.
• Changing attendance. Four weeks’ notice applies when reducing provision or withdrawing. That makes the notice period relevant to families whose work pattern or childcare needs may change.

Sharrow suits families choosing between term-time and full-time Children’s Centre care, as well as those needing wraparound support for a child attending Sharrow. Its June 2024 judgement has substance beneath it: language-rich play, practical support for additional needs and family participation in children’s learning. The attendance restrictions and separate Reception application deserve equal weight in the decision.