Smartees Day Care Nursery

A baby room with its own outdoor space, a garden reached directly from the older children’s rooms, and monthly care-home visits give Smartees Day Care Nursery a recognisable character. At 89 Preston Road in Yeovil, it takes children from 3 months to 5 years and has 49 places in total. Its appeal lies in the combination of play, practical independence and relationships beyond the nursery.

At the 27 November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that staff used observations to plan support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. A later regulatory visit in July 2025 required action on cot mattresses and food-based activities. Both parts of that picture matter when choosing care.

Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside full-day bookings and additional hours. That gives families several attendance patterns to consider, rather than a single daily commitment.

Rooms and Ages

The main rooms share one accessible level. For families comparing environments, the useful distinction is between the baby room’s separate outdoor space and the garden access available to toddlers and preschool children: outdoor play belongs to both stages, with different arrangements.

The Baby room combines a multisensory interior with direct access to its own enclosed outdoor area, giving babies opportunities to explore indoors and outside.

The toddler room has direct garden access, with opportunities for building, early writing and phonics alongside the preschool provision.

The pre-school has spaces for messy activities, imaginative play and adult-led learning, including books, musical instruments and Montessori equipment, giving children different ways to choose and pursue an activity.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play and experiences that develop children’s communication, physical skills and independence. Here, everyday resources include water, sand, paint, songs and stories. Children can experiment with materials as well as take part in activities led by adults.

Jumping Beans runs as a Friday-morning class, while Green Crow Yoga provides children’s yoga on Wednesday mornings. These are concrete additions to the nursery day. Forest School activities also form part of the offer, adding an outdoor learning approach alongside the indoor activities.

In November 2024, a drainpipe and balls became an exercise in testing ideas: children tried different sizes and adjusted the pipe when something would not fit. The value of this example is its simplicity. An ordinary object gave children a problem to investigate, with adults prompting them to think through possible solutions.

Books connected the age groups in November 2024. Babies followed movement as adults animated a book; toddlers identified pictures; preschool children explained a caterpillar’s transformation. The same story material could therefore support attention, naming and more developed explanations at different stages.

Outdoor and Community Life

Two outdoor areas can be used throughout the weather, and the older children’s garden access allows activities to extend beyond the rooms. The arrangement makes outdoor exploration a practical part of the setting, rather than relying solely on outings.

Visits to two local care homes take place monthly. That recurring contact gives children opportunities to spend time with people outside their usual nursery group. It is a more specific community connection than occasional special events.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key worker who follows their development through observations and photographs. Tapestry, the online development journal, allows parents to see those records and add their own contributions from home. This makes communication a shared account of the child’s experiences, rather than information moving only from nursery to family.

A newsletter goes home each term with nursery news and forthcoming events. Babies also have a trial session before starting, allowing time to begin a relationship with their key person. Those arrangements give families both a starting point for settling and a continuing route into nursery life.

In November 2024, toddlers had a space overlooking the preschool area. They could watch older children while remaining in their own group, becoming familiar with the next environment before moving into it. That is a concrete approach to transitions within the nursery.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support for independence was visible in November 2024 through everyday tasks: children worked towards managing their coats, while older children prepared fruit and served parts of their breakfast. These activities gave them opportunities to practise useful skills during ordinary routines.

The same November 2024 account identified a specific weakness in communication with younger children. Babies sometimes needed longer to respond in early conversations, and toddlers needed more adult commentary on their actions to build vocabulary. This was the improvement priority, rather than a general criticism of the whole curriculum.

On 7 July 2025, Ofsted found that some requirements were not being met and issued actions concerning the condition of cot mattresses and the planning and delivery of food-based activities to protect children’s health. The deadline was 8 July 2025; this is the latest published regulatory position, and it should inform discussions about sleeping arrangements and food activities.

Staff cook meals on the premises, and session prices include meals and snacks. The nursery’s food policy allows for dietary and allergy requirements; families affected by allergies should confirm how that policy works for their child.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 89 Preston Road, Yeovil, BA20 2DN. Opening hours run from 7am until 6pm on weekdays, with sessions sold from 8am to 1pm and from 1pm to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Full-day bookings are also offered.

Additional hours can be requested from 7am. Families can purchase extra hours around their chosen sessions, with 8am to 3pm and noon to 6pm given as examples. This flexibility may be useful where a standard morning or afternoon does not match a parent’s working hours.

The usual minimum is two sessions each week, with flexibility during the first few months. This is an attendance rule to weigh alongside the session length: choosing a shorter session does not remove the weekly minimum.

The nursery opens for 51 weeks a year, closing on bank holidays and for a week between Christmas and New Year. Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Early Years Entitlement Funding is offered for children aged 2, 3 and 4. The funded offer also includes 30 hours for working parents of eligible 3- and 4-year-olds. Eligibility remains a condition of that entitlement.

Private sessions and additional hours are charged separately from funded entitlement. Meals and snacks are included in session prices; families using funded hours discuss additional service charges and the available options with the team. Families can request current prices from the nursery, while the hours and fees page explains the attendance structure.

• Sleep and food activities. The 7 July 2025 regulatory visit led to actions on cot mattresses and food-based activities, with an 8 July 2025 deadline. Ask how the nursery responded and what arrangements are now in place.
• Conversation with babies and toddlers. In November 2024, the improvement priority concerned giving babies time to respond and adding language to toddlers’ actions. During a visit, ask how practitioners now build these exchanges into play and care routines.
• The weekly commitment. Morning and afternoon sessions offer shorter attendance, but the usual minimum is two sessions per week. Consider that commitment alongside the flexibility offered during the first few months.
• The funded-hours package. Session prices include meals and snacks, while funded attendance involves a discussion of service charges and options. Ask for a written breakdown covering food, non-food consumables and any additional hours before agreeing a pattern.

Smartees suits families weighing morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, especially those who value garden access, Jumping Beans classes, yoga and regular contact with local care homes. The key-worker arrangement and Tapestry give parents a defined role in sharing their child’s development.

The November 2024 Good judgement provides a positive inspection baseline. The July 2025 actions on sleep equipment and food activities are also material to the decision. A visit should connect the appealing daily offer with a clear explanation of the response to those actions.