Little Stars Day Nursery

Everyday objects, loose parts and gardens shape Little Stars Day Nursery in Waterbeach. Its Curiosity Approach uses materials for open-ended investigation, favouring exploration over a predetermined finished piece. Children follow their interests, with adults extending their thinking.

At its December 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found that its curriculum gave particular attention to confidence, wellbeing and language. The detail matters more than the label: children explored toy insects outdoors, acted out stories and encountered people and places beyond the nursery. There were also improvements to make in handwashing and consistent expectations for older children.

Little Stars has capacity for 100 children in total, and its daily childcare offer runs from three months to five years. Four playrooms divide the environment by developmental stage, with outdoor access from each. Under-threes can attend full days or half days, subject to a minimum booking of three days a week.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room serves children aged three to eighteen months, combining resources for exploration with a calmer space and routines adapted to individual needs. For a baby starting childcare, the important detail is that the routine can follow the child rather than requiring every baby to move through the day together.

In the Totters & Toddler Rooms, communication, physical development and relationships take greater prominence, with practitioners modelling vocabulary and behaviour during ordinary activities. The separate toddler description adds loose parts, everyday resources and questions that encourage children to think through a challenge. Materials are there to be investigated. An adult's contribution is to extend the conversation rather than supply every answer.

The Preschool Room brings independence together with freely accessible literacy and mathematics resources, while its adjoining quieter room supports small groups and quieter periods. Its own children's bathroom gives older children a practical setting for managing everyday routines. Totters and toddlers share another children's bathroom, supporting toilet training as children become ready.

Room changes can follow a child's development rather than a fixed birthday deadline. Children of different ages also have opportunities to spend time together.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, children build communication, physical skills and early understanding through play and interaction. The Curiosity Approach adds a particular choice of materials and presentation, including natural objects, authentic everyday resources and loose parts that children can use in different ways.

Planning follows children's interests as they emerge. Practitioners use the activity already engaging a child as an opening for conversation, a question or a new challenge. The emphasis is on investigating possibilities rather than making every child complete an identical task. Families who value child-led play will recognise that thread across the rooms.

In December 2023, babies explored reflective bowls and scoops while adults introduced words connected to their actions. Outdoors, children searched mud for toy insects, then extended the activity through a book and related songs. These examples show how a physical experience can become a language opportunity: the object, action and word arrive together.

Stories have a daily place throughout the nursery, with comfortable reading spaces across the environment. In December 2023, children also acted out a storyline with staff, who changed their voices and asked questions to sustain participation. Books were used as a starting point for movement and conversation, as well as listening.

Outdoor and Community Life

Each playroom opens onto its own garden, allowing outdoor activity in different weather conditions. Beyond those spaces, a larger communal garden contains a garden room and forest school areas, adding places for outdoor exploration. The physical layout gives outdoor play a place within the ordinary nursery day rather than reserving it solely for an occasional outing.

Village trips and visits to the nursery's communal park area extend that experience. In December 2023, children bought ingredients from shops and a bakery and visited a care home. These were opportunities to meet people beyond their immediate family and nursery group. Celebrations also drew on families' experiences: parents shared festivals from home, and children brought items to discuss with their peers.

Relationships start with learning how a child already lives. In December 2023, settling sessions included gathering information about interests, routines and existing skills, while time with a key person helped children become familiar with a trusted adult. That is useful groundwork for care which takes account of the child outside nursery, as well as the child in the room.

Tapestry, the online journal used by Little Stars, combines practical updates with photographs and developmental observations. Meals and sleep are recorded there, and parents can add experiences from home. This gives families a way to connect the two parts of a child's day, including the everyday information that can matter just as much as a photograph of an activity.

At the December 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding arrangements effective, with staff understanding warning signs, reporting procedures and the action to take when a child might be at risk. Current arrangements include safeguarding and child-protection training, paediatric first aid training and a SENCo contact role. Those are concrete arrangements; they should be read separately from the dated inspection judgement.

Food is planned and cooked on site by the nursery's chef, with provision for individual dietary requirements and baby meals adapted in texture. Staff eat alongside children, who practise serving food, pouring drinks and clearing away, making mealtimes another opportunity to develop independence.

Preparation for school includes more than practising early literacy. The nursery describes links with Waterbeach Community Primary School involving a visit for each cohort, contact with teachers and discussion of children's feelings about the change. Familiarity with the setting and adults can make that next step less abstract. Attendance at Little Stars does not guarantee a school place; families still use the local authority admissions process.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, for 51 weeks each year. Bank holidays and the Christmas-to-New-Year closure require alternative childcare for families working through those periods.

For children under three, the booking choices are a full day or a half day. The half-day windows are 8am to 1pm and 1pm to 6pm, and a minimum of three days a week applies to under-three bookings. Morning and afternoon attendance therefore serve a different need from booking a whole day, but the weekly minimum remains part of the decision.

General enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form, and there is an application route for joining. The address is Buchanan Centre, Capper Road, Waterbeach, Cambridge, CB25 9LY.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible two-year-olds, alongside government-funded preschool provision for children over three. Eligibility remains a condition of the two-year-old offer. Private full-day and half-day childcare is also offered for under-threes.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The sessions and fees page details under-three full and half days, with the three-day weekly minimum applying to both.

• Under-three attendance commitment. Full days and either half-day window require at least three days a week. This suits a recurring childcare pattern; families seeking fewer days should weigh that minimum before applying.
• Hygiene and older children's expectations. In December 2023, children were not consistently encouraged to wash their hands before eating, and reminders about tidying resources and respecting others' belongings were uneven. At a visit, ask how staff now teach those routines and apply expectations consistently.
• Room transitions. Moves between rooms can be adapted to individual development, and children sometimes mix across age groups. Discuss how a move would be planned for your child, especially if they need more time with familiar adults or surroundings.
• Funding and the complete quotation. Eligible two-year-olds and funded preschool children are part of the offer. Before committing, ask how funded hours fit the intended sessions and request an itemised quotation covering meals and non-food consumables.

Little Stars suits families seeking child-led investigation, regular outdoor access and practical independence, with either full-day attendance or morning and afternoon half days for under-threes. The gardens, everyday materials and flexible room transitions give that approach a tangible setting. Tapestry adds a useful connection between home and nursery.

The December 2023 hygiene and behavioural findings deserve attention alongside the learning and school-transition work. For families comfortable with the weekly minimum, play, communication and everyday self-care give Little Stars a coherent appeal.