Shelford Day Nursery

A Lego roof that children can test with water captures Shelford Day Nursery’s character: ideas become things to build, investigate and discuss. STEM, an approach combining science and maths with engineering and technology, gives this Great Shelford setting a clear educational identity. The emphasis is on practical exploration rather than simply teaching children scientific facts.

At its June 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The teaching challenge was consistency: staff needed to put the ambitious curriculum into practice more reliably and take the most-able children’s thinking further. That distinction matters when judging the appeal of its educational approach.

Children can attend from 3 months to 5 years. Full-time and part-time attendance are offered, with a preference for full-time bookings and for families who support the STEM approach.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage supplies the framework for learning and care: children learn through play, develop communication and physical skills, and practise managing feelings and relationships. STEM sits alongside those expectations as Shelford’s chosen approach, rather than replacing them. Its curriculum turns questioning and practical investigation into the means of learning.

The Lego example makes this tangible. Children can build a house, consider whether its roof will keep water out, and test their idea. The value lies in the sequence: making a prediction, trying it, and deciding what to change. A construction activity becomes a reason to explain a choice and persevere when the first solution fails.

Books and computers also have a defined role. Children use fiction, factual books and technology to investigate questions, with how planes fly given as an example. These resources support a project rather than sitting apart from it. For parents, this is a useful distinction between access to devices and a clear purpose for using them.

Choice shapes the day, but children also join activities led by adults in smaller and larger groups. They have opportunities to pursue something independently and to work with others. Set mealtimes and time with their key-person group give the day recurring anchors, while activities accommodate changing energy levels and the need for quiet or rest.

Rooms and Ages

In June 2024, songs and stories supplied language experiences for the youngest children, while older children encountered vocabulary such as symmetry and used it in their play. In the pre-school room, children experimented with cornflour, water and moving balls. These examples show how the same investigative approach can take different forms across developmental stages.

The limitation was also visible in June 2024: planned activities did not consistently deliver their intended learning, and the most-able children were not always challenged sufficiently. Interesting materials are only part of the equation. The adult’s response to a child’s idea matters just as much.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play includes activities chosen by children and those organised by adults, bringing weather, seasonal change and nature into their experience. Play areas, gardening and nature walks extend this beyond indoor investigation. Children have practical opportunities to notice changes and explore their surroundings.

Solar panels provide a physical example of the nursery’s environmental work, alongside recycling activities. That gives sustainability a concrete setting rather than leaving it as an abstract message. The educational connection is straightforward: children’s questions about resources and waste can sit naturally beside the wider STEM approach.

Relationships and Communication

A key person helps each child settle and works with parents on their needs and interests. This is a relationship with a continuing practical role, including contributing to the child’s achievement record and agreeing what to work towards next. Families’ observations from home join those made at nursery, so assessment draws on more than one part of the child’s life.

Photographs, videos and observations contribute to progress records, with summaries also used when children change groups or move on to school. A graduation, certificate and transition document mark the end of nursery. The document is the useful part for continuity: it carries information about the child into the next stage.

Complimentary parent learning includes talks and workshops delivered online or in person. Paediatric First Aid for Parents and Sleep Consultancy are examples of webinar topics, alongside communication, nutrition and toilet training. These extend the parent relationship beyond updates about the nursery day into practical family concerns.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2024 inspection, Ofsted recorded parents’ positive accounts of communication and of concerns about special educational needs or disabilities being raised promptly, with support plans put in place. This is a dated finding about families’ experiences, rather than a promise about every future child’s support.

The key-person relationship also supports settling, while routines allow for rest and quieter activity. The nursery takes account of individual special needs and works within the SEND Code of Practice. For a family weighing support, the combination of a continuing practitioner relationship and an individual record offers a clear starting point for discussing their child.

Meals and snacks are shared social occasions, with menus planned around nutritious food and dietary requirements discussed with families. In June 2024, a nursery cook prepared meals and children ate alongside friends and their key person, making eating part of the relationship-based day.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 3 High Green, Great Shelford, Cambridge, CB22 5EQ. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 50 weeks of the year. Full-time attendance is preferred, although part-time attendance is also offered; support for the STEM approach forms part of the nursery’s booking priorities.

A maintenance closure usually falls in the late-May Spring bank-holiday week, with another closure between Christmas and New Year. There are two Friday staff-training days each year: one within the maintenance week and another usually in November. Those details matter when arranging cover, especially for families using nursery throughout the working year.

Funding and Paid Extras

Fully funded places and private childcare are offered. The private daily fee includes meals, milk and nappies, bringing food and those consumables into the same charge rather than separate purchases. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Joining involves a non-refundable registration charge and, after an offered place is accepted, a deposit credited against the final invoice. The distinction is useful: the registration payment is retained, while the deposit is applied at the end of attendance.

• Teaching beyond the activity. June 2024 findings identified inconsistent challenge for the most-able children. During a visit, ask how practitioners extend an investigation once a child has solved the first problem.
• Attendance priorities. Full-time attendance and support for STEM are booking priorities. Families considering part-time care should discuss how their preferred pattern fits those priorities.
• Cover for closures. The late-May maintenance week, Christmas closure and additional Friday training day affect year-round childcare planning. Build those breaks into your arrangements.
• Funded-place costs. Fully funded places are offered, while meals, milk and nappies are included in the private daily rate. Ask for written funded-place terms covering attendance, food and consumables.

Shelford suits families who want practical investigation to shape their child’s learning, whether they are considering full-time attendance or a part-time pattern. Lego construction, project research and gardening give the STEM identity substance, while key-person relationships and shared progress records keep care connected to home.

The June 2024 Good judgement provides a positive foundation, with a specific teaching reservation worth taking seriously. The strongest decision will weigh the appeal of the approach alongside how consistently adults develop each child’s thinking, and how the attendance priorities and closure calendar fit family life.