The Old Station Nursery Granta Park

Garden slides, a mud kitchen and practical counting games characterised Granta Park’s June 2024 inspection, but later welfare action carries more weight for families choosing care now. At its June 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated The Old Station Nursery Granta Park Good, found effective safeguarding and judged support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language effective.

The nursery cares for children from three months to five years, with capacity for 90 children in total. Its address is Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, CB21 6GP. The positive assessment from 2024 must be read alongside the actions issued following a July 2026 regulatory visit.

In June 2024, babies practised movement on garden slides with staff support, while older children used the mud kitchen for imaginative play. Conversations connected their play with things they had experienced before. Outdoor equipment served both physical activity and opportunities to talk with other children.

The early years foundation stage sets requirements for children’s learning, development and care. Here, the June 2024 activities made those aims concrete: children used tweezers to sort coloured pom-poms and experimented with filling jugs, combining hand control with early mathematical ideas.

Babies also explored coloured foam and toy animals while adults paired animal names with signs and sounds. Books prompted conversations about characters’ feelings. These were examples of learning through practical exploration.

The teaching needed greater consistency. In June 2024, staff sometimes missed opportunities to give children more demanding tasks or richer interaction; adapting teaching to extend learning was the required improvement.

During June 2024, babies practised feeding themselves with spoons and older children helped serve food. Familiar routines gave children opportunities to take responsibility for small tasks. Staff tracked development through observations, reviewed next steps and shared these with parents.

In June 2024, children showed consideration for other children and adults, and staff responded sensitively to their needs. Praise acknowledged what children had achieved. Alongside feeding and serving food, these interactions gave the account of independence an emotional dimension: children had opportunities to do things for themselves while receiving encouragement from adults.

The June 2024 practical tasks also involved persistence. Children kept working when difficulties arose and took satisfaction in completing what they had started. Sorting pom-poms and experimenting with jugs therefore involved more than handling materials: the activities gave children opportunities to concentrate, solve problems and keep trying. For parents, those examples help explain how play supported both learning and confidence at that inspection.

Later welfare findings change the decision. Following its visit on 31 July 2026, Ofsted issued actions covering safe sleep and bedding condition, hygiene in food preparation, management of risks and prevention of infection, with a completion deadline of 28 August 2026.

The published position dated 4 August 2026 was that the provider would be monitored for successful completion of those actions. This establishes the position at that date, not whether the deadline was subsequently met. Earlier, in January 2025, a compliance outcome recorded improvements to risk assessments and supervision after an October 2024 incident involving premises and equipment safety. Risk management therefore deserves direct attention.

Granta Park opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6.30pm, across the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas. That opening window helps families assess whether their working day fits around nursery care.

In June 2024, funded early education was provided for children aged two, three and four. Families considering funding should distinguish that dated participation from the arrangements they agree when joining.

• Sleep, hygiene and risk management. The July 2026 visit led to actions with an August 2026 deadline. Before joining, ask for the subsequent official outcome and how the changes operate in daily care.
• Stretching learning. June 2024 teaching did not consistently extend children’s learning. On a visit, ask how practitioners recognise when a child needs a harder task or more sustained conversation.
• Matching attendance to work. The opening window runs from 7.30am to 6.30pm on weekdays. Ask which booking pattern fits your required hours and request a written quotation separating funded hours, paid hours, meals and non-food consumables.

Granta Park suits families seeking childcare from babyhood through the preschool years within an all-year weekday opening window. Its June 2024 activities give a concrete picture of practical learning and growing independence. The later welfare actions are the decisive consideration: the June 2024 judgement cannot establish completion of the July 2026 requirements.