Banana Moon Day Nursery Littleover

Vegetables growing in a sensory garden, apple-crumble ingredients sent home with families, and a quiet room with wooden cots give Banana Moon Day Nursery Littleover a practical, domestic character. Learning connects with ordinary childhood experiences: growing food, measuring ingredients, choosing activities and resting when tired. Those details matter more than a curriculum slogan.

At its October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, with positive findings about children's independence and preparation for their next stage of learning. There were also two clear development points: bringing quieter children into conversations and making outdoor physical activities more challenging. The judgement is dated, and both points deserve attention alongside the strengths.

This purpose-built nursery on Tutbury Avenue in Littleover, Derby, has 70 places in total and accepts children aged three months to five years. Its separate sleep room, in-house kitchen and natural adventure area provide spaces for rest, meals and active play. Full-day and half-day attendance are both described, with funded childcare and private sessions offered.

Rooms and Ages

The Banana Moon group's room progression uses four names: Baby Moons, Teenie Moons, Mini Moons and Full Moons. Movement through the younger stages takes account of mobility as well as age, so the first transition is linked to how confidently a child moves around.

Baby Moons starts at three months and continues until children are confidently mobile, with sensory exploration of texture, colour and shape and attention to familiar home routines. The baby-room staffing ratio is a maximum of three children per adult. Teenie Moons takes mobile children up to two years, using painting, singing and messy play to extend their experiences. Mini Moons covers two to three years, combining potty-training support with choosing activities and practising independence. Full Moons serves children from three years to school age, with play choices, social interaction and individual learning observations recorded by a key person.

These are different stages of the nursery day rather than a promise that every child develops at the same pace. For a baby, continuity of routines matters; for an older child, selecting an activity or managing clothing provides a small, useful step towards doing more independently.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, including learning through play and observing what each child is ready to try next. Alongside it sits the group-wide Banana Moon Early Learning & Development Programme, which uses children's interests to plan playful experiences and open-ended resources. Its curriculum description connects observations, communication with parents and the learning environment.

In October 2022, babies explored building and dismantling wooden-block towers, toddlers practised handling small objects with tweezers, and preschool children turned a cardboard box into an imaginary boat. These examples show different demands within play: handling materials, controlling movements and solving a shared problem. Story sessions also held children's attention.

Home Learning Bags extend that connection beyond nursery. An apple-crumble activity included ingredients for families to cook together, with measuring, filling containers and comparing quantities built into the task. This gives parents something concrete to do with their child, rather than simply a description of what happened during the day.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outside, a quiet storytelling space sits alongside materials for constructing dens, climbing and balancing opportunities, and a sensory garden/mud kitchen area. Large pegs, tyres and different materials leave room for children to decide what they are making. Daily outdoor play throughout the year is part of the routine, so outdoor learning is not confined to an occasional special activity.

Planting has a direct connection with food. Children have planted vegetables for the sensory garden to grow and harvest for meals; Full Moons discussed what plants need, while a Baby Moons child planted lettuce seeds. That links an activity children can handle themselves with changes they can watch over time.

The Annual Reindeer Dash Obstacle Course raises money for Treetops Hospice and includes stepping stones and a balancing beam. It brings taking turns and physical coordination into a shared fundraising event. In October 2022, children also visited local parks and explored celebrations including Eid, Diwali and Chinese New Year, connecting their nursery experiences with the wider world.

Relationships and Communication

Settling-in is flexible, with communication between parents and staff used to shape the process around the child. For babies, staff work with families to maintain familiar routines. The useful emphasis is continuity: nursery care starts with what parents already know about their child.

The group-wide Parent App shares sleep, snacks and learning, alongside pictures and personalised learning journals. Parents can respond from home and give named family members access. Routine information and development observations serve different purposes: one helps families understand the day, while the other helps explain what their child is working towards.

In October 2022, parent communication included ideas for extending learning at home. Children also practised everyday independence at lunchtime, serving food, pouring water and clearing plates. These were small responsibilities with an immediate purpose, rather than independence discussed only as a future goal.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described staff working with professionals on plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including support for the move to school. The deputy manager also holds the nursery SENCo role, giving families an identifiable role through which to discuss additional needs.

Rest has its own space. The dedicated sleep room contains natural wood cots and gentle lighting, with individual bed linen laundered on site; staff make regular checks and CCTV monitoring is also used. Staff aim to follow established sleep routines, which makes the arrangements relevant to a baby's actual pattern of rest.

Fingerprint Biometric Access controls entry, with unregistered visitors admitted by staff, and CCTV operates around the nursery. These are access arrangements rather than a substitute for the dated safeguarding judgement. They give parents a clear picture of how entry is managed.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Units E-G, Tutbury Avenue, Littleover, Derby, DE23 3AT. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, with bank-holiday closures and one week closed at Christmas. Families can enquire through the contact form, by telephone on 01332 981499 or by email at info@bananamoon-littleover.co.uk.

Full-day and half-day attendance are described, with a recommendation of one full day or two half-day sessions each week. This is a recommendation rather than a stated compulsory minimum. It gives families considering a smaller attendance pattern a clear indication of the nursery's approach to continuity.

Fees remain payable during sickness and holidays, and the payment terms cover 51 weeks, including bank holidays. For families whose work or holidays vary, that distinction between attendance and payment is an important part of budgeting.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 30 hours for working families from nine months onwards, 15-hour funding for three-year-olds and 15-hour funding for two-year-olds, subject to eligibility. Private sessions are also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the fees page providing the route to its fee information.

The funded-day example uses entitlement hours from 8am to 6pm within an 11-hour nursery day, with additional time purchased separately if needed before 8am or after 6pm. Meals and snacks are charged separately in that example; consumables, such as nappies and sun cream, carry no separate charge in the example. Additional services are voluntary and vary by day; trips, dance classes and yoga are examples rather than a fixed weekly programme.

Food is cooked daily in the in-house kitchen, with two hot meals, snacks, a separate weaning menu for younger babies and frequently changing menus. The dietary policy provides for allergies and other dietary requirements, with older children encouraged to serve themselves.

• Conversation for quieter children. In October 2022, less vocal children had fewer opportunities to develop their language during some larger-group activities. On a visit, ask how staff now bring those children into discussion and extend their vocabulary.
• Challenge outdoors. The October 2022 development point concerned helping children acquire new physical skills, including balancing and pedalling. Explore how staff use the climbing, balancing and den-building resources to move each child beyond familiar tasks.
• Dietary arrangements and funded-day costs. The funded-day example separates food charges from entitlement hours, while the nursery's dietary policy covers individual requirements. Families managing an allergy should confirm current food-handling practice and have the meal charges explained alongside their intended attendance pattern.

Banana Moon Littleover suits families considering either full-day attendance or a smaller half-day pattern, especially those who value familiar routines for babies and practical independence for older children. The sleep room, garden planting and Home Learning Bags give that approach substance. They connect nursery life with home.

The October 2022 Good judgement provides a dated quality reference, with conversation and outdoor challenge the areas to examine closely. For parents, the decision combines the child's experience with the practical terms: paid absences, funded-day food charges and separately purchased additional hours all belong alongside the learning offer.