Play Station Nursery, Filton

One shared room and a garden with running water, a den and a sandpit give Play Station Nursery, Filton a clear character: children of different ages share their surroundings, with opportunities to separate into age groups. Based at Filton Children’s Centre on Conygre Road, it has capacity for 31 children aged two to five.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 16 June 2023 and judged safeguarding effective at that inspection. The detail matters as much as the grade: children chose resources, explored outdoors and practised sharing, while improvements were needed in group activities, information for parents and support with emotions.

Attendance is term-time only, with opening hours on Monday, Thursday and Friday. That makes the weekly calendar a central part of deciding whether Filton fits family life.

Rooms and Ages

The two-to-three and three-to-five age groups use the same large room. They can also divide for activities with children of similar ages. For families, this offers shared surroundings rather than a sequence of separate rooms as children grow older; the opportunity to divide allows activities to be organised around different stages of development.

Resources are selected around children’s needs. Outdoors, the garden combines bikes and trikes with construction play, hiding places, a den, running water and a sandpit. Movement between the room and garden is possible whenever practical, giving children opportunities to take their play outside rather than reserving outdoor exploration for a single activity.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care, with children learning through play across different areas of learning. At Filton, the shared room and accessible garden provide settings for that play: building, exploring water and using wheeled toys offer different ways to investigate and practise physical skills.

In June 2023, children could select their own play resources. Outdoors, they worked together to shift stones while looking for spiders, and older children rolled tyres using a garden slope. These were concrete opportunities to cooperate, judge space and experiment with movement.

During the same month, picture reminders helped children understand expectations, while sand timers supported turn-taking. Outings included parks and swimming. Those examples show the breadth of experiences at that time; they should be read alongside the need for better organisation of group activities so that each child could take part and benefit.

The current Filton team includes a deputy manager who also holds the lead practitioner and designated safeguarding lead roles, with a Level 3 qualification. The team also includes a Level 2 practitioner. These describe the team’s roles and qualifications rather than how many adults work with a particular group each day.

In June 2023, settling support recognised different preferences: some children wanted a story when separating from their parents, while others wanted to join friends. Staff also used photographs of children’s future schools to start conversations about the move to Reception and the friends who would be going with them. Familiar images made an unfamiliar next step something children could discuss.

At its June 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that staff used their knowledge and assessments of children to identify learning needs and seek professional support, and that conversation, stories and singing supported communication, including for children learning English as an additional language. Staff gave children time to answer questions rather than immediately supplying the answer.

Family support had a practical dimension in June 2023: links with the children’s centre gave parents access to a food bank and a clothing swap shop. However, everyday contact needed to carry more precise information about each child’s learning and how parents could help at home. Some children also needed more targeted help to express frustration and manage their feelings.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Conygre Road, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7DF. Opening hours are Monday, 9am to 12.30pm, and Thursday and Friday, 9am to 3pm, during term time. The Monday morning and longer Thursday and Friday opening windows create a particular weekly rhythm; families needing care throughout the working week should weigh that calendar carefully.

A Filton-specific enquiry route handles requests about joining. The term-time arrangement also means families need a childcare plan for school holidays, rather than assuming the nursery’s routine continues across the year.

Funding and Paid Extras

The Nursery Education Entitlement Grant is accepted, and children using the full 15 funded hours pay no fees. Funding is offered within the term-time provision. That condition matters: the no-fee statement relates specifically to using the full funded allocation.

Parents supply packed lunches, while snacks are covered by monthly or weekly sundries charges.

• A three-day opening calendar. Monday ends at 12.30pm; Thursday and Friday end at 3pm, and attendance is term-time only. Compare those hours with work commitments and school-holiday childcare before choosing this setting.
• Shared space across ages. The two-to-three and three-to-five groups share a room but can separate for activities. On a visit, ask how that division works during group learning, following the June 2023 finding that activities needed better organisation to engage every child.
• Learning updates and emotional support. In June 2023, parents needed more specific guidance about learning at home, and some children needed more targeted help with frustration. Ask to see an example of a learning update and how staff help a child communicate when upset.
• Funded hours and snack charges. The full 15 funded hours carry a no-fee promise, alongside a separate statement that snack costs sit within sundries charges. Ask how those snack charges apply to a booking using the full funded entitlement.

Play Station Nursery, Filton suits families seeking term-time care for children aged two to five whose routines fit Monday mornings and the longer Thursday and Friday opening hours. The shared room and garden offer a recognisable mix of age-group activity, physical play and exploration.

Its June 2023 Good judgement provides a dated quality reference, with useful detail beneath it. The decision should also give weight to the improvements identified in group learning, home-learning communication and emotional support. For a family whose weekly timetable fits, those are the practical points to weigh alongside the garden and shared-room arrangement.