My Nursery

A converted barn, a separate baby garden and play-dough movements set to music give My Nursery a recognisable character. This Grantham setting combines rooms organised around developmental stages with activities that turn movement, conversation and play into learning. The enclosed outdoor space sits between its two buildings, giving the nursery a shared place for outdoor exploration alongside its indoor rooms.

At its April 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with learning planned around individual children but improvements needed in babies’ conversational response time and mathematics during spontaneous play. Those points matter alongside the grade. For a parent, the useful distinction is between activities being offered and staff making the most of the learning within them.

My Nursery has capacity for 62 children, with a current age range of 2 to 59 months. Morning, afternoon and all-day bookings are offered, with a consistent weekly attendance pattern required. Its address is Conduit Lane, Grantham, NG31 6PB.

Rooms and Ages

The building arrangement is part of the nursery’s character: a two-storey building and a converted barn, with four rooms organised by children’s age and development. The rooms have overlapping age bands and are organised around age and developmental stage.

Little Lions Baby Room, for ages 0-2 years, combines soft exploration spaces and sensory resources with an emphasis on early communication, physical exploration and relationships with key workers. Toddling Tigers Toddler Room, for ages 1-3 years, uses different play zones and natural materials to support social interaction, growing independence and language. Little Bears Lower Preschool Room, for ages 2-4 years, has an open-plan layout supporting cooperative play, early self-care and learning through stories, sorting and making marks. Big Bears Upper Preschool Room, for ages 3-5 years, occupies adjoining rooms that separate different activities, with emphasis on conversation, early literacy, number work and managing everyday tasks independently.

That progression gives families concrete differences to consider beyond the room names. Soft exploration spaces suit the earliest physical discoveries; older children have room arrangements and activities that ask more of their communication and independence. The youngest room’s published age band describes its educational stage, while the nursery’s accepted age range starts at 2 months.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, covering communication, physical development, relationships and the developing skills of reading, number, creativity and understanding the world. It is the foundation of the day. Birth to 5 Matters is also used alongside it.

The additions are concrete. Dough Disco uses music and play dough, with children squeezing, rolling and pressing the dough to practise hand and finger movements. Squiggle Whilst You Wiggle connects dance and large movements with early writing: children first practise movements to music, then use writing tools at floor level. These activities give physical practice a clear purpose within early mark-making.

Bucket Therapy uses appealing toys and visual experiences to encourage attention and participation in an adult-led group. Circle Time gives children opportunities to listen and speak, with an adult starting the activity before children help shape it. Music and Movement includes songs, dancing and instruments, while Yoga adds opportunities to practise balance and concentration. The programmes sit within the ordinary nursery day rather than forming a separate timetable of clubs.

Diddy Signers is a termly bookable addition led by a Makaton teacher. It introduces communication using signs and symbols alongside spoken words. This offers another way for children to take part in communication, rather than making speech the only route into an activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

All children use the outdoor garden daily, and there is a separate baby garden. Outdoor play includes opportunities for climbing, running and exploring changes in weather, plants and wildlife. External outings require parental consent; nearby shops, parks and churches provide opportunities to take learning beyond the nursery.

In April 2023, babies explored sand, crossed a wooden bridge and made marks with water and brushes. Older children handled water using containers and syringes and planted seeds in compost. These examples show how movement and sensory exploration could connect with practical discoveries about materials and growth.

Community participation also had substance in April 2023. Children made regular visits to a local care home, talking with residents and forming relationships. A children’s council drawn from the preschool room helped choose additional experiences and healthy menu options. That gave children practice in expressing preferences and taking part in decisions affecting their day.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person in their room, responsible for helping them settle, keeping in touch with parents and supporting their learning. This gives families a clear relationship through which to discuss changes, interests or concerns, rather than relying only on whoever is available for a brief conversation.

Daily handovers cover eating, sleep and activities. Children under 2 also receive a care diary through the nursery’s app and management software. Pictures, videos and learning observations go into an electronic learning journal, and Tapestry connects observations with the learning framework and contributions from home. Parents can call or message during their child’s session for an update.

Rest is flexible. Children can have quiet time or opportunities to rest according to their needs, rather than treating the end of regular naps as the end of daytime rest. For children moving towards school, the older room’s work on dressing, toileting, conversation and independence gives preparation an everyday form.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENDCo supports children, families and key persons, with training through the local authority and continuing training opportunities. With parental consent, staff consult other professionals and work together on agreed strategies and targets. These are practical mechanisms for coordinating support around an individual child.

At the April 2023 inspection, Ofsted found children with SEND well supported through collaboration with parents and professionals, with activities planned around individual needs. That is a dated assessment of practice, alongside the current arrangements for coordinating support.

Hot lunches are cooked fresh each day at the sister nursery Littleleaps and brought to My Nursery, or families can supply a packed lunch. Tea comes from home as a packed meal or extra snacks, giving families a choice about whether the main evening meal happens at nursery or later together.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates throughout the year, closing on bank holidays and for a week at Christmas. Enquiries can be made by telephone or through the contact form, with the management team responding.

Bookings cover mornings, afternoons and all-day attendance. Morning examples include 9am-1pm and 7.30am-1pm; afternoon examples include 1pm-4pm and 1pm-6pm; all-day examples include 9am-4pm and 7.30am-6pm. The timing choices make it possible to match a session to different routines, but the weekly pattern must remain consistent. Flexibility concerns the choice of booking, rather than changing attendance freely from week to week.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 30 hours for eligible working families, 15 hours for all families with children aged 3-4, and 15 hours for eligible children aged 2 receiving additional support. Eligibility and advance application apply to the working-family offer, which starts from the term after a child turns 9 months and continues until school entry. The universal 15-hour offer starts from the term after a child turns 3.

Families choose between term-time funding over 38 weeks and a stretched arrangement across the year. The term-time model supplies 15 or 30 funded hours weekly; the stretched model supplies 11.25 or 22.5. A booking matching the funded allocation attracts no additional charge for childcare hours, while hours beyond that allocation are invoiced. Private childcare is also offered. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the sessions and funding page sets out the charge structure.

Food and other costs need their own place in the budget. Hot lunch is charged separately, with a packed lunch as the alternative, and families provide tea or extra tea-time snacks. For children using the 3- and 4-year-old Early Years Entitlement, a separate snack consumables charge covers breakfast, snacks, other consumable items, additional services and trips; it sits outside that entitlement’s funding.

• Baby conversations and spontaneous number learning. In April 2023, babies sometimes had too little time to respond, and opportunities to extend mathematics in free play were missed. During a visit, ask how staff now allow babies thinking time and develop number ideas from children’s own play.
• Choosing a room. Little Lions, Toddling Tigers, Little Bears and Big Bears have overlapping age bands. Discuss how development and readiness guide room allocation and moves, especially if your child could fit more than one stage.
• A flexible choice, a fixed pattern. There are morning, afternoon and all-day options, but the weekly booking stays consistent. Families with changing work shifts should consider how a regular pattern fits their routine.
• Funding holidays. Term-time and stretched models offer different weekly allocations, while funding holidays affect attendance bookings. Ask for the attendance calendar for your chosen model and how any extra holiday sessions would be charged.

My Nursery suits families seeking morning sessions, afternoon care or all-day attendance within a regular weekly routine. The strongest reasons to consider it are tangible: different room layouts, a separate baby garden, named movement and communication activities, and a key-person relationship supported by daily updates.

The April 2023 Good judgement provides a useful quality reference, but the two teaching improvements deserve attention when choosing care. For families comfortable with a consistent booking pattern and clear separation between funded hours and additional costs, this is a nursery with plenty of practical detail to weigh against their child’s stage and household routine.