Learningland Day Nursery

Green Park next door and outdoor play through the seasons give Learningland Day Nursery a recognisable character. This Millbrook setting combines practical support for families with everyday opportunities to talk, explore and become more independent. Its address is 51 Wimpson Lane, Southampton, SO16 4QF.

Children can attend from three months to five years, with 45 places in total. At its 13 November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The strongest practical attractions are the choice of attendance patterns, key-worker settling sessions and regular conversations about children's development.

Full days, school days and morning or afternoon sessions serve different family routines. The differences matter: funded sessions have their own timetable, rather than simply following the longer paid sessions.

Rooms and Ages

Toddler room and Pre school room each have a team-leader role. Daily routines vary with children's ages, so the timetable is a guide to the setting rather than an identical schedule for every room. Across the nursery, activity planning follows individual children's needs and skills.

The day mixes planned activities with free play indoors and outside. Lunch is followed by a sleep or quiet period, giving children a pause before afternoon activities. That balance makes rest part of the routine while allowing children who are awake to have quieter time.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning, development and care: children learn through play and social interaction, with activities matched to their age and stage. Key workers plan around individual needs rather than expecting children to progress at one shared pace. Natural materials are among the resources used in play.

In November 2024, younger children explored animal sounds and differences in size, while older children worked with scissors and shapes to make animal pictures. These examples give parents a useful picture of how an interest can lead to different activities as children develop.

Books and songs also ran through the day in November 2024. Babies responded to actions in familiar rhymes, toddlers selected songs, and preschool children sang together during play. Children could borrow books for home, connecting nursery story time with family reading rather than keeping it entirely within the setting.

Outdoor and Community Life

Secure outdoor play areas are used daily throughout the year, including in different weather conditions. Families provide clothing suited to the season. Green Park, the neighbouring recreational space, is also accessible to the nursery, adding another setting for outdoor activity.

In November 2024, children practised balancing and climbing on a climbing frame and explored different ways of moving over equipment. The physical detail matters: outdoor time included opportunities to test movement, rather than simply a change of surroundings.

The recurring calendar includes an Easter celebration in April and a Nativity in December. Photographer visits take place in May for school-leaver photographs and October for individual portraits. These events give the year a rhythm alongside the everyday routine.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts with the key worker, who arranges introductory sessions suited to the child and family. Before attendance begins, parents complete information about health, routines, individual needs, emergency contacts and collection arrangements. This gives staff practical knowledge to use from the start, rather than leaving them to discover preferences during a busy day.

A parent and key-worker meeting takes place at the end of each term to discuss development. In November 2024, staff also shared learning updates, discussed children's next steps and offered activity ideas for home. The combination gives families both a scheduled conversation and examples of how nursery learning can continue beyond it.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff supported children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language through manageable learning steps, work with parents and professionals, and support tailored using additional funding. This is a concrete account of support at that date, rather than a general promise about inclusion.

Staff have paediatric first-aid training. The daily routine includes sleep or quiet time, and in November 2024 children brushed their teeth at nursery and discussed healthy food. Independence was practised too: babies received help to feed themselves, while older children poured drinks and cleared their plates.

Catering staff prepare fresh meals from the weaning stage onwards, including a cooked lunch, and dietary needs connected with medical conditions or religious beliefs are discussed with the key worker. For fully funded sessions, meals are a separately charged optional extra; families choosing against them supply packed lunch or tea.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates for 51 weeks, closing for one week at Christmas and on bank holidays; bank holidays attract no charge.

The stretched-funding timetable offers Full day from 7.30am to 6pm, School day from 9am to 3pm, Morning from 7.30am to 1pm and Afternoon from 1.30pm to 6pm. These are different booking choices, not interchangeable versions of one session.

The funded timetable offers School day from 9am to 3pm, Morning from 9am to noon and Afternoon from 1pm to 4pm. School day hours match the stretched-funding timetable; morning and afternoon hours differ. It covers term-time attendance over 38 weeks, with a limited number of all-year arrangements over 51 weeks. Enquiries and appointment bookings use the telephone or contact form.

Getting There

The nursery stands beside Green Park and next to Millbrook Christian Centre on Wimpson Lane. Its car park supports collection and drop-off, a practical consideration for families travelling by car.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15 hours for two-year-olds whose families receive additional support, 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds across families in England, and 30 hours for eligible working families with children aged nine months to four years. Funding begins in the term after the applicable age, and delivery can be term-time or stretched across the year.

Agreed hours beyond funded entitlement are charged separately. On fully funded sessions, breakfast, lunch and tea are optional paid extras. Nappies, milk and snacks are supplied by the nursery; parents bring spare clothes and a toothbrush. Families obtain current prices in a written quotation, using the opening hours and fees information to compare attendance arrangements.

• Staff development. In November 2024, monitoring of practice and training needed greater precision, with more targeted supervision, coaching and mentoring. Ask how those processes now address individual practitioners' teaching needs.
• Different session clocks. Stretched-funding and funded Morning sessions have different start times; the afternoon patterns differ too. Match the actual timetable to work and collection commitments before choosing a pattern.
• Dietary arrangements. Medical and religious dietary needs can be discussed with the key worker, and fully funded families can choose packed food instead of paid meals. Families managing allergies should confirm current preparation and handling arrangements during their visit.

Learningland suits families choosing between full days, school days and shorter morning or afternoon attendance, with term-time and stretched funding arrangements adding further flexibility. Green Park, daily outdoor play and termly key-worker meetings give that practical choice a clear setting and routine.

The Good judgement from November 2024 sits alongside a specific staff-development improvement point. For parents, the useful combination is individual settling, an established daily rhythm and several ways to organise attendance, with the session clocks and meal choices deserving close attention.