Partou Playtime Day Nursery & Pre-school

Three levels of soft play give Playtime a clear physical identity. Obstacles indoors and an enclosed garden outside make movement a substantial part of the offer at this Shepperton nursery, alongside playrooms with space for exploration and activities shaped around children's interests.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 26 February 2025 and judged safeguarding effective at that inspection. The practical appeal is the combination of indoor physical play, outdoor exploration and a choice of attendance patterns. Children can attend from 3 to 60 months, with 104 places in total; that is whole-nursery capacity, rather than the size of any individual group.

Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings are offered, with an early-start option for families needing an earlier beginning.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: everyday play supports communication, physical development and learning about themselves and their surroundings. Alongside that foundation, the group-wide The Partou experience gives children a choice of activities, with adults supporting their exploration. The practical distinction is who chooses what to explore next. Children's interests help shape the activity, rather than everyone being directed towards the same task.

In February 2025, books and songs featured in adult-child play, and staff introduced vocabulary while exploring resources together. Role play and puppets brought other cultures and people's jobs into children's activities. These are concrete ways to connect language with something a child can see, handle or act out, rather than relying on verbal instruction alone.

Independence also had an everyday place. In February 2025, older children helped prepare the lunch table and tidied afterwards, while preschool children remembered making smoothies. Such tasks give children a useful role in the nursery day and opportunities to practise doing things for themselves.

Outdoor and Community Life

The huge soft play area has three levels, with obstacles intended to develop physical skills. Playrooms are bright and spacious, while the enclosed garden includes sensory gardens, mud kitchens and climbing frames. That combination gives children different ways to be active: climbing and negotiating obstacles, exploring materials and investigating the outdoor space.

In February 2025, babies used crawling blocks and slides with adults nearby to guide them. Physical activity took place both outside and indoors. For parents of younger children, the useful detail is the combination of movement and adult guidance, rather than equipment alone.

Relationships and Communication

In February 2025, staff gathered information from families when children first started and used it to help them settle. Key people knew the children in their care, and tired babies received individual comfort. This makes the relationship with a familiar adult a practical part of care, especially while a child is adjusting to time away from home.

Information passed between home and nursery also informed activities in February 2025. Parents received ideas about children's next learning steps, and the lending library supported reading at home. The value is continuity: a book or activity can carry a child's interests beyond the nursery day, while information from families helps staff understand what matters to that child.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that learning was planned around individual needs, including SEND, that children made sound progress, and that additional funding supported individual care alongside help from other professionals. In February 2025, preparation for room changes and starting school included children with SEND, while children's home languages and backgrounds were reflected in activities.

The zen den was a space children could use when feelings became difficult in February 2025. However, staff did not always recognise when a child needed help with behaviour or respond consistently, leaving some children less clear about expectations. Hygiene teaching also needed greater consistency: dropped cutlery was sometimes used again without staff addressing it. Both points matter because children learn these habits through adults' responses during ordinary routines.

Food is prepared fresh at the nursery, using seasonal menus that rotate over three to four weeks. The nursery has allergy procedures and accommodates different dietary needs; families affected by allergies should discuss their child's current arrangements in detail.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Playtime Nursery Centre, Miles House, Govett Avenue, Shepperton, TW17 8AG. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6pm, across the year, with closures for Bank Holidays, Christmas and New Year.

A full day runs from 8am to 6pm. Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm; Early Start begins at 7.30am and carries an additional charge. The distinction matters for planning: the opening window starts earlier than the standard full-day booking, while the two shorter sessions divide the day at lunchtime.

Enquiries and visit bookings can be made through the nursery's enquiry and booking routes. Shepperton Railway Station and Shepperton Town Centre are both identified as convenient points of access.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with 15 or 30 hours a week over 38 term weeks, subject to eligibility and a maximum of 10 funded hours a day. For year-round attendance, funding is stretched over 51 weeks, giving 11.17 or 22.35 funded hours a week respectively. Private fees include food, milk, nappies, wipes and other essentials, so those items sit within the fee rather than being separate additions.

Food and other essentials are included in private fees; additional charges apply on funded hours for children aged 3–4 and children under 3 using a Working Families funding code. This is an important distinction when comparing a private booking with funded hours: the care entitlement and the total invoice cover different things. Registration involves a non-refundable fee or a registration deposit, subject to eligibility terms. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Behaviour support. February 2025 practice was inconsistent when children needed help managing behaviour. During a visit, ask how practitioners recognise those moments and give children consistent responses.
• Everyday hygiene and dietary care. February 2025 observations included cutlery being reused after falling on the floor. Ask how staff reinforce hygiene at meals and, where relevant, how your child's allergy arrangements work in practice.
• Attendance and the total bill. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings have different boundaries, and Early Start is an extra. Compare a written quotation for your intended pattern, including the separate food and essentials charges that apply to the specified funded bookings.

Playtime suits families choosing between morning sessions, afternoon sessions and full days, especially those who value substantial indoor physical play alongside a garden. The three-level soft play area gives the offer a clear point of interest, while the February 2025 account includes practical independence, books, songs and individual relationships.

The Good judgement provides a dated assessment of quality. The behaviour-support and hygiene improvement points deserve equal weight in a family's decision, particularly because they concern the small, repeated interactions that shape a child's day.