Sunflower Day Nursery, Courtenay Park

A Georgian building opposite Courtenay Park gives this Newton Abbot nursery a recognisable setting, while stories, conversation and growing independence give its nursery day substance. Child-sized furniture and equipment sit within a converted Grade II Listed Georgian building. The surroundings have character; the learning examples are practical and closely tied to children's development.

Sunflower Day Nursery, Courtenay Park has capacity for 45 children, from birth to five years. At its 7 December 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good overall and found safeguarding effective. The strongest examples involved language, early writing and helping children express their needs, although distractions during preschool activities and lengthy waits for younger children's lunch required attention.

Full-day, morning and afternoon sessions serve different attendance needs. That choice matters alongside the nursery's location, rather than simply the length of its opening day.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: everyday play and adult guidance should support these together. Here, the December 2023 language work used selected stories and rhymes within each room, with repeated words and phrases giving children opportunities to build vocabulary. Familiar books supplied a starting point for conversation, rather than reading being confined to listening quietly.

In December 2023, preschool children contributed characters and events to a shared story while staff wrote down their ideas. This made the purpose of writing visible: spoken suggestions became something that could be read back. An instrument-listening activity also invited children to describe sounds, although background noise sometimes made listening difficult. The activity itself and the conditions around it both mattered.

A traffic light game, used in December 2023, involved following directions around obstacles, including a bridge and a roundabout. It combined movement with remembering instructions. Toddlers practised putting on their coats using a technique demonstrated by staff, bringing learning into a task they would encounter throughout the day.

Outdoor and Community Life

Opposite the nursery, Courtenay Park provides a clear geographical reference point; the railway station is also opposite. Inside, the building has been adapted for young children, with room arrangements suited to different ages. Furniture and equipment are scaled for children's use, making the physical setting relevant to their everyday independence.

In December 2023, babies and toddlers used a small climbing frame outdoors, taking a staff member's hands before jumping down and returning for another attempt. This was a concrete example of supported physical exploration. It also showed how a modest piece of equipment could provide repeated opportunities to practise movement, rather than outdoor time depending on elaborate activities.

Relationships and Communication

In December 2023, babies and toddlers used feelings bottles to help express emotions, while staff discussed manners and feelings with children. Preschool children practised waiting for turns and respecting limits during tent play. These examples connected emotional language with the small negotiations of playing alongside other children.

Parents received updates about development in December 2023 and discussed next steps in meetings with key persons, including ways to continue learning at home. That gave conversations a practical purpose: families could connect nursery activities with their child's developing skills, rather than receiving only an account of what had happened that day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2023 inspection, Ofsted found support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effective, including collaboration with external professionals and photographs that helped children with limited speech communicate their needs. The photographs offered a concrete way to make a choice or request help when spoken language was difficult.

Daily routines also needed attention in December 2023. Babies and toddlers sang and danced while awaiting lunch, but the wait became long enough for some to become unsettled. For younger children, the organisation of meals mattered as much as the activity offered while they waited.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 1a Courtenay Park, Newton Abbot, TQ12 2HD. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with closures for bank holidays, Christmas and New Year. Full-day sessions sit alongside morning and afternoon bookings, allowing families to consider a shorter part of the day as well as a whole day.

Visits can be arranged by telephone or email. Four weeks' notice is required when reducing childcare sessions or leaving the nursery, so changes to a family's working pattern need some advance planning.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with additional hours beyond the funded session charged separately. Meals and consumables are included in private daily-session fees; for children attending only through two- or three-year-old funding, nursery meals are charged separately, with the alternative of bringing breakfast, lunch or high tea from home.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The distinction between childcare hours and food matters when comparing the total cost of a funded booking with a private session.

• Preschool listening. Background noise interrupted some adult-led learning in December 2023. During a visit, ask how quieter listening activities are organised now.
• Younger children's lunch. Prolonged waits unsettled some babies and toddlers in December 2023. Ask how lunch timing works around their needs today.
• Funded booking costs. Meals carry separate charges for children attending only through two- or three-year-old funding, while families can bring food instead. Ask for a written quotation covering your chosen sessions, meals and non-food consumables together.
• Changing attendance. Reducing sessions or leaving requires four weeks' notice. Build that interval into plans for changes at work or a move to another setting.

Courtenay Park suits families considering either full-day care or morning and afternoon sessions in Newton Abbot. Its converted Georgian premises give it character, and the December 2023 examples of shared storytelling, emotional expression and practical independence give parents useful substance to weigh. The two routine weaknesses also deserve attention: preschool listening needs the right conditions, and younger children's lunch needs timely organisation. Those are sensible priorities for a visit.