Steps to School Day Nursery

A baby room capped at nine children, a separate cot room and a place within Borough Green Primary School's grounds give Steps to School Day Nursery a clear identity. Its youngest children have a room organised around settling and early development, while the older rooms build towards school readiness. The practical attraction is continuity: care begins in infancy and extends to the move to school.

At its April 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. That judgement comes with two concrete areas for improvement: organising routines so staff can support learning more effectively, and making play resources better reflect children's cultural backgrounds. These matter alongside the positive findings, rather than disappearing behind the overall grade.

The nursery accepts children from three months to school age and has 54 places in total. It opens on weekdays across 50 weeks of the year, with funded attendance arrangements described separately from its opening hours. For parents, the rooms, communication system and funding terms deserve equal attention: each affects how the nursery fits a child's needs and the family's week.

Rooms and Ages

Jelly Babies takes children aged three to 18 months, with a maximum of nine together; its emphasis is settling, movement, early communication and emotional development, and a separate cot room and changing room support the care routines of this youngest age group. The cot room is a useful physical distinction for families weighing sleep arrangements alongside play space.

Jelly Tots accommodates children from 18 months to two and a half years, with a maximum of ten; more involved sensory activities broaden learning into early number, literacy, creativity and understanding the world, while access to the outdoor area and bathroom supports a more demanding routine. This is a step towards greater independence rather than simply a change of room name.

Jelly Beans supports children from two and a half to four years, with capacity for 18; activities combine children's interests with school preparation, and children can choose equipment and resources in a room with access to the bathroom and outside area.

Jelly Bears serves the same age band and also has a maximum of 18; its learning similarly covers the areas of development through children's interests and school preparation, with resources children can select and access to the bathroom and outdoor space. These room caps describe the maximum in each room, rather than how many children attend on any particular day.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) shapes learning here through play, children's interests and activities supporting their development. In parent language, that means communication, physical skills and relationships sit alongside early literacy, number and creative exploration. The room progression makes that framework tangible: babies begin with the prime areas of development, while older children encounter a broader set of learning opportunities.

In April 2023, music and dancing formed part of the daily routine because children enjoyed them. Staff used children's interests to choose learning experiences, rather than treating play as something separate from learning. Younger children practised feeding themselves, and preschool children helped tidy tables after meals. These are small tasks with practical value: they give children opportunities to do things for themselves and contribute to shared routines.

Outdoor and Community Life

In April 2023, outdoor exploration included searching for insects with magnifying glasses, looking among flowers and in mud. A dedicated bug habitat was being developed at that time. Balancing along blocks also gave children a physical challenge outside, linking outdoor play with coordination and strength.

Role play offered another route into understanding everyday life. In April 2023, children explored hairdressing by using brushes and pretend shampoo with dolls. The limitation was the choice of dolls: they did not adequately represent the children attending or the wider population. That makes the selection of resources a meaningful question about whose experiences children encounter through play.

Relationships and Communication

A key person system connects care with each child's abilities, personality and development. The philosophy gives children's interests a role in planning, so the relationship has a learning purpose as well as a care purpose. For a family, this provides a named role around which discussions about progress and everyday needs can be organised.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, carries observations and assessments alongside newsletters and parent meetings. Photos of activities and children's artwork provide further ways to share nursery life. Parents therefore have several ways to follow what their child is doing, including material they can revisit outside a conversation at collection.

In April 2023, staff used playful exchanges such as peekaboo with babies, and children practised sharing resources and agreeing turns during sand play. Communication with families included daily feedback and meetings. These examples show how relationships operated at that visit, while the current key person and journal arrangements give the continuing parent partnership a practical structure.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2023 inspection, Ofsted found good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including joint work with health visitors and specialist teachers. The current philosophy also includes identifying children's additional needs and adapting provision. The useful distinction is between a stated approach and the specific professional collaboration demonstrated at the inspection.

In April 2023, children received hot meals and snacks, staff followed individual dietary requirements, and handwashing before food was part of the routine. Mealtimes also exposed a weakness: preparing beds and completing other tasks drew staff away from conversations and learning with children. Care tasks and learning opportunities need to work together, especially during a part of the day that combines eating, independence and social interaction.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Borough Green Primary School, School Approach, Sevenoaks, TN15 8JZ. Nursery opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 50 weeks annually. Bank holidays and the period between Christmas and New Year are closures, so the year-round offer still needs matching to a family's own holiday cover.

Funded booking descriptions include ten-hour days and five-hour days. The funding arrangements need careful attention, however, because two different models are described: one combines day lengths into fully funded weekly patterns, while another applies a daily funding limit with paid hours alongside it. This distinction affects the cost of attendance, rather than merely the wording on an invoice.

Enquiries can be made by telephone or email through the nursery's contact route. Steps to School occupies the primary school's grounds and describes close working with Borough Green Primary School. Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place; families must use the local authority admissions process for a state-school application.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Free for Two funding and Working Parents Entitlement for 9 months, 2 year olds, and 3 and 4 year olds. Universal and extended funding are also described. Funding is applied during term time rather than stretched across the year, so funded hours and the nursery's longer operating year are separate matters.

Private childcare is offered alongside funding. Fees are calculated across 50 weeks and spread into 12 equal monthly payments, helping families plan regular payments even though funding follows a term-time pattern. Current prices should come in the nursery's written quotation, with the funded and paid portions clearly separated.

The deposit arrangements distinguish fully funded bookings from other places: a completely funded place requires no deposit, while the ordinary deposit includes a portion returned at the end of nursery attendance. Where a deposit has already been taken and financial circumstances change so the child accesses a totally free funded place, it is returned within six weeks of joining. These conditions deserve to be carried into the written booking agreement.

• Two funding models. One arrangement describes fully funded weekly combinations of ten-hour and five-hour days; another limits funding to six hours daily and charges for the remaining four. Ask which agreement applies to your child's booking and have its funded hours and paid hours set out together.
• Mealtime organisation and representation. The April 2023 improvement points concerned staff deployment during routines and resources reflecting children's heritage. During a visit, ask how lunchtime tasks are organised now and how dolls and other play materials represent the children attending.
• The youngest room and everyday costs. Jelly Babies has a maximum of nine children and a separate cot room. Ask how settling and sleep are organised, and request one written breakdown covering meals, snacks, nappies and other consumables for your intended attendance pattern.
• A school site, with a separate application. Close working with Borough Green Primary School does not secure a Reception place. Treat nursery choice and the local authority school application as separate decisions.

Steps to School suits families seeking care from infancy towards school age, especially those who value a small capped baby room and communication through a key person, Tapestry and meetings. Its funded arrangements describe both ten-hour days and five-hour attendance, giving families different patterns to consider alongside weekday opening across much of the year.

The April 2023 judgement provides a positive inspection position, but the detail matters more than the label alone. Practical independence, outdoor exploration and professional SEND collaboration sit alongside improvements needed in routines and cultural representation. The decisive booking issue is obtaining a clear funding agreement: the different descriptions could lead to materially different expectations about paid hours.