The Little Learners Childcare

Toy babies, open cups and wooden train tracks give The Little Learners Childcare a practical, everyday character. In March 2024, children explored pretend family life, practised doing things for themselves and persevered with construction play. Small achievements mattered here.

The nursery welcomes children from birth to five at 1 Stanhope Terrace, Bideford, EX39 3JZ. Ofsted rated it Good at its 21 March 2024 inspection, with education, behaviour, personal development and leadership all receiving the same judgement.

In March 2024, play brought together imagination, conversation and hands-on experimentation. Children made marks with water and brushes, discussed tools for collecting mud and acted out familiar routines with toy food and babies. These activities gave them concrete things to investigate and talk about.

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, the March 2024 examples included learning through play and practising independence. Babies used open cups, while older children tackled cutting their own food. Songs and rhymes punctuated the day, and staff introduced vocabulary such as coral.

Physical experiences differed by age. In March 2024, babies and toddlers had frequent opportunities for active play, while older children practised coordination through yoga. The oldest children needed more energetic movement. Outdoors, staff helped children assess whether playing near a wall could cause harm, making safety part of their decisions rather than simply stopping their play.

At the March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described a functioning key-person system, activities adapted to children's needs and interests, and staff working with leaders to support children with additional needs.

Daily communication was practical in March 2024: parents received feedback about their child, with regular meetings to discuss what came next. Staff knew children's starting points and planned around them. This connected conversations at home with the activities children were tackling at nursery.

The March 2024 account also described calm organisation, responsive adults and positive staff morale. Children negotiated turns on a rocking toy and encouraged others to join their play. Staff explained healthy eating in age-appropriate language, linking fruit with energy for play. However, adult enthusiasm sometimes crowded out children's answers, especially among babies and toddlers.

The address is 1 Stanhope Terrace, Bideford, EX39 3JZ. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year, with Bank Holidays closed.

In March 2024, the nursery received early-years childcare funding for children aged two, three and four. That is a dated participation fact rather than a promise of a particular funded booking today.

• Time to answer. The March 2024 improvement priority was to let babies and toddlers think and communicate before adults moved the conversation on. Ask how practitioners now build those pauses into play.
• Energetic movement. Older children practised yoga in March 2024, but needed more vigorous physical activity. Ask what now gives the oldest children opportunities to move energetically.
• Your attendance pattern. The nursery opens throughout the year, except Bank Holidays. At a visit, ask which booking pattern would fit your working week and your child's routine.

For families seeking care across the year, Little Learners combines a weekday opening window with a March 2024 picture of imaginative play, growing independence and regular parent communication. Its clearest development priorities concern conversational space for younger children and energetic activity for older ones. Those are useful points to explore alongside the day-to-day care.