First Steps Kindergarten Leamington Spa

A café role-play conversation about coffee and éclairs captures the character of First Steps: everyday play becomes a chance to stretch language, while children practise doing things for themselves. In February 2025, that meant counting cups before snacks, helping organise tables and serving their own food. Small routines carried real learning.

At its 27 February 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that activities were adapted to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The important qualification was teaching challenge: staff needed to make better use of opportunities to take children's understanding further.

First Steps Kindergarten Leamington Spa caters for babies through to children approaching school age at Arlington Avenue. Separate baby and toddler groups lead into Tweenies and early years provision, while attendance includes morning, afternoon and full-day patterns.

Rooms and Ages

The youngest provision takes children from six weeks to rising two, with babies and toddlers separated; Tweenies serves children rising two to rising three, and the early years group serves children rising three to rising five. These stages give families a clear outline of how children move through the nursery, rather than treating the whole age range as one group.

A room leader role supports the youngest provision, named Tinies, and another leads Tweenies. For parents choosing baby care, the separation between babies and toddlers is the most useful practical detail: the youngest children have their own stage of provision before joining the older groups.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning, development and care, with play used to build communication, independence and understanding. First Steps' February 2025 day showed how that can work in practice: children searched a sand tray for treasure, used chalk to create rainbows and explored feelings through imaginative play.

Language had a concrete purpose. In February 2025, staff introduced unfamiliar words during a pretend café conversation, linking vocabulary to food choices and prices. Storytelling also involved movement, with children using their hands and feet as they listened. Books became something to join in with, rather than simply sit through.

Mathematics received the same playful treatment. Children identified shapes drawn in a messy tray and talked about their properties in February 2025. The limitation was how far those conversations went: opportunities to deepen understanding were sometimes missed. That makes the next step in an activity, rather than the activity's appeal alone, an important point for parents to explore.

Outdoor and Community Life

In February 2025, garden play included climbing frames, puddles and mud. Children negotiated obstacles and tried animal movements, giving physical activity both a climbing element and a way to experiment with how their bodies move.

Family participation adds another dimension to the nursery calendar. Chinese New Year and Divali sit alongside Easter crafts and a Christmas production, with sports day and a barbecue also included. These events give parents opportunities to participate in nursery life alongside the quieter work of discussing their child's development.

Relationships and Communication

Comfort and conversation were closely connected in February 2025. Staff listened to children, encouraged them to speak and responded when they needed reassurance; children also showed affection towards one another. The useful detail is the attention given to ordinary exchanges, rather than a separate activity labelled as emotional learning.

Stories helped children discuss feelings in February 2025, including how colours could represent different emotions. Children talked about recognising those feelings after listening. That connected language with the practical task of explaining how they felt.

Parents can contribute through play and stay sessions, parent participation days and child review meetings. The review meetings include discussion of development and input into learning journals, giving families a route to add what they notice at home. Participation goes beyond attending celebrations.

In February 2025, communication also included daily updates and newsletters. For families balancing work with childcare, that kind of regular exchange helps connect the nursery day with home, while the review meetings offer space for a longer conversation.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staffing structure includes a SENDco and designated safeguarding lead roles, including deputy cover. Recruitment uses references and DBS checks as part of safer recruitment arrangements. These are practical mechanisms for organising support and safeguarding responsibilities, rather than a substitute for the dated inspection judgement.

In February 2025, staff discussed children's interests each week when planning activities. This gave planning a way to respond to what children were currently interested in, rather than relying entirely on a fixed sequence of themes.

Meals were also part of learning in February 2025: children used cutlery, talked about food and practised serving themselves. Mealtimes offered another opportunity to develop independence before moving on to the next stage of education.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 42 Arlington Avenue, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 5UD. Opening hours run from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with full-time children able to attend across that window.

The priced full-day pattern runs from 7.30am to 5.30pm. Morning attendance runs from 7.30am to 12.30pm, and afternoon attendance from 12.30pm to 5.30pm; an additional period from 5.30pm to 6pm is charged separately. The distinction matters when comparing a full-day booking with care that continues until closing time.

Attendance runs across the year, except for statutory holidays and a Christmas closure of approximately seven days. Exact holiday dates are set annually. Fees are collected monthly and calculated over 51 weeks, allowing for the Christmas closure; other periods remain payable.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01926 332 122 or by email to fskleam@welearn365.com. Placements are tailored to individual needs, and current prices are supplied on application.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded entitlement is offered for children from nine months to four years old. Paid morning, afternoon and full-day bookings are separate practical options; a funded entitlement should therefore be considered alongside the attendance pattern a family needs.

The fees page sets out the booking structure and monthly payment arrangement. The separately priced late extension is relevant for families whose collection time falls after the standard full day ends.

• Challenge within play. In February 2025, shape activities did not consistently lead to deeper learning. On a visit, ask how staff extend an activity when a child already understands its starting point.
• Full day and closing time. The standard full day ends at 5.30pm, while the nursery closes at 6pm and charges separately for the final period. Match the booking to the collection time you actually need.
• Your child's room and funded costs. With babies and toddlers separated and funding offered from nine months, ask how your child's room move and funded attendance would work, including which meals and consumables you would pay for or supply.

First Steps suits families seeking either morning or afternoon attendance as well as a full-day arrangement, with an additional late period for those who need it. Its strongest February 2025 examples connected language, emotions and independence with ordinary play and routines.

Parent participation is a useful part of the offer, from learning-journal discussions to shared events. The teaching question is more specific: how consistently does an enjoyable activity become a sufficiently challenging next step for each child?