The Lighthouse Day Care Nursery

A wooden play boat, a vegetable patch and an annual outing to Ryton Pools Country Park give The Lighthouse Day Care Nursery a recognisable character: play extends from the garden into the wider world. Inside, a listed building with tall ceilings and sizeable windows provides the backdrop. This is a nursery where practical exploration, familiar adults and learning through play shape the day.

The Leamington Spa setting takes children from six months to school age and has 49 places in total. At its 8 September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and judged safeguarding effective. The important qualification concerns teaching consistency: in September 2025, group activities did not engage every child equally, and the newer planning arrangements needed to become more firmly established.

Continuity is a practical strength of the care model. Children have the same key workers each day, giving families a familiar person for daily exchanges and children a steady relationship as their interests and routines develop. The April 2024 to March 2025 attendance arrangements included ordinary nursery days and shorter funded sessions, with more restricted arrangements for occasional half days.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby & Younger Toddlers Room has a bright interior and soft play area, with carers concentrating on each baby's needs and next developmental steps.

Older Toddlers brings language and social development together with imaginative play, creative materials and physical practice using balls, bicycles and scooters. Playschool (2-3 years) introduces resources including scissors, computers and letter and number toys, alongside practice in listening, sharing and taking turns. Preschool (3 years plus) builds independence and readiness for Reception through creative activities, group work and play. Formal classroom teaching is not the model here.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care: children practise communication, early number skills, physical movement and creative expression while learning to get along with others. It is the shared early-years foundation, rather than an extra programme unique to Lighthouse. Here, the practical delivery centres on play, with a daily routine that can respond to children's feelings and needs while retaining structure.

In September 2025, books, songs and rhymes connected learning across the nursery. Adults introduced vocabulary and encouraged children to listen and take turns in conversation. Older children also practised everyday independence, including serving food and managing toileting. These are useful complements to drawing or construction: preparing for school includes handling ordinary tasks, as well as developing language and attention.

In September 2025, larger-group activities were not always adjusted sufficiently for different children, so some disengaged and missed opportunities to take their learning further.

Outdoor and Community Life

The lawned garden supplies several different kinds of play. A balance beam offers physical practice, the sand pit and digging area invite investigation, and the vegetable patch makes growing things part of children's surroundings. The wooden play boat adds a setting for imaginative games. These features give outdoor time more purpose than simply a break between indoor activities.

Ryton Pools Trip is the annual preschool coach outing to Ryton Pools Country Park, combining a nature walk and pond dipping with activities such as bark rubbing and minibeast hunting. ZooLab brings animals into the nursery and explains them to children; children who wish to participate can handle some of the animals. Chick Hatching takes place around Easter each year, with children observing and helping care for chicks over two weeks. Together, these experiences make living things something children can observe closely rather than encounter only in books.

Visiting parents have shared professional experiences, including dentistry, aviation and veterinary work. Preschool children also walk to Milverton primary school to watch plays. That is a concrete encounter with school life, rather than a claim about an admissions advantage.

Relationships and Communication

Daily conversations with key workers keep home and nursery connected. Regular reviews and developmental folders offer a longer view of children's learning, while newsletters and information boards provide another route for updates. Settling visits include conversations with staff and an All About Me sheet, giving families a way to share information before everyday nursery routines become established.

Parents Open Mornings take place on Saturday mornings three times a year, giving families longer discussions with staff and time to review their child's Learning Journal. Room supervisors and nursery nurses provide care; nursery assistants are working towards recognised childcare qualifications.

Family events also punctuate the year. Graduation Ceremony takes place on a Saturday morning each July for children leaving for school and their parents, with a scroll and gift marking their achievements. Christmas Parties are held each December in a hired village hall, with separate celebrations for different age groups. Songs, games and a visit from Santa give families a shared occasion outside the usual nursery routine.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that designated leaders used individual plans and worked with parents, staff and external agencies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. That is a specific support mechanism, rather than a blanket promise about meeting every possible need. The nursery's safeguarding policy also sets out referral arrangements when concerns about a child's welfare require further action.

A chef prepares food on site, adjusting baby meals to developmental texture needs and parental guidance on introducing foods. Under the dietary policy, vegetarian, medical, religious and allergy-related diets require advance arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 8 Warwick New Road, Leamington Spa, CV32 5JF. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with bank holiday closures and an earlier 4pm finish on Christmas Eve. The nursery operates throughout the year. Telephone and email enquiries provide routes to discuss attendance arrangements.

The April 2024 to March 2025 fee arrangements described daily attendance alongside fully funded morning sessions from 8am to noon or 8am to 11am, and afternoon sessions from 2pm to 6pm or 2pm to 5pm, subject to availability. They also allowed occasional morning half days from 8am to 1pm and afternoon half days from 1pm to 6pm for existing clients, rather than routinely offering half-day places. These are dated arrangements; families should obtain a current written quotation for their intended pattern.

A waiting list is maintained for families interested in joining. This is a booking rule, not an indication of how many places are free.

Funding and Paid Extras

The September 2025 provision included funded early education for children aged two, three and four. The April 2024 to March 2025 terms set out Universal hours, working-family funding and 2-Help funding, with entitlement hours spread across the year rather than used only during school terms. Those dated terms should not be read as a promise of eligibility under today's arrangements.

Under that fee structure, ordinary daily and monthly charges included food, drinks, snacks and learning resources. Fully funded sessions treated food differently: parents could supply it from home or pay separately for the meals their child used. Learning resources were included in the ordinary fee structure; a current quotation should distinguish additional private care from funded hours and set out the charge structure for the intended attendance pattern.

• Group teaching. In September 2025, some children disengaged during larger-group activities, and planning and teaching consistency needed further work. During a visit, ask how staff now adapt shared activities for children with different needs and interests.
• Shorter attendance. The April 2024 to March 2025 arrangements distinguished funded short sessions from occasional half days for existing clients. Ask how the current booking terms accommodate your intended mornings or afternoons before committing to a pattern.
• Individual care. Baby meals are adapted and dietary alternatives require advance arrangements. Use a visit to discuss current allergy practice alongside your child's settling needs.

Lighthouse suits families who value familiar key workers, a substantial garden and play that reaches beyond the nursery through animal encounters and the annual country-park outing. Its attendance arrangements have served both families using ordinary nursery days and those seeking shorter funded mornings or afternoons, although the dated booking and funding terms need a current written quotation.

The September 2025 judgement supports a positive assessment, with a clear qualification around consistent teaching and engaging every child in group work. The strongest reasons to consider it are concrete: continuity of care, purposeful outdoor resources and several ways for parents to discuss their child's development.