JGB Active Daycare

Storybooks and sport share the same learning plan at JGB Active Daycare. A monthly book theme carries into movement sessions, imaginative play and investigations, giving this Daventry setting a clear character: children explore ideas through physical activity as well as through conversation and creative work. Gymnastics, dance and ball sports are part of that approach.

Based at Phoenix Youth Centre on Ashby Road, the nursery has capacity for 30 children. At its 24 June 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged it Good overall and found safeguarding effective. The children attending then were aged 0 to 4; that age range describes the inspection visit.

The practical choice includes a 9am to 3pm day and an 8am to 4.30pm day, alongside shorter sessions. The strongest reason to consider JGB is its connection between stories and movement. The important counterweight is the June 2024 finding that routine tasks sometimes interrupted learning, while some personal care needs went unnoticed.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guides learning across seven areas, so physical play sits alongside language, early number work and understanding the world. JGB Active Education Program adds a specific way of organising that learning: each month starts with a storybook, with its ideas explored through sport and then developed through play and activities in the nursery rooms.

Football, gymnastics and tennis give children different ways to practise movement; dance and team games add further opportunities to take part. The book theme continues through role play, discussions, creative work and investigations. For families, the useful feature is continuity: an idea introduced through a story can return in a movement session and again in children's play.

Super Skills awards recognise children's efforts with medals and certificates. This gives the activity programme a tangible way to mark achievement. The awards sit alongside the themed learning, rather than replacing it.

In June 2024, children practised rolls and used a balancing beam with staff guidance. Story characters also prompted hopping, jumping and animal movements. Toddlers explored toy animals and hay after listening to a story, connecting its vocabulary with objects they could handle. These examples show how the activity-led idea took shape at that time.

Space and Everyday Play

Open-plan classrooms have low partitions defining activity zones. Soft play, sporting equipment and an outdoor play area provide several settings for movement, while sleeping rooms serve babies, toddlers and preschool children. Rest has its own space within a day that places considerable emphasis on activity.

Outdoor play also supported early number experiences in June 2024, when toddlers counted ducks in a water tray. Children also used scoops and pipettes to move water. Physical activity here need not mean organised sport alone: handling materials and experimenting with equipment also formed part of the day.

A key person supports each child and gets to know their individual needs. That provides a consistent relationship alongside the active programme. Baby’s Days, the nursery's online parent portal, brings another form of continuity: families can follow observations, progress reports, photographs and videos, and message the team directly.

The portal also records everyday routines, including naps, bottle feeds and nappy changes. For parents of younger children, those details can help connect nursery care with the rest of the day at home. Families receive their login when they register.

At the June 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that communication support for children with SEND and children learning English included signing and adapted language, and that staff worked effectively with parents and other agencies. These are concrete support mechanisms, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

Daily care needs deserve equal attention. In June 2024, staff comforted upset children and held babies during bottle feeding, but occasionally missed children needing help with basic care. During the same visit, other duties sometimes drew practitioners away from activities, disrupting children's engagement. Both points became improvement actions and are useful topics for a visit.

Children also practised independence in June 2024: toddlers and preschool children prepared fruit for snacks, while staff helped them serve lunch. Gentle reminders about behaviour and conversations about feelings supported relationships with other children. The emphasis was on small, everyday opportunities to participate and manage emotions.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Phoenix Youth Centre, Ashby Road, Daventry, NN11 0QE. Enquiries can be made through the contact route or by telephone on 07710 525 748, and tour booking is offered.

Attendance choices include 9am to 3pm and 8am to 4.30pm sessions. Breakfast Club runs from 8am to 9am, and the after school club covers 3pm to 4.30pm. Shorter nursery sessions are also offered from 8am to 1pm and noon to 4.30pm, giving families alternatives to the longer day.

For routine and settling, the recommendation is three 9am to 3pm sessions each week or two 8am to 4.30pm sessions. This is expressed as a recommendation. The separate minimum-booking wording needs clarification before families commit to a pattern.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children aged 9 months to 4 years can use 15 or 30 funded hours a week. Funded attendance is term-time only, and additional private hours are charged separately. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page sets out the main charge categories.

Morning and afternoon snacks carry a separate charge. At lunch, families can send a packed lunch or choose a separately charged homemade dinner, so the food arrangement combines parent-provided lunches with paid food. The sports programme also has a separate charge and includes two sessions a day.

An administration or registration charge applies to non-funded hours on enrolment. Private hours require a month's fees in advance, credited against the final invoice when at least four weeks' written leaving notice is given. That condition matters when comparing the overall commitment with the weekly attendance pattern.

• Continuity during activities. In June 2024, other tasks sometimes interrupted staff interaction and children's learning. During a visit, ask how duties are organised around activity sessions now.
• Personal care alongside movement. Some basic care needs were missed in June 2024. Ask how practitioners monitor comfort, feeding and changing needs throughout an active day.
• Booking terms. The recommendation of three shorter days or two longer days sits alongside a separate requirement for at least 2.5 sessions weekly. Clarify which rule applies to the intended booking and how a session is counted.
• Food and funded extras. Snacks, homemade lunches and sports sessions attract separate charges, while packed lunches can come from home. Ask for an itemised quotation covering the intended funded pattern, non-food consumables and any dietary requirements.

JGB suits families who want stories, play and physical activity closely connected, with full days from 8am to 4.30pm, mornings from 8am to 1pm, afternoons from noon to 4.30pm and 9am to 3pm sessions. The monthly book themes, Super Skills awards and parent portal make that offer concrete.

The June 2024 improvement points should shape the visit discussion, especially for families prioritising uninterrupted interaction and attentive personal care. The decision turns on both sides of the day: how the movement programme works for the child, and how consistently everyday care is organised around it.