Little Angels Day Care

Mixed ages, shared spaces and daily cooking give Little Angels Day Care its character. Children learn together across indoor and outdoor environments, with activities adapted to their developmental stage. For families who value siblings spending time together, this arrangement extends into Heroes Out of School Club, the setting’s breakfast, after-school and holiday provision.

Little Angels has capacity for 38 children, with an accepted age range of 2 to 132 months. Little Angels operates at St Edmundsbury Primary School on Grove Road in Bury St. Edmunds, IP33 3BJ. At the 14 December 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good and safeguarding effective, while identifying a need for staff to extend toddlers’ learning more consistently.

Term-time attendance sits alongside care during school holidays. The shared-age approach is the central choice here: families should weigh the appeal of children learning alongside older and younger companions against their own preference for age-separated care.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care, with play-based experiences planned across its seven areas of learning. Daily cooking and craft activities put that into practical form: children handle materials, make choices and work through tasks, rather than learning only through adult explanation.

Steiner and Reggio Emilia principles inform the curriculum through practical exploration, creativity and learning led by children’s interests. Reggio Emilia also informs the emphasis on different ways of expressing ideas, including movement, drawing, music and words. These approaches sit alongside the Early Years Foundation Stage; the useful detail for parents is how a child’s interests shape the activities staff plan.

In December 2022, children investigated ice outdoors, using small hammers to break it and discussing what happened as it melted. Water play involved comparing containers and testing whether objects floated. Cooking brought measuring into a practical task, with children weighing ingredients and considering how much to add. These were concrete examples of conversation, experimentation and early mathematics working together.

The same December 2022 account included babies exploring lift-the-flap books and older children retelling familiar stories together. Children could borrow a book to share at home through the lending library. That gave families a practical connection between nursery experiences and reading together.

Outdoor and Community Life

Shared outdoor space is part of the mixed-age arrangement, and outdoor learning is a stated emphasis of the current curriculum. Children’s activities are adjusted to their stage of development within these shared environments. This makes the way staff organise simultaneous experiences important, especially when babies, toddlers and older children are together.

Heroes Out of School Club adds another dimension. School-aged children spend time with nursery-aged children, including siblings, and its activities follow children’s interests. The arrangement can give brothers and sisters continuity across nursery and school care, while also making the balance between ages a useful subject for an individual visit.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who gets to know the family and plans learning around the child’s needs and interests. The Getting To Know You meeting takes place before joining, with the key person and, where appropriate, senior staff or the special educational needs coordinator. Two to three brief settling sessions follow, shaped by that conversation. Settling therefore begins with family information rather than a single standard routine.

During the first weeks, staff work with parents to establish routines suited to the child. Daily conversations provide feedback, while Ovivio, the app used for online diaries, carries updates about care routines for the youngest children. Parent mornings include individual appointments to discuss development and next steps. These channels serve different purposes: everyday care information alongside time for a fuller discussion.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A special educational needs and disabilities coordinator supports staff in putting appropriate approaches in place for children with additional needs. When either parents or staff identify a need, the nursery works with the family on supportive plans and tailored provision. This is a specific support mechanism, rather than a blanket promise about outcomes.

Safeguarding arrangements include designated lead roles, staff training and a policy that families can request. In December 2022, staff understood reporting procedures and signs of possible harm; risk assessments and recruitment checks were also part of the setting’s arrangements. These are dated findings, separate from the current provision of safeguarding roles and procedures.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Term-time-only attendance is offered, and additional bookings can cover holidays and half terms. Bank Holidays are closure days; the Christmas closure starts at noon on Christmas Eve and continues through the remainder of the year.

Heroes Out of School Club provides breakfast and after-school care primarily for children attending St Edmundsbury Primary Academy. Arrangements involving other local schools are subject to availability and individual agreement. During holidays and school closure days, the club welcomes children from other schools and home-educated children too.

The nursery operates on the primary school’s grounds. Attending Little Angels does not guarantee a Reception place: families still use the local authority admissions process for a state-school application.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the 15 and 30 hours routes, subject to the child’s age and family eligibility. Funding can be used on a stretched or term-time basis. Where an eligibility code is required, families apply for it, and the nursery claims the funding after eligibility has been confirmed.

Private childcare is also offered, with prices depending on age and attendance pattern. Families obtain current prices in a written quotation; the funding and fees page explains the funding routes and payment support. Eligible families can pay through Tax-Free Childcare, and existing employer childcare-voucher users can use their schemes.

Meals are an additional service, with a three-week menu cycle; families choosing packed food must follow the nursery’s food and nutrition guidance.

• Shared-age care. Nursery children and Heroes attendees spend time together. On the one-to-one tour, ask how activities, quieter periods and supervision are organised for your child’s age.
• Toddler learning. The December 2022 improvement point concerned consistency in extending toddlers’ learning. Ask for a current example of how staff develop an activity beyond the initial exploration.
• The working-day boundary. Opening hours end at 6pm, and the Christmas closure begins at noon on Christmas Eve. These boundaries need to fit your collection arrangements and holiday cover.
• The complete quotation. Meals are an additional service and packed food is an alternative. Ask how meals and non-food consumables are treated within your chosen funded or private attendance arrangement.

Little Angels suits families who want children of different ages to share everyday experiences, with daily craft and cooking and a key person linking home and nursery. Its attendance options also serve two different needs: term-time nursery care and school wraparound through Heroes Out of School Club.

The Good judgement from December 2022 provides a dated quality assessment, with toddler learning the clear improvement point. The decision turns on the shared-age model, the support around settling and whether the current opening hours fit family life.