Paddington Playstation Day Nursery

Three station-themed rooms and three gardens give Paddington Playstation Day Nursery a clear sense of progression: younger children have space for rest and sensory play, toddlers explore, and preschool children practise independence. Outdoor life extends beyond the nursery, with outings to Tedworth House, the library and local woods.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with good individual progress including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That judgement came with two practical areas for improvement: making adult involvement in learning more consistent and giving greater recognition to children's home languages and backgrounds. Both matter when assessing how well the day works for an individual child.

Paddington has capacity for 46 children aged one to five. Its term-time calendar covers 39 weeks, with school-holiday closures, so the annual attendance pattern is an important part of the choice.

Rooms and Ages

Paddingtons Station, the youngest room, combines an emphasis on attachment with an adjoining sleep room, a private changing space and its own outdoor area containing a sensory garden, sand pit and mud kitchen. That arrangement gives rest and personal care their own spaces rather than making them compete with active play.

Kings Cross Station serves children aged two to three, emphasising exploration through construction, imaginative and messy play, with a quiet resting area and direct access to its own garden. Its Station Café gives meals and snacks a social setting where children can talk together.

Waterloo Station, for children aged three to five, emphasises independence and school preparation, with opportunities for mathematics and literacy woven through play and a large garden for balancing, climbing and building. The progression is concrete: the rooms change both the surroundings and what children are encouraged to practise as they grow.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the statutory framework for children's learning and care; here, children learn through play, with room planning shaped around their interests. Each room takes responsibility for planning, led by its senior practitioner and supported by the curriculum lead. This gives the activities a connection to the children using that room, rather than treating every age group alike.

The curriculum approach emphasises the process of discovery. Children have opportunities to solve problems outdoors, explore their surroundings and pursue something that catches their attention. Community visits are linked to learning, extending the setting beyond its indoor resources.

In January 2024, younger children experimented with pouring tea using little teapots, while preschool children investigated ice in different colours. These were simple materials with plenty to investigate: how something pours, changes or responds to handling. A child also arranged wooden blocks into a line and then ran cars along them, choosing and sustaining an activity rather than simply following an adult's instruction.

Language had a practical place in that January 2024 day. Adults introduced the word clamp while children used a pasta machine, and a storytelling activity invited preschool children to imagine what could happen next. The value is the connection between words and experience: vocabulary accompanies something children are doing, while stories give them a reason to contribute ideas.

Outdoor and Community Life

Going on Walks is the nursery's approach to exploring nearby places: each room aims to get out several times a week, visiting parks, shops, woodland, the library and Tedworth House. This is an intention rather than a guaranteed timetable. Its practical appeal is that children encounter familiar community places as part of their learning, alongside time in the gardens.

Relationships and Communication

In January 2024, staff gathered information about children's existing skills before they started and used parents' observations from home in their planning. Families received updates about learning and any additional help their child needed. This gave home experiences a practical role in deciding what happened next at nursery.

Settling involved attention to individual preferences in January 2024. Babies received comfort from adults, and their preferred practitioner could become their key person. Parents also joined nursery occasions, including a Mother's Day tea. These examples show different ways families were involved: through the child's closest care relationship, through information sharing and through time spent together at an event.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO role supports children with additional needs, and practitioners work with external agencies and professionals. This provides a route for coordinating support around a child's circumstances.

In January 2024, Ofsted found that assessment informed children's next learning steps and that funding supported tailored resources and help with managing emotions, while also identifying inconsistent adult engagement and insufficient recognition of some children's backgrounds and languages. The positive findings and the improvement points belong together: individual support was evident, but the consistency and cultural responsiveness of everyday interactions needed further attention.

In January 2024, adults encouraged sharing, taking turns and considerate behaviour from the youngest stages. One child retrieved another child's hat and handed it to an adult. That small example makes the intended behaviour tangible: children were practising care for one another within ordinary play.

The youngest room's separate sleep space gives rest a defined place in the layout, with changing also kept apart from the main activity space. In January 2024, the nursery employed a cook; its current premises include a working kitchen.

Sessions and Attendance

Paddington operates during term time for 39 weeks and closes in school holidays. Monday to Thursday attendance runs from 8am to 5.15pm. Friday has an earlier finish, which makes the end-of-week arrangement a separate practical consideration for working families.

Getting There

The address is Station Road, Tidworth, SP9 7NR. Nursery enquiries can be made on 01980 846448 or by email to paddingtons@tnbearlyyears.org.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the universal entitlement of 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds, beginning in the term after their third birthday. Delivery is term-time: funding covers 38 weeks, while the nursery opens for 39, leaving five working days outside that funded allocation. The difference needs to be included when planning the year's childcare costs.

Two-year-old funding is supported, and the funding arrangements also include working-parent entitlements subject to eligibility. Families pay a deposit when accepting a place; its refund is conditional on giving four weeks' notice of leaving. There is also a non-refundable administration charge for each child.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The funding and charges page directs families to the parent contract for the breakdown of additional charges, so the contract and quotation should be read together before accepting the place.

• Friday collection. Two nursery timetables give different Friday closing times, 3pm and 4pm, although both agree on 5.15pm Monday to Thursday. Confirm the Friday session in the booking agreement before arranging collection.
• The youngest starting age. The overall age range begins at one, while Paddingtons Station's room description begins at six months. At a visit, clarify the starting age and how the sleep and changing spaces would serve your child.
• The funded calendar. The nursery opens for 39 weeks, but universal funding covers 38, with five working days outside the funded allocation. Build that difference into the annual budget.
• Everyday adult involvement. January 2024 improvement points concerned consistency in supporting play and recognition of home backgrounds and languages. Ask how practitioners now sustain children's learning and include your family's language and experiences.

Paddington suits families seeking term-time nursery attendance, including longer Monday-to-Thursday days and an earlier Friday finish. Its strongest practical features are the separate gardens, a defined space for sleep, and a progression from attachment to exploration and independence across its named rooms.

Tedworth House outings and the Station Café give the day a recognisable character. The January 2024 improvement points make adult involvement and home-language recognition useful matters to explore alongside those facilities, while the holiday calendar and Friday collection arrangements decide whether the offer fits family life.