Stepping Stones is a small nursery caring for children aged 0-5 years. Here at Speedwell we are dedicated to providing the highest standards for day care, while still maintaining a caring homely, atmosphere, where your child will feel happy, safe and secure.
The nursery is set out over two adjoining houses; Down stairs in the front of the property is a well-equipped toddler room, and a pre-school room, both these rooms access a shared conservatory. Upstairs we have a baby room and a sleep room. There is also enclosed rear garden which is suitable for all weather play.
We have outside caterers called Early Years Catering who prepare fresh well balanced and healthy meals for your child. They provide a two course hot lunch, a variety of mid morning snacks and a light early evening tea. We place a lot of emphasis on a healthy balanced diet and can adapt meals to suit individual dietary needs.
Menu rotation: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4
There is off street parking for safely dropping off and collection of your child.
We hope you will find us to be genuinely interested in putting children before profit. We have tried to offer flexible hours and competitive fees, while continuing to maintain an excellent standard of service. The nursery staff are dedicated to offering your child a warm and caring environment, with stimulating and fun activities. At Stepping Stones your child will always be seen as an individual.
We have an open door policy, which means at any time you can come into the nursery no appointment is necessary. We feel it's very important for parents to feel part of the whole process and look forward to hearing your ideas and comments.
This room is set up to take babies between the ages of 3- 24 months. We like to keep to small groups as the children could be at different stages, some learning to sit, others crawling and many will be taking their first few steps.
We aim to offer your child the attention they need at this young age, whilst allowing them to explore and develop at their own pace. The rooms are equipped with toys and equipment specifically for these age groups. Most of the toys are within easy reach for the children so they can make choices of their own. Within this room the children will take part in many sensory activities, such as gloop play, finger painting, and heuristic play.
As well as going out to our nursery garden daily the children are often taken for walks around the community or to the local parks.
There is a separate sleep room adjoining to the baby room, equipped with cots and a baby monitor for your child to continue the routine you have set at home.
We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum for all ages, and so the activities are planned according to this and also the children's individual ability.
In the toddler room your child will be offered many different activities to help with every stage of their development, puzzles, colouring, role play and small world. Children are encouraged to join in with small group activities and circle games too. We like to allow young children room to express and develop; we will be helping your child to share, socialize and communicate, in many different ways such as, stories, singing, music and dance.
Our toddlers have shared use of our conservatory area. This is where all the messy play happens! Lots of water, sand, sticking, finger and brush painting, lots of textured activities and creative play. Water, sand and painting are available every day, as we believe that this type of exploration aids their learning.
As well as having daily use of the conservatory area, to join in with all the activities mentioned above our pre-school have their own room.
This room is set out for the children's safe use to allow them to become independent learners ready for "big school". They have their own toilets next to their room, which they can access by themselves, (but kept an eye on by staff), they are able to have free flow to the conservatory and through to the garden. This again helps them in their decision making and gives unlimited experiences and many learning opportunities.
Within their room the children have access to a computer, an ever changing role-play area, learning zones, with literacy and numeracy equipment and games. They have small world and construction toys all at their levels for them to access at their leisure.
In addition to our pre-school children having free flow they are also offered adult lead activities which are carefully planned to stimulate and interest your child and help on-going development. We incorporate the early learning goals which are: Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Communication, Language and Literacy; Problem solving, Reasoning and Numeracy; Knowledge and Understanding of the World; Physical Development and Creative Development.
We have a safe enclosed garden for all the children to enjoy. There is a decked area which the conservatory doors open directly onto, this allows for pre-school free flow. To the side of the nursery there is an area specifically dedicated to our youngest children. There is sensory equipment such as mirrors and sound makers and a small climbing frame with a slide. In the lower part of the garden there is a sand pit in the shape of a boat and plenty of space for ride on toys and lots of running about! Under the decking there is a den area for role-play, and other outside activities.
