Nursery tour

Our Rooms

We are registered with OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education) and can have up to one hundred and sixteen children aged from three months to five years, subject to staffing and other limitations. Our latest OFSTED inspection based on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) was in August 2019.

We are a large Nursery with Plenty of outdoor space for children to learn and explore! Our Nursery rooms have been specially designed and furnished to meet the needs of young children.  Room arrangements are appropriate to the child’s age group and both furniture and equipment are set according to child’s age.  Our rooms are properly lit and bright and aim to encourage children to explore and learn safely at their own pace.

  • Red Room – Babies (0- 2)                       Adult- Child ratio  1:3
  • Orange Room – Toddlers (2’s)                 Adult- Child ratio 1:4
  • Green Room – Toddlers(2 – 3’s)               Adult- Child ratio 1:4
  • Blue Room – Pre- School (3 – 5’s)            Adult- Child ratio  1:8
  • Yellow Room – Pre School (3 – 5’s)           Adult- Child ratio  1:8

Dickory Docks Nursery ensures that each child is nurtured and encouraged throughout their stay in nursery.  All play rooms are large, bright and airy.  All children are individual and learn according to their abilities and pace. Transition to move towards more challenging rooms based on their current developmental assessment and in-depth conversation with parents and guardians.

Red Room – 0 to 2 years – 19 Babies

Activities in the Baby Room are based upon a child’s first experience of the world with all manner of sensory equipment to stimulate and encourage development. We encourage Heuristic Play, which exposes babies to different natural textures and materials.  Planning in the Baby and Toddler rooms focus on the Prime Areas of learning which children begin to develop quickly in response to relationships and experiences, and run through and support learning in all other areas.  The prime areas continue to be fundamental throughout the EYFS in Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Physical Development.  The Baby Room has a designated sleep and eating area and each is provided with a separate Milk Kitchen and Nappy Changing area.  

Orange/Green rooms – 2 to 3 years – 49 Toddlers

By this age, children are getting more independent and we encourage development with carefully designed activities, which is largely developed through play.  Planning in the Baby and Toddler rooms focus on the Prime Areas of learning which children begin to develop quickly in response to relationships and experiences, and run through and support learning in all other areas.  The prime areas continue to be fundamental throughout the EYFS in Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Physical Development.  Again Toddler Room has a designated sleep area. It has separate nappy change area and toilets as well for toilet training and making children more independent.

Pre School (Blue/Yellow rooms) – 3 to 5 years – 48 Preschool

Pre- School activities are planned around the individual child based on The Characteristics of Effective Learning and the prime and specific Areas of Learning and Development which are all interconnected.  Learning is encouraged through play and covers the seven areas:

The Prime areas are fundamental, work together, and move through to support development in all other areas.

  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development
  • Communication and Language
  • Physical Development
  • The Specific areas include essential skills and knowledge for children to participate successfully in society.
  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the World
  • Expressive Arts and Design

Children at are provided with a varied and exciting programme: introducing new skills and ensuring that each child thoroughly enjoys learning with our qualified teaching staff.

Learning also takes place outside of the Nursery.  Children can enjoy a wide variety of trips and outings to the Theatre, Libraries and other places of interest, in which parents are also encouraged to join.

The staff provide continual assessment with written reports for each child and regular liaison with parents.

All children at Dickory Docks are taught the value of friendship, honesty, fairness and respect for others.  Staff promotes an equal opportunities policy for all children and we celebrate festivals and traditions from many different cultures.

We pride ourselves on ensuring that all our children are well prepared to make a smooth and easy transition to school.