About us
Milky Way Day Nursery is a converted three storey house that has been established since 2004.
We are registered with OFSTED and cater for up to 31 children aged 0-5 years. We offer free grant funded spaces for 2 to 4 year olds! Get in contact to find out more.
Our Ethos and Aims
At the Milky Way Day Nursery, we endeavour to provide a warm, stimulating, homely environment, which takes its initial focus from the child’s own home life and individuality.
The learning and development is focused on the child’s interests and extended through play. The setting enables children to socialise and learn through play from an early age.
We work closely with all external professionals and agencies to provide a consistent approach which benefits the child and family. We have built good relationships with the SEND support service and are recommended regularly for the placement of children with additional needs.
Where possible we will encourage parents and carers to be involved in children’s learning and development. We provide them with ample information about their child’s care and education.
The nursery uses local facilities and have built up good bonds with the local community and schools, helping your children to transition to school. This ensures a robust transition for children leaving for school.
Food & Nutrition
We provide children with nutritious homemade food, prepared onsite by our nursery chef. Our menus are designed to include a variety of fresh and diverse foods which are sourced locally and often grown in our allotments.
We cater for all dietary requirements including vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and dairy free and any allergies to coincide with the wellbeing and growth of the children.
We have achieved a 5-star food hygiene certification for several years running.
The Milky Way Team
We take pride in the dedication of our staff who have been a part of the Milky Way team for many years. When recruiting staff for our nursery we look; not just at their qualifications, but also their passion for working with children and the desire to see the children learn and succeed.
Our staff are qualified level 3 and level 2. We also employ an Early Years Teacher. We have two qualified setting SENCO’s who work together closely with the outside agencies.
All of our staff receive training in child protection, food hygiene, manual handling, and attend extensive training in areas of specialism.
We have leaders on each floor who is responsible for the efficient running of the unit. We have a key person system in place, this staff member will be responsible for working with both you and your child to ensure needs are met.
Our Nursery
The Milky Way Day Nursery consists of the Rocket Room, Stars Floor and the Garden.
The nursery has it’s very own Milky way Galaxy where children are able to do various activities under the stars.
The Rocket Room
We have a bright and inviting unit for our under 2’s. The Rocket room is a large and open space. We have a free flow baby garden with colourful fences and resources. We are particularly proud of our sensory room with special effects and lighting.
The Stars Floor
Pre-school has three spacious rooms. We have designated areas in these rooms such as role play, book corner, messy room, playroom, and a large garden.
There is a wide range of activities offered to enable your child to work towards achieving their Early Learning Goals.
The children in pre-school take part in many extra curricular activities at the nursery, this includes languages and yoga. We also have great tech facilities where children have access to tablets, voice recognition systems, laptops and computers.
The Garden
Babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers have access to this large garden. The garden is split into lots of exciting areas.
Some examples include, a mud kitchen, digging areas (sand and mud), and play houses. The children have their own area where they grow fruit and veg.
The fruit and veg is then used by the Nursery Chef to cook with.
The Milky Way Curriculum
We work alongside The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and ensure that the children are fully supported through all of their development stages.
Early Years Foundation Stage
At the Milky Way Day Nursery, we prepare your child for primary school through games and play, through working alongside the early years foundation stage (EYFS), which sets standards for learning, development, and care for children from birth to five.
We encouraged children to do this through, recognising that each child develops in their own individual way, and we ensure that we plan experiences and learning opportunities that can be personalised through children individual interests and learning styles.
Practitioners will provide enabling environments, that are engaging and age-appropriate, to promote child-led experiences, offering a variety of both challenging and achievable experiences, to extend the children’s individual learning.
Below are the seven areas which guide the experiences and learning that we observe the children in:
Prime Areas
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
Specific Areas
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Art and Design
Each individual child will also be allocated a key person at The Milky Way Day Nursery, who’s role is to ensure every child’s care is tailored to meet their individual needs, supporting them to make the best progress, forming healthy relationships within the setting enabling children’s well-being now and for their future learning and successes.
Partnership with Parents
At the Milky Way Day Nursery, we believe that parents/carers need to work together in a close partnership between home and nursery, in-order for children to receive the quality of care and early learning to meet their individual needs.
Therefore, we encourage parents as partners to become involved in aspects of nursery life, and ensure they are involved in what we do with their child in the setting.
Parents can access their child’s observations, online learning journal, photos and see what they have been doing throughout the day via the nursery app. During normal working hours, staff are always on hand for call backs to talk and discuss all areas of their children care and development.
We put on termly parent evenings. These evenings provide opportunities for parents and key persons to jointly reflect upon children’s progress and identify their next steps in learning. Parents and key persons also share ideas of how children’s ongoing progress can be supported through fun activities at home and with their family.