Skip to content Established since 1983, Rainbow Corner Southsea Nursery ensures your child receives the best start in life. We’re a true family-run business offering children in our care a home-from-home environment, based in a converted Victorian house.
Archdale Villa, 42 Victoria Road North, Southsea, Hampshire, PO5 1PX
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, all year round, apart from the public bank holidays and the days between Christmas and New Year.
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, all year round, apart from the public bank holidays and the days between Christmas and New Year.
We're proud to say we were awarded 'Good' by Ofsted
Our core values that we encourage children to demonstrate and develop on a day-to-day basis are:
In order to support children in demonstrating these core values, we have our very own value hero’s that we use, in having discussions with children, encouraging children, and praising children.
The school is divided into three care groups according to age, one of which being our baby unit for children from birth to 2 years and which has its own sleep and sensory room.
Please watch the video below to find out more about us.
Each child has a Key worker who has overall responsibility for that child’s learning and development.
Children develop the various skills, attitudes and levels of maturity until they embark on pre-school activities.
Each group is an established ‘free flow’ environment, allowing and encouraging children to make their own choices.
Children’s individual interests are adapted and developed to encourage and support them.
All the time we are allowing children the time to learn through their own play, we do not need to be forcing them to join in with set activities, they are not going to learn if they do not want to take part in the first place. By allowing children to learn through themselves and creating a stimulating free flow environment with continuous resourced play provision, it enables children to flourish. This allows for key persons to capture the teaching moments and seize the opportunities to further enhance and develop a child’s learning, by supporting and encouraging them to think deeper and draw on what they already know.
Our baby unit, known as ‘Grasshoppers’, provides a homely environment for up to twenty-one babies, from birth to two years. These classrooms are large, bright and airy. We have an area for feeding and messy play, areas for sensory play, general play, reading, quiet time, and other activities. We have dedicated sleep room, as well as a sensory room. We have up to eight dedicated members of staff in the baby room, headed up by our Grasshopper Room Leader. In this room, we very much cater for the individual needs of the child and follow the parent’s normal routine. Many of the activities and the equipment used, are designed to encourage learning through stimulating their primary senses of sight, hearing, touch and smell and they are encouraged to relate to each other and to the adults. We have a kitchen specifically for the baby room and a dedicated baby garden.
Before a baby starts with us, we welcome parents to visit with their baby for settling in sessions (this is encouraged in all groups). This ensures greater consistency and exchange of information for when your baby starts. We use ParentAdmin (downloadable app) to inform parents of their child’s day with us. The Care Diaries on the app include food intake, nappy changes, sleep records and pictures, we then also provide a verbal handover at the end of a child’s session with us.
Nappies, wipes, sudocrem, snacks, hot lunch and high tea, are all included. Meals can also be blended/ mashed/ cut to meet each individual baby’s weaning need. We can also store breast milk if mum is still breastfeeding.
The children transfer from the baby unit to the Ladybird group around their 2nd birthday and remain in this group until around their 3rd birthday. In this class, we have up to 25 children with six members of staff. Once in the Ladybird group, the children continue to be encouraged in making their own choices of play and activities. They are given a lot more responsibility in the sense of choosing their area of play, whether this be inside or outside. Children are encouraged to interact with each other and take part in more health and self-care opportunities, for example putting on their own coats, and developing their toileting skills.
Each day consists of a variety of indoor and outdoor activities, developed through the children’s interests. Those children who still require a daytime sleep, are given time in the afternoon to put their heads down if they wish to, on individual sleep mats. One of the rooms is closed down with lights off, to allow the children some quiet time to regain their energy in preparation for the rest of the day.
After a child turns 2 years, the staff working with the child give the parent's a written summary of how the child is progressing against the 3 prime areas of learning:
This is called the progress check at age 2. The check will highlight areas where a child is progressing well and anywhere they might need a little extra help or support – and how parents and other family members or carers can work with the Key person to achieve this. Parents often find it useful to share the information from the check with other professionals such as Health Visitors.
In the Butterfly room and garden we have up to forty children, aged 3 years plus. We have up to eight members of staff within the butterfly class, who station themselves within the different areas of learning and outdoor space, allowing children to fully explore their free flow environment.
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