Bath Area Play Project provides a high quality, early years service based at The Hut in Twerton, Bath, BA2 1RX (follow postcode: BA2 1RW on SAT NAV to find us)

It provides children, from birth, the opportunity to play freely within a safe environment with appropriate adult support. There are more structured play opportunities according to the age of the children attending the sessions. The purpose is to provide stimulating play opportunities, recognised by EYFS as a main objective for children to reach their full potential.

The Nursery and Pre-school is used by people for different reasons including:

• To provide a great start for early learning through play
• To give parents/carers a break
• To provide children with an opportunity to play with other children
• To support children’s development through play opportunities
• To enable parents/carers to attend appointments
• To enable parents/carers to attend training courses
• To enable parents to return to work

We have a fantastic resource for children at the Hut with a specific carpeted room with Home Corner, dressing up, books and tapes, a huge selection of toys and equipment, a further play room with play equipment, a room for messier play including painting, sticking and glitter, a soft play room and a wonderful garden with bikes, trikes and other ride-ons, fixed play equipment – a slide, tower to climb and wobbly bridge. A bike track, places to hide and plenty of water and sand!

Our Team

Our staff team is experienced and well qualified and provide children with a supportive and caring environment for play. Children are individually cared for with a keyworker system, supporting their development through a mixture of structured and free play activities.

The Nursery and Pre-school is registered with OFSTED to provide sessional care for children from birth to school age. All staff are qualified to Level 3 in Early Years and / or Playwork, with the Lead worker holding a Early Years Foundation degree and hold current Paediatric First Aid certificates as well as Basic Food Hygiene certificates. At the last OFSTED inspection we received a Good rating and the Inspector made many favourable comments about the quality of the setting. With Good gradings across safeguarding and keeping children safe, demonstrating our commitment to the children’s welfare.

The Hut Treasures Every Child

We treasure every child who comes through the door and we endeavour to make every parent and carer feel special too. We have learnt that having local staff from the local community greatly enhances the quality of the service which in turn values the local community and gives a clear message about valuing staff and volunteers.

We understand that the demand for an alternative to childcare is what is needed; parents do not necessarily work, they just want a break and quality time for themselves whilst acknowledging that their child benefits from playing alongside or with other children.

Supporting and Working with Parents

We have learnt since providing the service that there are many varied reasons why parents and carers use this service; for all of them the quality of the care and interaction their children have with the staff is of paramount importance.

Parents and carers are respected and valued no matter what their background, everybody is made to feel welcome and for many parents, having the nursery and Pre-school has helped them normalise and stabilise life where everything else has been chaotic around them.

Parents who tear their hair out with exasperation at their seemingly inability to control their child are supported; staff encourage use of different strategies for behaviour management. Parents who are incredibly anxious at leaving their child are supported to do so gradually in their own time; some go on to get involved voluntarily with children.

Where parents request support, advice and help is given in a non-judgemental way. Where staff feel parents would benefit from knowing others are going through the same thing, this is shared confidentially.