Little Wrens Day Nursery and Pre-school

A garden shared with Wren Hall Nursing Home gives Little Wrens a character that goes well beyond nursery play: children meet older residents daily, with gardening, craft and conversation bringing the generations together. These encounters are part of the day rather than an occasional outing. For families drawn to learning through relationships, that is a substantial reason to consider this Selston setting.

Little Wrens Day Nursery and Pre-school has 30 places in total for children aged 12 to 60 months. At its August 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and judged safeguarding effective. That is a dated assessment, while the current approach combines child-led outdoor learning with intergenerational activities.

Core and funded days run from 7am to 5pm, with a separately charged additional hour until 6pm. The practical distinction is between the daytime booking and the later finish.

Rooms and Ages

Separate spaces for babies and preschool children allow the day to be organised around different stages of development. The team includes a Baby Room lead and a Kingfisher Room lead. For younger children, room leadership gives families a clear role to discuss routines with; for preschool children, the separate space allows activities to be organised around their stage rather than a single mixed-age programme.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: everyday play and routines become opportunities to practise language, movement, thinking and independence. Alongside that framework, Forest School brings child-led exploration into natural surroundings. Children have opportunities to investigate outdoors, with their interests helping shape the activity. The nursery's approach to learning connects this outdoor emphasis with its work across generations.

In August 2021, everyday objects prompted useful conversations. Children questioned the material covering part of the garden, explored a shell and took turns sending toy vehicles down a wooden slope. These are concrete examples of learning through what children notice and handle, rather than a day built solely around adult instructions.

The August 2021 inspection also identified a need for staff to extend children's existing skills more consistently, including showing a child a more effective way to handle scissors. That matters alongside the child-led approach: following an interest still leaves room for an adult to introduce the next useful skill.

Outdoor and Community Life

Intergenerational Learning means daily contact with residents of Wren Hall in the shared garden. Activities include making things together, caring for the garden and exchanging stories. Children therefore have opportunities to communicate with people beyond their own age group, with a shared activity giving the conversation a purpose.

Forest School provides another strand of the outdoor day, using natural settings for practical exploration. The two approaches offer different experiences: investigating the environment and spending time with older neighbours. Families who value both can see how they fit together here.

Relationships and Communication

In August 2021, settling was organised through the key-person system. Staff gathered children's interests from parents, used familiar experiences in nursery and increased the time spent there gradually. The useful detail is the adjustment of attendance as a child settles, rather than treating the first full session as the starting point for everyone.

Current staff roles include a SENCO, the special educational needs coordinator, alongside room leadership. This gives families a defined contact role for discussing additional needs. The team also places emphasis on individual interactions and responding to children's preferences, which provides a practical starting point for conversations about how a particular child spends the day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In August 2021, staff used care routines to introduce language and counting, such as talking about feet while helping a young child dress. Questions were followed by time for children to answer. These small exchanges matter because learning can happen during necessary care as well as a planned activity.

An on-site chef cooks meals from fresh ingredients, and children serve themselves at breakfast, lunch and tea with help suited to their development. The menu includes dishes such as vegetable lasagne and fish with chips, making food and supported independence part of the same routine.

In August 2021, children were also serving food and pouring drinks for themselves. Those are everyday skills relevant to moving on to school; they describe preparation through independence rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Wren Hall Nursing Home, 234 Nottingham Road, Selston, Nottingham, NG16 6AB. Opening hours are 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year apart from bank holidays.

The core day runs from 7am to 5pm. The funded day uses the same hours, and an additional hour from 5pm to 6pm is charged separately. This distinction matters when comparing a family's working day with the booked session: the later opening time does not automatically form part of the core or funded day.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email to manager@littlewrensnursery.co.uk or by telephone on 01773 810033. A deposit is credited back on the first invoice. Charges apply after the end of a booked session if collection is late.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and private core-day bookings are offered. Meals and non-food consumables on funded sessions carry a separate optional charge; families can decline it, in which case they must send enough food for the whole booked day. Food supplied by the nursery is charged for if the quantity sent is insufficient or the supplied food does not meet the Lunch Box Policy.

Activities carrying an additional charge are paid for when families choose participation. The fees page sets out these arrangements, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Comparing the complete booking, including any extension and chosen extras, is more useful than comparing the core session alone.

• Daily contact across generations. Shared gardening, craft and stories with Wren Hall residents are central to the offer. On a visit, ask how activities are adapted for your child's age and willingness to join in.
• Extending children's skills. In August 2021, staff did not consistently take children's existing abilities further. Ask for a recent example of how practitioners introduce the next step during child-led play.
• Funded-session food arrangements. Declining the optional meals and consumables charge means providing food for the entire session, with charges possible for insufficient or unsuitable food. Discuss the Lunch Box Policy and what consumables to bring before choosing that arrangement.
• The later finish. Core and funded days end at 5pm; the hour until 6pm is charged separately. Families needing that finish should include the extension in their booking and budget.

Little Wrens suits families looking for child-led outdoor learning and regular relationships with older residents, choosing a Core day or Funded day, or extending either booking with the Additional hour from 5pm to 6pm. The shared garden and daily intergenerational activities give the offer its clearest identity.

The Good judgement from August 2021 provides a dated quality reference, balanced by the specific improvement point about extending children's skills. The strongest fit is with parents who value practical exploration, supported independence and contact across generations, and whose attendance plans work with the core hours or paid extension.