Daisy Chains Nursery

Natural materials, open shelving and resources within children's reach give Daisy Chains Nursery a clear character: play and growing independence shape the day. Based at South Ashford Youth Centre in Ashford, it welcomes children aged two to five and has capacity for 40 children. Its two rooms are called adventurers and explorers.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 12 December 2024 inspection. Creative projects, practical activities and communication with families are central to the current offer, with Daisy Kickers adding an in-house programme for physical fitness and wellbeing. Attendance can be arranged through half-day or full-day sessions during term time.

Rooms and Ages

The adventurers and explorers rooms provide the nursery's indoor base, while the wider environment uses muted colours, natural materials and shelving children can reach themselves. That arrangement gives children a practical part in choosing resources and returning them after play. Independence starts with small decisions.

For toddlers, activities include sand, water and textured materials, alongside painting and building. Older children have areas for early reading, maths and STEM, meaning science, technology, engineering and maths, with art stations, musical instruments and spaces for pretend play. These are different ways to explore an idea: handling materials, talking about what happens and representing it through play.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, covering language, physical development, relationships and early learning through play. Daisy Chains combines activities children choose with groups led by adults. The framework is the starting point; the nursery's blend of approaches shapes how those experiences are arranged.

Reggio Emilia contributes creative expression through materials and projects that can develop over time. Aspects of Montessori add individual tasks with a clear purpose. The communication and friendly spaces approach influences the room layout, using natural colours and a smaller selection of resources. Together, these give families concrete examples of how the nursery organises learning, rather than simply a set of educational labels.

Cooking sessions let toddlers handle dough and combine ingredients. Water experiments, construction with blocks and art using natural materials bring opportunities to compare, describe and test ideas. Daisy Kickers adds physical activity through its fitness and wellbeing programme; it is an addition to the ordinary nursery curriculum.

In December 2024, staff built language into everyday activities by naming fruit during sensory exploration, repeating useful vocabulary and sharing songs and stories. Children chose books and recreated familiar stories in their play. The same visit also highlighted a weakness: some planned activities did not extend children's existing understanding sufficiently, and younger children moved away too soon.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play takes place daily, with opportunities to run, climb and explore. The mud garden gives children a place to dig, while planting seeds and watching insects bring the natural world into their activities. Practical experiences continue indoors through making play dough and transferring water between containers.

These experiences offer a useful mix for children who enjoy learning with their hands. A cooking task involves handling ingredients; gardening involves working with soil and observing change. Neither requires a child to sit through a formal lesson to take part.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who works with parents on their interests, needs and development. Settling arrangements are agreed with families, including information about familiar routines and comfort items. A buddy takes over when the usual key person is absent, giving parents an identified alternative contact and children continuity of care.

Communication continues through eyLog, which shares daily reports, activity updates, photographs, videos and digital learning journals. Parents can also contribute information from home. This makes the conversation about development two-way: staff observations sit alongside what a family knows about their child outside nursery.

EYman is used to document observations, plan individual next steps and produce learning records. Development summaries are completed periodically and at transitions, including moving between groups or leaving for school. Information can be shared by email, with printed versions also offered. For families who prefer paper, that is a useful practical option.

The free guide, 10 Ways to Help Your Preschooler Bloom at Home, extends this partnership with ideas for play, independence and emotional wellbeing. It gives parents activities to use between nursery sessions, including stories and everyday routines, rather than treating learning as something confined to nursery hours.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support strong, with staff working alongside families and outside agencies and taking training related to individual children's needs. The current arrangements include a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator and individual care plans for children with additional needs. Those are mechanisms families can discuss in relation to their own child.

In December 2024, practitioners used pictures and conversations to help children recognise feelings, and supported turn-taking during hairdresser role play. Everyday self-care was also part of the routine: children practised using cutlery and were given time to manage their coats. These examples show the practical tasks and social situations through which children were learning to do more for themselves.

Current school preparation includes managing belongings, dressing, listening and joining group activities. Staff also record development at the point of transition to school. The emphasis is on the skills a child uses throughout the day, alongside early reading and maths activities.

Meals and snacks are prepared on site, and optional hot lunches carry a separate charge, including for funded attendance. The lunch menu shifts forward by a day each week, giving children on fixed attendance days different meals over time; group snacks are offered in both the morning and afternoon.

Sessions and Attendance

Daisy Chains operates Monday to Friday for 38 weeks of the year and closes during school holidays. Its usual opening hours are 9.30am to 3.30pm. An 8am to 6pm opening window is being trialled, so the extended hours should be treated as a trial when planning a regular routine.

Both half-day and full-day sessions are offered. The 30-hour funded pattern for two-year-olds runs from 9.15am to 3.15pm, Monday to Friday; for children aged three or four it runs from 9.30am to 3.30pm on those days. These age-specific attendance times sit alongside the usual opening window.

For 15-hour attendance, the choices include five mornings, running 9.15am to 12.15pm or 9.30am to 12.30pm, and five afternoons, running 12.15pm to 3.15pm or 12.30pm to 3.30pm. Mixed patterns are also offered: Tuesday and Thursday full days plus Friday afternoon, or Monday and Wednesday full days plus Friday morning. This gives families a choice between shorter daily attendance and a combination of longer and shorter sessions.

Getting There

The address is South Ashford Youth Centre, St Stephens walk, Ashford, Kent, TN23 5BD. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01233 647 596, and a show-around can be booked using the tour form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded and private childcare are both offered, with 15-hour and 30-hour funding options delivered during term time. The entitlements include support for eligible two-year-olds, the universal 15-hour offer for three- and four-year-olds and the 30-hour working-parent offer. Eligibility conditions apply; participation in a scheme does not establish an individual family's entitlement.

The funding and fees page sets out the attendance patterns and charge structure. Hot lunch is optional and billed separately, while a uniform consisting of a T-shirt and jumper is also optional. A deposit is returned after six weeks of attendance. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Parents supply suitable footwear, clothing for the weather and spare clothes in a small bag. Aprons are supplied for messy activities, and easy-to-manage clothing supports children's practice with dressing and toileting.

• Continuity of play. In December 2024, activities were sometimes ended abruptly to move children to the next part of the routine. During a tour, ask how children can now continue an absorbing activity and how planned teaching keeps younger children involved.
• Extended-hours trial. The 8am to 6pm opening window is a trial alongside the usual 9.30am to 3.30pm hours. Families needing early or late care should establish which trial arrangements can form part of their booking.
• Funding and everyday costs. Hot lunch and uniform are optional extras, and the deposit is returned after six weeks of attendance. Ask for a written breakdown for your chosen pattern, including who supplies nappies, wipes and sun cream.

Daisy Chains suits families seeking either half-day attendance or full-day sessions during the school term, including those who want to combine longer days with a Friday morning or afternoon. Its strongest practical features are the key-person and buddy arrangements, digital communication and a play-based day that includes creative projects, cooking and outdoor exploration.

The educational approaches have concrete expression in the resources and activities. The December 2024 concerns about interrupted play and younger children's engagement give a useful direction for a visit: look at how those experiences are sustained, as well as what is offered.