Kindred Billericay Nursery and Pre-School

A mud kitchen, letters exchanged with Australia and food bank collections give Kindred Billericay a character that extends beyond its garden. Outdoor play leads the offer: children can move freely into the garden during the day, choosing between painting, sensory activities and messy exploration. For children who enjoy getting absorbed in practical play, that freedom matters.

Based at Buttsbury Infant School on Perry Street, Billericay, CM12 0NX, the nursery has capacity for 44 children, with a current age range of 3 to 60 months. At its 23 February 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and found safeguarding effective. That is a dated judgement, while the garden, community activities and settling arrangements form part of the current offer.

Full-day and half-day bookings are offered, with the detailed hours and funding distinctions set out below. The strongest reasons to consider this setting are its outdoor access, gradual introduction to nursery life and practical contact with the wider community.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the required framework for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play supports communication, physical skills, relationships and early learning. Here, the current day includes creative activities, sensory play and preparation for school alongside time for children to choose their own play. Playdough, sand and mud give those choices a hands-on dimension.

Robot Reg, Tiny Mites and Sol Sports are additional enrichment activities alongside that everyday provision. They sit within a day that also makes room for quieter periods and child-led exploration, rather than replacing the ordinary nursery routine.

In February 2023, babies explored an animal guessing game, making sounds and using signs as they anticipated what would emerge next. Older children combined instruments, movement and songs with learning about phonics. These examples show how early communication and listening were incorporated into play at that time, rather than treated as separate exercises.

Early writing also had a physical starting point in February 2023. Babies explored paint with their hands, while other children worked dough and practised using scissors. Books were accessible for independent enjoyment, although opportunities to explore reference books and poetry needed extending. That distinction matters: enjoying stories and encountering different kinds of books are related but separate experiences.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden has a painting corner, sensory activity tables and a mud kitchen. Free access during the day allows children to pursue an outdoor activity when it catches their interest, rather than relying solely on a scheduled outdoor period. These are concrete spaces for making, experimenting and handling materials.

In February 2023, construction play brought mathematics into practical tasks. Children measured fencing with tape measures and used a spirit level to judge whether bricks were level. Water painting involved large brushes and rollers, while planned activities introduced recycling. The useful thread was learning through tools and actions children could understand.

Regular outings take children to parks, shops and the library. An exchange of letters with friends in Australia adds another way to encounter people beyond Billericay. Closer to home, collections organised with Billericay Foodbank introduce kindness through a shared practical activity: gathering donations gives children something tangible to contribute.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with a structured sequence of three sessions. First comes a 30-minute introduction with the parent, child and room leader in a separate room, using the All About Me booklet to share important information. A 90-minute stay follows, then a three-hour session gives the child a longer experience of the routine. Further settling sessions can be arranged when a child needs more time.

The sequence has a clear purpose: information sharing comes before separation, and time away from the parent increases gradually. It gives families a defined starting plan while allowing the pace to change for the individual child.

Parents' Evenings take place twice a year. Christmas stay and plays and family occasions for Mother's Day and Father's Day create other opportunities for parents to participate. Formal discussion and shared activities serve different purposes, giving families more than one way to stay involved.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In February 2023, staff used signs, visual aids and prompts to support communication, including for children learning English as an additional language. Planning drew on observations, initial assessments and conversations with parents. These were specific ways of adapting activities to what a child could already do and what they needed to practise next.

The current routine includes naps or quiet time for children who need them. Meals are prepared each day at Kindred Mayflower and brought to Billericay, using an accredited menu. This is a shared food arrangement between the two settings.

Transition work includes contact with Buttsbury Primary School. The nursery describes teachers visiting children in their familiar nursery surroundings, followed by school visits with their key person and peers. That offers an introduction to people and surroundings before the move, but attendance does not guarantee a school place; families still use the local authority admissions process.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. The nursery closes for bank holidays and Christmas, so families needing care during those periods must plan around the closures.

Funded fee tables offer a Full Day from 7am to 7pm and a Half Day from 7am to 1pm or 1pm to 7pm. The non-funded table also offers those half-day windows, but labels 7am to 1pm as Full Day. The booked hours therefore need to be explicit in the family's written quotation, especially when comparing funded and private arrangements.

The address is Buttsbury Infant School, Perry Street, Billericay, CM12 0NX. Queen's Park Country Park is nearby. For enquiries, the nursery can be contacted on 01277 650538.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery accepts government childcare funding. Eligible working families may access up to 30 funded hours from the term after their child turns 9 months; the 15-hour entitlement starts from the term after the child's third birthday. Funding is stretched across the opening year, rather than delivered solely during term time, so the headline entitlement should not be read as the funded hours received each week throughout the year.

Private fees include meals and snacks, together with nappies, wipes, milk and formula. For funded sessions, food, non-food consumables and activities carry separate charges. Families wishing to decline consumables alongside funded hours must notify the nursery in writing and follow its consumables policy process.

There is no registration charge or deposit, but a pre-payment is required and credited against the first full invoice. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The Billericay fees information sets out the booking categories and charge structure.

• Different meanings of Full Day. Funded bookings use 7am to 7pm, while the non-funded table uses 7am to 1pm under the same label. Make sure the written quotation identifies the exact hours being purchased.
• Books and care of resources. In February 2023, the improvement priorities were broader access to poetry and reference books, and more consistent encouragement to put resources away after independent play. On a visit, ask how those two areas now work in the children's day.
• Enrichment in practice. Robot Reg, Tiny Mites and Sol Sports are named additions, and funded sessions include an activities charge. Use the one-to-one visit to discuss what those activities involve for your child's age.
• School contact and admissions. Visits involving Buttsbury Primary School provide an introduction, but do not secure admission. Treat the nursery transition activities and the local authority school application as separate steps.

Kindred Billericay suits families seeking either full-day attendance or morning and afternoon half days, with outdoor choice and community contact woven into nursery life. The garden's practical play spaces, Australian letter exchange and Billericay Foodbank collections give parents concrete reasons to consider it.

The gradual settling sequence is another useful strength of the current offer. Balance those attractions against the dated improvement priorities and the need for a precise quotation: the session labels and funded extras deserve close attention before choosing an attendance pattern.