St John's Childcare Forest Glade

A church community, a spacious garden and school preparation built around everyday independence give St John's Childcare Forest Glade its character. Based at St John’s Church in Langdon Hills, it combines early-years care with practical support for families, including a pastoral team that welcomes people of any faith or none. The Christian ethos is part of daily life, with weekly faith-based enrichment activities.

At its July 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with practitioners who knew how to raise concerns and children receiving appropriate supervision. That is a dated judgement. The strongest current details are more tangible: age-specific rooms, an individually planned settling period and a key person introduced before a child starts.

Early-years sessions serve children from 12 months to four years, with separate school-age wraparound provision. There are 110 places in total across the setting; that figure is capacity, rather than the size of any room or the number attending together. Morning, afternoon and full-day arrangements sit alongside breakfast and later collection options.

Rooms and Ages

Rabbits, for children aged 12 months to two and a half years, is a self-contained baby and toddler room with treasure baskets, sensory exploration and messy play supporting movement, communication and discovery. Foxes, for two- to three-year-olds, uses construction, imaginative play and daily mark-making to develop choices, conversation and early creative skills.

For three- and four-year-olds, Squirrels and Badgers are the school-ready rooms, where changing role-play spaces, small-world resources and construction toys combine child-chosen activity with adult-led learning. The progression is practical: younger children explore materials and movement, while older children have opportunities to organise their ideas and practise routines they will use at school.

Across the rooms, book and creative areas sit alongside sand and water activities. Children’s work is displayed, giving their own efforts a place in the environment. A cosy area provides somewhere to pause, and children needing daytime sleep use snooze mats away from children who are still playing. This is a useful distinction for families whose child still needs a rest during a busy day.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS shapes the day through play, language, physical development and relationships, alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. It is the shared early-years framework. Staff use children’s interests and developmental stages to plan activities.

The School-ready Programme adds practical preparation during the year before Reception: making food choices, pouring drinks from small jugs and developing friendships. Development Matters, used as a planning guide, helps staff reflect on individual development. School preparation here therefore includes managing familiar tasks and taking part with other children, rather than simply practising letters and numbers.

Tiny Mites provides music and movement sessions within the enhanced activity offer. Cooking, baking and food-tasting experiences also form part of that offer, with celebrations including Shrove Tuesday and Chinese New Year. These experiences give children different materials, tastes and ways to participate; for funded children, access is tied to the consumables and services arrangement explained below.

In July 2022, children experimented with freeing toy animals from ice using a wooden hammer, made patterns in dough and used pretend tools in imaginative building play. Those examples show the kind of exploration taking place at that time. Staff asked questions to develop thinking, but sometimes missed chances to introduce new vocabulary, and opportunities for capable children to manage routines independently were inconsistent.

Outdoor and Community Life

The spacious garden provides room for outdoor play, while Rabbits children also take walks to the park. Local outings are included within the enhanced services package. The value is straightforward: children’s experiences extend beyond the indoor activity areas, with opportunities to explore different surroundings.

A fun fit week and summer sports day take place during the year, with parent races included in the sports day. Church connections extend to family life too: the 0-3’s playgroup combines play, craft and Bible stories for young children and their carers. It offers another way for families to become familiar with the community around the nursery.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person before starting, with a back-up key person through a buddy arrangement when their usual contact is absent. The role covers care planning, developmental records and communication with home. That gives families a clear contact for discussing changes in sleep, feeding, behaviour or learning, and a second contact when needed.

Settling is adjusted to the child. Parents can spend time in the room, and the number and length of settling visits depend on how the child responds. The settling policy expects a parent, carer or close relative to remain for much of the first week’s sessions, gradually spending longer away as the child becomes comfortable. Families should allow time for that gradual start.

Connect Childcare is the electronic recording system, with iConnect and the parent zone app giving families access to photographs, observations and records of meals, sleep and nappy changes. Staff also give verbal feedback after sessions. For funded children, app access forms part of the enhanced services package, so it matters to understand the opt-out terms before choosing that arrangement.

Parents evenings happen twice a year, with stay-and-play sessions each term. These provide different ways to discuss development and take part in classroom activities. There is also a parent notice board for menus, events and other information, keeping day-to-day communication broader than the app alone.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A designated SENCO works with parents and outside agencies, using differentiated planning to address individual needs. The key-person policy also describes the progress check at age two: it identifies developmental concerns and sets out agreed actions, including work with other professionals where appropriate. These are concrete support mechanisms families can discuss in relation to their own child.

At the July 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children made progress from their starting points and that key persons knew them well, while asking for more consistent encouragement of independence and stronger vocabulary development. Both points matter in ordinary nursery life: the challenge is to let children attempt manageable tasks themselves and use play to extend what they can say.

Dedicated catering staff cook food on site using a four-week menu cycle. The menu follows a no-nuts policy, but the building is shared with other groups and cannot be guaranteed nut-free; dietary requirements and allergies are handled through discussion with families.

Pastoral support is available to the wider family, including confidential conversation, signposting and prayer if requested. It is a recognisable part of this church-based setting’s offer, alongside the childcare team’s work with children.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6pm. AM Session runs from 9.15am to 11.45am, PM Session from 12.30pm to 3pm, and Lunch Club bridges the gap from 11.45am to 12.30pm. A full day runs from 7.30am to 6pm.

Breakfast Club runs from 7.30am to 8.45am, followed by Early Drop Off from 8.45am to 9.15am. After School Club runs from 3pm to 6pm, with collection options at 4pm, 5pm and 6pm. The separate school-age service takes Great Berry primary school children to school after breakfast and collects children from Great Berry and Lincewood primary schools afterwards. These are transport arrangements, rather than an admissions pathway.

The annual pattern comprises 46 weeks: 39 weeks of term-time provision and seven weeks of Holiday Club. For existing early-years children, Holiday Club covers February and October half-terms, one Easter week and four summer weeks. Holiday bookings use a separate request form, are invoiced separately and must be paid before the club begins.

Getting There

The address is St John’s Church, Forest Glade, Langdon Hills, Basildon, Essex SS16 6RX. Enquiries go to the childcare office on 01268 490400 or admin@stjohnschildcare.co.uk; registration involves returning an application form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including 15 universal hours from the term after a child’s third birthday and an additional 15 hours subject to eligibility. Some one- and two-year-olds may qualify for 30 hours. Funding can be stretched across the opening year, and funded hours operate between 7.30am and 5pm; the final hour of a booking ending at 6pm is paid separately.

For non-funded children, meals are included in the session or daily fee; funded children pay separately for nursery lunches, unless bringing a packed lunch, and for dinner when staying after 5pm. Funded snacks sit within the separate consumables charge, which also covers activities, electronic communication and specified supplies.

Parents provide nappies, cream and formula where needed; the handbook also asks families to bring wipes, while the funded consumables package covers face and baby wipes, tissues and nappy sacks. Families may opt out of that package through a signed declaration, but the terms require them to supply the listed items and withdraw access to enhanced activities and the parent app. The fees and funding page explains the structure; current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

• A gradual start. Settling may involve a parent or close relative staying for much of the first week’s sessions. Discuss how this will work around employment and other caring commitments when arranging a visit.
• Funded extras and app access. The consumables package includes snacks, enhanced activities and electronic communication, with restrictions following an opt-out. Request a written quotation for your intended sessions and clarify the items you would need to supply.
• Independence and language. July 2022 improvement points concerned everyday independence and vocabulary. On a visit, ask how staff now help children attempt tasks and introduce words during play.
• Faith and allergy arrangements. Weekly faith-based activities are part of the offer, and the shared building cannot be guaranteed nut-free. Discuss how the activities fit your family and, where relevant, confirm current allergy practice.

St John's suits families seeking either short morning or afternoon sessions or a full day, with breakfast and later collection options to extend attendance. Its strongest practical features are the progression through named rooms, school preparation through everyday routines and a key-person system with a back-up contact.

The church connection gives the setting a clear identity, while pastoral support and parent participation extend its relationship with families. The July 2022 improvement points deserve a practical conversation, and funded extras need careful budgeting. For families comfortable with the Christian ethos and the term-time plus selected-holiday pattern, this is a substantial childcare offer with clearly defined ways to take part.