Alphabet City Day Nursery Falconhurst

A Victorian house with a wooden play house, separate gardens for younger children and a dedicated sleep room gives Falconhurst a recognisable character. This is care organised around the early stages of childhood, with Baby, Wobbler and Toddler Rooms at the Cliddesden Road house and the preschool stage now based at Hazeldene.

Alphabet City Day Nursery Falconhurst has capacity for 70 children, with a current age range of 3 to 60 months. At its January 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and found safeguarding effective, with positive findings about children's communication and relationships with their key persons. That judgement predates the separation of the preschool provision into another building.

The strongest practical attractions are the younger children's outdoor access, meals cooked at Falconhurst and communication that combines daily handovers with photographs and videos. Attendance centres on a minimum booking of three full days, alongside a separately priced half-day pattern whose relationship to that minimum deserves a conversation.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room occupies the upper floor and includes a designated sleep room with cots for children under 12 months; downstairs, the Wobbler and Toddler Rooms extend along opposite sides of the hallway. That gives sleep its own space rather than making it another activity within the play room.

Outside, the Baby Room has an enclosed play area, while the Wobbler and Toddler Rooms each have direct access to their own gardens. These arrangements give the youngest children their own enclosed outdoor space and allow the older groups to move between indoor and outdoor play during the day.

Hazeldene opened in November 2025 and houses the preschool stage. Moving on from Falconhurst therefore involves a change of building.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: everyday play supports communication, physical skills and social development. Alongside that framework, Falconhurst's teaching follows children's interests, using familiar toys and open-ended materials that can be explored in different ways.

The practical emphasis is on responding to play as it develops. Staff add resources or help children connect an existing skill with something new.

In January 2022, language boxes, singing and sign language featured in the children's day, and songs helped signal changes in routine. The same visit identified a weakness: staff did not consistently build on children's play with additional help or resources. The interest-led approach therefore comes with a clear question about how practitioners extend learning when a child is ready for more.

Outdoor and Community Life

The shared garden includes a mud kitchen, construction area and Book nook, as well as a purpose-built wooden play house with two storeys. These offer different reasons to go outdoors: imaginative play, making and building, or a quieter encounter with a book. Outdoor time is more than a break from the rooms.

All three Falconhurst rooms can also use the Big Garden, where larger physical play takes place with familiar adults nearby. Children from different rooms can play together there, adding opportunities to learn from one another beyond their own room group. Families supply clothing suited to the weather so outdoor play can continue across the seasons.

Relationships and Communication

Each child and family has an allocated Key Person, providing a clear first contact for development and wellbeing. A Room Leader oversees each room's team and routine, while care is shared across the practitioners in that room.

Daily communication is detailed for the youngest children. Baby and Wobbler families receive both written and spoken handovers covering food, sleep and activities; Toddler families continue to receive written handovers until 2 years 9 months, after which communication is mainly spoken, with meal information displayed in the room.

Tapestry, the app used to share photographs and videos of children's play and learning, adds an end-of-week view of nursery life. Parents receive daily practical information and a weekly view of play and learning.

In January 2022, staff gathered information about children's starting points and home lives before they joined, and supported moves between rooms. Babies who became unsettled received sensitive responses from their key persons.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Yoga and Mindfulness form part of Falconhurst's wellbeing activities. The emphasis is on children's emotions as well as their physical development, giving feelings a place within the nursery day rather than treating them only as behaviour to manage.

Training needs close attention too. In January 2022, leaders offered continuing training, but did not always evaluate whether staff carrying particular responsibilities had fully absorbed the knowledge needed for those roles. The improvement action concerned applying training in daily practice.

Meals are cooked on site at Falconhurst and include breakfast, snacks, lunch and tea; the nursery's dietary arrangements include adapting food for allergies and preferences. In the Baby Room, labelled expressed breast milk can be stored, and staff support purees, baby-led weaning or a combination.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 20 Cliddesden Road, Basingstoke, RG21 3DT. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 50 weeks, with closures for bank holidays and the Christmas period.

The booking policy requires at least three full days each week, with agreed attendance days forming the contract. A half-day rate is also offered. Additional sessions can be requested subject to space being available and management discretion; permanent changes to attendance days require a calendar month's notice and depend on the requested days being possible.

Joining involves returning an application form and paying a registration charge for settling sessions. Fees are invoiced by email in advance each month; holidays and sickness do not reduce charges. Leaving requires a calendar month's notice running from the first day to the end of the month, so the timing of a departure matters to the final invoice.

Getting There

Nearby street parking serves Falconhurst, and the nursery describes the town centre as only a short walk away. Collection depends on nearby street parking.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible children aged nine months and above, starting the term after the child's birthday. Funding is stretched only: eligible children under three receive the 22-hour pattern; children aged three and over receive 11 hours through universal funding or 22 through extended funding. The annual entitlement is 570 or 1140 hours, spread over 51 weeks at 11 or 22 hours and one week at 9 or 18 hours.

Meals, snacks, sun cream, craft materials, baking, yoga and organised trips are included in fees. For funded attendance, a separate meals-and-consumables charge applies to three-year-olds attending three or four days weekly; it does not currently apply to three-year-olds attending five days or to other age groups, for whom the nursery absorbs that cost.

Families supply formula, nappies, wipes and nappy creams, together with spare clothes and suitable outdoor clothing. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding information explains the charge structure.

• The preschool move. Preschool is based at Hazeldene following its November 2025 opening. During a tour, discuss how the move from Falconhurst is prepared and how communication continues across that change of building.
• Three-day commitment and half days. The minimum is three full days weekly, alongside a half-day rate. Ask how half-day bookings fit that policy before choosing an attendance pattern.
• Teaching and training follow-through. The January 2022 improvement points concerned extending children's learning and evaluating training for staff with lead responsibilities. Ask for examples of how both now work in the younger rooms.
• Feeding and allergies. Food can be adapted for dietary needs, and families provide formula and personal care supplies. Discuss current allergy procedures and your child's feeding routine when visiting.

Falconhurst suits families seeking regular full days and those interested in the separately priced half-day option, especially parents choosing younger-child provision in a house setting. Separate sleep space, room gardens and detailed handovers give the offer practical substance.

The preschool move and fixed-day contract are central to the decision. Families comfortable with both have a clear early-years route to consider, while the dated improvement points provide useful, specific questions about teaching and staff development.