Magna Minors Day Nursery

Daily woodland walks in the Chew Stoke countryside and books borrowed for home give Magna Minors a character that extends beyond its playrooms. The setting sits behind Chew Medical Practice, with a purpose-built nursery room and outdoor space surfaced in soft rubber. For families choosing care for a very young child, the quieter details matter too: cots, places to rest and a diary connecting the nursery day with home.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Magna Minors Good overall and found safeguarding effective, with strengths in language development and two improvement priorities: helping children understand emotions and resolve disagreements, and keeping parents informed when learning priorities change.

Current care covers children from 3 months to 3 years. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings are offered, with both year-round and term-time attendance.

Rooms and Ages

The Day Nursery provision occupies a bright, purpose-built room behind the medical practice, with an open-plan arrangement for younger children, quiet resting areas and cots. Its enclosed outdoor area has a colourful rubber surface, giving even the youngest children somewhere to explore outside. Sand, water and other messy-play materials are used indoors and outdoors, so sensory exploration is part of the environment rather than dependent on an occasional special activity.

Pre-School occupies the rear of Chew Medical Centre. Its indoor space is divided into activity areas, and children can move freely into the garden. This gives older children a choice between different kinds of play and between indoor and outdoor surroundings. Personal-care support is designed to encourage independence while retaining adult help where needed.

In September 2024, a change to the room arrangement separated older children's listening activities from toddler distractions.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework: children develop communication, physical skills and relationships through play, alongside early experiences of number, reading, creativity and the world around them. Magna Minors combines activities initiated by adults with play chosen by children. Its nursery curriculum places particular emphasis on the prime areas of development and uses continuing assessment to shape what comes next.

In September 2024, everyday materials supplied the teaching opportunities. Dressing a doll prompted conversation about body parts; moving water with scoops, beakers and sponges introduced ideas about capacity. Staff returned to activities so children could recall earlier learning.

A home library lets families borrow books to share, while a book bag connects reading at nursery with reading at home. Circle time gives children opportunities to bring news, show something meaningful and discuss their plans or experiences. The Good Morning song introduces greetings in different languages. Together, these arrangements provide concrete ways for children to practise speaking and listening, and for parents to take part in early reading.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily woodland walks and field games take the older children's outdoor experience into the nearby Chew Stoke countryside. Planned forest activities include making dens and identifying small animals.

Children encounter different cultures through festival celebrations and the menu. Contributions from families and visiting community professionals connect that learning with other people's experiences. The emphasis is on bringing other people's lives into the children's learning, rather than relying solely on resources within the playroom.

Relationships and Communication

A daily diary records children's sessions, parent consultations provide opportunities for discussion, and the Record of Achievement builds a picture-based account of a child's time at Magna Minors. These serve different purposes: the diary connects daily care with home, while the longer record helps families follow experiences over time. The nursery also operates an open-door policy for parents and visitors.

At the September 2024 inspection, Ofsted found effective monitoring of children's development and support for children learning English as an additional language, but asked for better help with emotions and resolving disagreements, and more timely updates to parents when developmental priorities changed. The distinction matters for families: receiving information about activities is different from knowing which emerging skill adults are currently helping a child to practise.

In September 2024, staff gathered information from parents to get to know children and supported those settling into the setting. Families received daily care updates and had opportunities each term for a fuller developmental account. Those arrangements provided regular contact, but the improvement priority concerned updates between those fuller reports, when a child's next steps changed.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

An active Inclusion Policy and links with the local authority and specialist professionals provide mechanisms for seeking support. The approach to learning also starts with children's interests and existing experience, allowing adults to build activities around the individual child.

For babies and younger children, cots and quiet areas accommodate sleep. Personal hygiene and potty training are supported within the Day Nursery, while older children receive discreet assistance with personal care. In September 2024, children practised everyday independence through putting on coats, managing footwear, using tissues and taking drinking water for themselves.

Meals and snacks are cooked on the premises each day using locally sourced products, with individual dietary needs catered for; in Pre-School, a self-service food station lets children practise managing their routines. Meals and snacks carry separate charges, including alongside funded attendance.

Staff hold certificates in paediatric first aid, food hygiene and child safeguarding. Recruitment arrangements include suitability checks and supervised sessions with children, while staff supervision and appraisals identify training needs. These describe the nursery's staff arrangements; the safeguarding judgement remains the dated one given above.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Chew Medical Practice, Chew Lane, Chew Stoke, Bristol, BS40 8UE. Magna Minors opens Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm. Enquiries are handled by telephone or email.

Morning bookings run from 8am to 1pm, afternoon bookings from 1pm to 6pm, and full days from 8am to 6pm. Attendance can be across the year or term time only.

Year-round bookings exclude bank holidays and specified closure weeks. The forthcoming closures include 25 December 2026 to 1 January 2027 inclusive, the week commencing 5 April 2027 and the week commencing 22 August 2027. Families reducing or cancelling sessions are asked to give two months' notice, which makes the booking commitment relevant when working arrangements change.

Funding and Paid Extras

Magna Minors accepts Early Years Entitlement, including Working Parents Early Years Entitlement and conditional funding for two-year-olds. Eligibility conditions apply to the working-parent and two-year-old routes. Funding is deducted on a term-time basis, including where a child attends throughout the year; private fees apply outside those periods and to any shortfall after allocated funding is applied.

Funded attendance uses the morning, afternoon or full-day windows described above. Meals and snacks are charged separately according to the session: morning attendance includes breakfast, a snack and lunch; afternoon attendance includes a snack and tea; full-day attendance covers both sets. Families should obtain a current written quotation setting out their particular combination of attendance, funding and food charges through the fees page.

• Emotions and disagreements. September 2024 improvement priorities included helping children recognise feelings and handle disputes more independently. A visit is an opportunity to discuss how adults now support children through these moments.
• Updates between reports. The September 2024 priority was to tell parents when a child's developmental next steps changed. Discuss how those changes reach home alongside the daily diary and Record of Achievement.
• Year-round costs and commitment. Funding is applied in term time, food is charged separately and the nursery requests two months' notice for reductions or cancellations. Read the written quotation alongside the closure calendar before agreeing an attendance pattern.
• Baby-care routines. Quiet areas and cots provide for sleep, while younger children use an open-plan room. During a visit, discuss how sleeping arrangements work within the open-plan room.

Magna Minors suits families looking for morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day care, with a choice between term-time and year-round attendance. Garden access, countryside walks and books shared at home give its offer concrete substance. For younger children, the sleep provision and daily diary deserve equal attention.

The September 2024 Good judgement is balanced by clear improvement priorities around emotions, disagreements and communication about changing learning needs.