Lavenders Day Nursery, Bedford

Dance on Monday afternoons, monthly cooking masterclasses and daily garden play give Lavenders a recognisable character. Its appeal is practical as well as educational: children can move, make things and explore outdoors, while cooking turns ingredients into opportunities to talk, measure and practise independence.

At its 9 August 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding overall, with children pursuing their own ideas and staff extending their learning. That judgement is dated, but the examples behind it are useful: an interest in volcanoes developed into experiments, and pretend café play gained detail through visits to a café and bakery. Children had room to shape what happened next.

Lavenders has 108 places in total and accepts children aged 2 to 60 months. The Bedford setting combines an all-year opening calendar with funded childcare and paid care beyond funded hours. The distinction between those hours matters when planning a booking.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play and activities help children build communication, physical skills and independence. At Lavenders, daily garden access and hands-on activities give that learning a practical setting. The framework is the foundation, rather than an additional programme.

Tiny Tots adds physical exercise through dance on Monday afternoons for children aged two and over. It gives movement a regular place in the week. Monthly cooking masterclasses take a different route: children choose recipes connected with cultural festivals and events, then use child-friendly equipment to make dishes such as vegetable pakoras or gingerbread biscuits. Following instructions, discussing ingredients and weighing quantities bring language and mathematics into the same activity.

In August 2022, children's curiosity drove substantial projects. Looking at a globe prompted questions about volcanoes and experiments to recreate eruptions; discussions then widened to pollution and travel, including an airport children made for their play. The value lay in the sequence: an initial question could lead to research, making and further conversation, rather than ending with a single activity.

Communication also took different forms across ages in August 2022. Babies used simple signs to express themselves, including a sign for a bird spotted in the garden. Two-year-olds brought new descriptive words into play, while older children explained how to draw a watermelon. These examples show language being used for a purpose: asking, noticing, describing and helping someone else understand.

Outdoor and Community Life

All children have garden access each day. That makes outdoor play part of the nursery routine rather than an occasional addition. Lavenders also holds an Eco-Schools Silver Award, recognising its environmental work.

In August 2022, children joined an eco committee and put environmental ideas into action by making compost and switching off unnecessary lights. Community experiences fed back into play too: two-year-olds visited a café and bakery, then used what they had learnt when making menus and taking orders in their own pretend café. Those outings gave children ideas to use in their pretend café.

Books have also inspired shared celebrations. For World Book Day on 7 March 2024, children and staff dressed as literary characters, with The Colour Monster, Elmer and That's Not My Chick among the inspirations. Preschool activities included making bookmarks, exploring story sacks and listening to storytelling with props. Costumes were part of that celebration, alongside opportunities to share favourite stories.

At the August 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including collaboration with families and professionals, individual targets and teaching adapted to children's needs. For families weighing additional support, those mechanisms are more informative than a broad promise of inclusion: they describe how adults worked together around a child's development at that time.

Children's choices were visible in everyday care in August 2022. Staff sought young children's agreement before nappy changes while still meeting their care needs. Children could choose when to eat within reasonable time limits, allowing them to finish or continue absorbing play. Independence extended beyond activities into ordinary routines.

Books provided space for quieter interaction in August 2022. Two-year-olds read together in the Jungle book corner, involving friends through pictures and questions while respecting others' concentration. Alongside energetic dance and making activities, that offers a useful picture of the different kinds of engagement children experienced.

Communication with home was another part of the August 2022 account. Families received information about what children were doing and how to continue learning at home. The practical benefit is continuity: a conversation or interest begun at nursery can carry on with parents, rather than remaining separate from family life.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at 19-21 Bushmead Avenue, Bedford, MK40 3QJ. It opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 6.30pm, across 52 weeks of the year, excluding public holidays and inset days. Those closures need to sit alongside a family's working calendar.

The Bedford funding agreement distinguishes funded-only attendance from funded hours combined with paid wraparound care. The two cannot be mixed within one booking pattern. Care beyond the funded entitlement is charged separately at the nursery's standard rates, so choosing a pattern means considering the whole arrangement, rather than funded hours alone.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01234 342818 or through the nursery's callback form. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

Lavenders offers working parent, disadvantaged two-year-old, universal and extended free entitlement sessions, subject to eligibility and the funding agreement's conditions. Under its Bedford wraparound agreement, funding is stretched across 50 weeks: the working parent, disadvantaged two-year-old and universal offers cover up to 11.4 hours each week, and the extended offer up to 22.8 hours.

The application requires a completed local authority declaration and an eligibility code supplied by the nursery's deadline. Funding applies to the contracted booking pattern and cannot be used for extra sessions outside it. For parents, the key distinction is between the nursery's opening calendar and the weeks across which this funding arrangement is spread.

• Funding across the year. The Bedford wraparound agreement stretches entitlement over 50 weeks, while the nursery opens across 52 weeks with holiday and inset closures. Ask for a written booking illustration showing funded hours, paid hours and how the calendar affects the quotation.
• Choosing an attendance pattern. Funded-only sessions cannot be combined with funded wraparound care in the same booking. Discuss which arrangement fits your working week before committing.
• Additional support and settling. The August 2022 judgement highlighted individual targets and cooperation with professionals. During a visit, ask how your child's needs would shape settling sessions and day-to-day care now.

Lavenders suits families seeking either funded-only attendance or funded hours combined with paid wraparound care. Its strongest current attractions are concrete: daily garden access, Tiny Tots dance and monthly cooking activities give children different ways to participate and practise skills.

The August 2022 judgement gives weight to the educational picture, while its age makes present-day care arrangements a worthwhile visit discussion. The funding structure deserves equal attention. A family whose chosen pattern fits those terms has a clear combination of practical childcare and hands-on experiences to consider.