Annabel's Nursery

A separate baby sleep room and a pet rabbit called Milo give Annabel's Nursery a character beyond its size. With 28 places in total at Herbert Road in Bournemouth, it combines age-specific rooms with practical experiences that include gardening, cooking and caring for an animal. The baby accommodation is its clearest physical strength: younger and older babies have separate playrooms, alongside dedicated spaces for rest and preparing feeds.

At its November 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and recognised the support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including work with external agencies. Two improvement points also matter: giving children more room to solve problems independently and helping parents extend learning at home.

Nursery provision spans babies from three months through the preschool years. Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance patterns give families different ways to use it.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Unit combines picture books and toys for movement with sensory experiences using water, sand, paint and dough; its separate playrooms for children under and over a year allow resources to match their stage of development. There is also a quiet baby sleep room and a milk room for bottle and feed preparation. These are useful divisions for families weighing how active play, feeding and rest fit together.

For children aged two to three, The 2-3's Room brings together storytelling, dance, gardening and cookery, with caring for Milo adding a concrete responsibility to the day. Our 3-5's Unit continues practical and imaginative learning through cooking, role play, creative activities and outings. The age-based organisation means the same broad experiences can be approached at different developmental stages.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, connecting play with the skills children gradually build. Basic literacy and numeracy are part of the educational offer, and staff keep development records that parents can view. This gives families a way to follow learning beyond the finished picture or craft activity brought home.

In November 2023, language developed through everyday play: staff introduced vocabulary while children experimented with mud and water, and babies copied words and movements during songs. Toddlers investigated different uses for a tall tube, turning it into objects for imaginative play before exploring how blocks fitted inside. The value lay in one resource supporting language, physical investigation and early counting, rather than a sequence of disconnected tasks.

Storytelling also invited participation. In November 2023, toddlers responded to familiar parts of a story instead of only listening, while sensory activities included scooping coloured rice and exploring a pumpkin. These examples show how talk and hands-on discovery worked together at that time.

Outdoor and Community Life

Children's ideas had a practical outlet in November 2023 through the pre-school council, a way for older children to share preferences and propose changes. Their suggestions led to changes in the outdoor polytunnel area. It was a tangible example of adults acting on children's views.

The garden supported running, jumping and balancing in November 2023, while babies practised movement in the soft-play area. Older children also collaborated in imaginative water play. Alongside today's room activities such as gardening and outings, those dated observations give a useful picture of the nursery's physical and social experiences.

Development records are open to parents, making children's progress something families can follow. In November 2023, parents received regular feedback from staff, although some wanted more ideas for supporting learning at home. The distinction matters: knowing what a child has done is useful, but practical suggestions can help parents build on it.

Support for additional needs involved a coordinator and collaboration with outside agencies in November 2023, with interventions arranged around individual children. Additional funding was directed towards the children it was intended to support. These are concrete mechanisms for support, rather than a general promise that every need can be met.

Independence was practised through everyday care routines in November 2023. Older children cleared their plates, managed their noses and received sensitive help with toileting. Those small responsibilities make preparation for school part of ordinary life, rather than only an academic exercise.

For babies, the separate sleep room gives rest its own space, while feed preparation takes place in the milk room. Parents comparing baby care can weigh these arrangements alongside the separation of younger and older babies, rather than judging the provision solely by its activity list.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 14 Herbert Road, Westbourne, Bournemouth, BH4 8HD. Nursery opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email to the nursery manager.

Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm and include breakfast; afternoon sessions run from 1pm to 6pm and include a snack. Full-day attendance is also offered. Families can therefore compare a morning built around breakfast and activities with an afternoon pattern or a full day, rather than treating the opening window as the only attendance option.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through two-year-old Government Funding and three- and four-year-old Universal and Extended Government Funding, alongside privately paid childcare. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page explains the charging structure. Fees are not charged during nursery closures.

Breakfast and afternoon fruit snacks are included in fees, while cooked lunch and tea are charged separately; parents can instead provide a packed lunch and a packed snack. Lunch with dessert follows a five-week menu, and tea follows a two-week menu, giving families a choice between nursery food and food brought from home.

• Independent problem-solving. In November 2023, staff sometimes stepped in too quickly, including when children struggled with a train track. On a visit, ask how practitioners now help children test their own solutions before offering an answer.
• Learning beyond nursery. The November 2023 improvement points included more guidance for parents on learning at home. Ask for an example of how feedback becomes a practical activity or conversation for your child.
• Funded attendance and extras. Morning and afternoon sessions include different food items, while lunch and tea carry separate charges. When discussing a funded booking, ask how the entitlement fits your preferred sessions and how non-food consumables are handled.

Annabel's suits families seeking either morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with age-based rooms and practical learning. Separate baby playrooms, a dedicated sleep room and care of Milo give parents concrete features to weigh.

The Good judgement from November 2023 provides a positive inspection position, balanced by specific questions about independent thinking and guidance for learning at home. The strongest choice here is for families who value that combination of baby accommodation, everyday responsibility and different attendance patterns.