Cuddles Day Nursery, Canford Heath

Weekly woodland trips and gymnastics at Rossmore Leisure Centre give preschool children attending across the year at Cuddles Day Nursery, Canford Heath an outward-looking experience. This purpose-built nursery in Poole combines room-based care with daily outdoor play, using tunnels, bikes and water trays to make movement part of the day. For younger children, the practical attraction starts with settling: introductory sessions are free, and home sessions are offered for the youngest.

The nursery has 229 places in total, with its current early years age range running from 1 month to 5 years. At its May 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged it Good overall, recognising children's independence and engagement while identifying improvements needed in indoor behaviour expectations and support for home languages.

Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance sit alongside term-time preschool options. Those choices matter here: different rooms follow different hours, so the room and the attendance pattern need to be considered together.

Rooms and Ages

Natterjacks and FireFlies are the baby rooms. A key person provides the close relationship around which care is organised, giving babies a familiar adult as their needs and interests develop.

The toddler rooms have different maximum sizes. Little Hoots takes up to 24 children, Wide Eyes up to 16 and Komodos up to 12; their shared emphasis is exploring, developing independence and building communication. Children enter from around 18 months or 2 years and remain until their third birthday. The difference in room size gives parents a concrete choice to explore, rather than treating toddler care as one uniform offer.

Preschool provision also divides by attendance pattern. Rang-a-tangs and Conchitas operate during term time, with activities directed towards school preparation and enthusiasm for learning. Hetty Hornets is another term-time room, following the same approach as the preschool rooms that operate across the year. Preparation for a room move includes time in the next room before the transfer, helping children adjust to a different space and key person.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together children's learning and development, including communication, physical skills and personal, social and emotional development. Here, the toddler progress check gives those areas a practical role: parents attend a meeting about their child's development at home and in nursery, and the account is shared with the Health Visitor. It connects the child's experiences across both settings.

In May 2023, activities extended children's existing interests rather than simply presenting a fixed task. Pirate play became map-making and a treasure hunt. Older children explored more complicated shapes and worked out how to balance weights, giving mathematical ideas a practical purpose. Babies and toddlers heard adults describe their actions, while older children practised listening and discussing ideas.

Hand strength had its own place in learning during May 2023. Finger-gym activities developed the muscles and coordination used for drawing and writing, with mark-making taking place both inside and outdoors. A book-borrowing scheme extended story time into children's homes. These were useful links between everyday play and the skills children would later use more deliberately.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play happens daily, with scooters and bikes offering movement, sand pits supporting exploration and water trays giving children materials to investigate. The grounds make physical play a regular part of nursery life rather than an occasional change of scene.

For preschool children attending across the year, free weekly woodland trips involve experimenting with natural materials and using outdoor resources. Free gymnastics sessions at Rossmore Leisure Centre add a different setting for physical activity, led by a member of the nursery team with gymnastics coaching expertise. The woodland visits have a stated weekly rhythm; the gym sessions offer another way to extend movement beyond the nursery grounds.

In May 2023, outdoor learning helped active children sustain their involvement in play. Babies joined action songs, and older children tackled physical challenges. Everyday independence was encouraged too: toddlers practised putting on coats, while older children prepared their own food at mealtimes.

Relationships and Communication

At least two settling-in sessions are offered free before a child starts, with home settling also available for younger children. This gives families an introduction to care before the regular attendance pattern begins. Room moves are prepared in stages too, with sessions in the next room before the change takes place.

Each room has its own core staff, supporting continuity for children and parents. Contact is organised at room level: families can telephone a child's key person or another practitioner through the room extension, with unanswered calls passing to administration. That is a useful practical arrangement in a nursery with several rooms, because a parent can seek the adult involved in their child's day.

During May 2023, staff assessed learning with parents and used what children already knew to decide their next steps. The emotional side of care mattered alongside this planning: adults knew children well and supported them through changes between nursery stages. Relationships and learning were treated as connected parts of the same day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2023 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding and strong support for children with SEND, including collaboration with parents and other professionals, but also found that home languages were not consistently supported. The practical question for multilingual families is how their child's language will be used in their own room, alongside learning English.

The toddler progress meeting offers another structured opportunity to discuss development. Home experiences form part of the conversation, rather than nursery observations standing alone, and sharing the account with the Health Visitor helps carry that discussion beyond the room. For parents concerned about a developmental area, this is a specific point at which to explain what they see at home.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Pavilion, Learoyd Road, Canford Heath, Poole, BH17 8PJ. The nursery operates on weekdays, opening at 7.45am and closing at 6pm, with closures for bank holidays and a week between Christmas and New Year. General session choices run from 7.45am to 1pm, 1pm to 6pm, or 7.45am to 6pm.

Term-time preschool needs a closer look at room level. Rang-a-tangs and Conchitas open from 8.45am to 2.45pm and offer morning, afternoon or full-day attendance. Hetty Hornets has morning sessions from 8am to 1pm, afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm and full days from 8am to 6pm. These differences affect both the start of a family's working day and the collection time.

Enquiries can be made on 01202 672671 or by email to canford@cuddlesnursery.co.uk. Transitions towards school are planned for individual children, with preschool activities placing greater emphasis on independence and readiness for the next stage.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible two-year-olds can use up to 15 funded hours a week during term time in the toddler rooms. Preschool rooms operating across the year offer 15 funded hours with a stretched option, while the term-time preschool rooms accept the 15- and 30-hour entitlements. The funding pattern therefore belongs with the room choice, rather than being treated as one arrangement across the nursery.

For families comparing a term-time preschool day with attendance across the year, the important distinction is how those funded hours fit the child's actual sessions. Free woodland trips and gymnastics are part of the stated offer for preschool children attending across the year. Room hours, funded delivery and those activities together give a more useful basis for choosing than the overall opening window alone.

• Baby care and toddler room choice. Natterjacks and FireFlies organise care around a key person, while Little Hoots, Wide Eyes and Komodos have different room maxima. On a visit, discuss which room your child would join and how the key person relationship works within that group.
• Term-time hours. Rang-a-tangs and Conchitas finish at 2.45pm, while Hetty Hornets offers sessions ending at 6pm. Match the particular room's timetable to your collection arrangements, including the nursery's Christmas closure.
• Behaviour and home languages. The May 2023 improvement points concerned consistent expectations when older children ran indoors and support for children's home languages. Ask how staff now approach both in the room your child would attend.
• Funded attendance and the total cost. Funding can follow a term-time or stretched pattern, depending on the room. Request a written quotation for your chosen sessions and funded attendance pattern.

Cuddles suits families choosing between morning or afternoon nursery sessions, full days and term-time preschool, with outdoor activity an important part of their child's routine. The baby key person arrangement, different toddler room sizes and preparation for room changes give useful detail about how a large setting organises care.

For preschool children attending across the year, weekly woodland trips and Rossmore Leisure Centre gymnastics give the offer its clearest character. The Good judgement from May 2023 provides a dated assessment of quality; the behaviour and home-language improvement points remain sensible subjects for a visit. The strongest fit is a family that values movement and growing independence, and can align its working hours with the particular room's timetable.