Teepee Day Nursery

Woodland beside the garden and a curriculum shaped around a different child's interests each week give Teepee Day Nursery its character. This Hanworth setting combines outdoor choice with close parent involvement: children can move between rooms and garden, while families help shape their child's turn as the Focus Child. Learning starts with something personal.

At its 7 February 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged Teepee Outstanding and found effective safeguarding, ambitious teaching and strong support for children's communication and emotional development. Later staffing and welfare action also matters to a family's decision.

Teepee has capacity for 53 children aged 1 to 60 months. Its Baby Suite, Toddler Suite and Preschool Suite provide a progression through the setting, with a standard day running from 7.30am to 6pm within longer opening hours.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Suite has an airy playroom with its own garden space, giving the youngest children an outdoor area alongside their indoor base. Toddler Suite contains two playrooms and access to the larger gardens. Preschool Suite completes the suite arrangement.

Every children's room in the single-storey building has garden access, including the babies' rooms. Children can choose indoor or outdoor play, with woodland within the grounds adding space to explore.

Babies follow home routines. Older children share a sequence of play, meals and rest, with substantial time for their chosen activities.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, including learning through play and conversation. Teepee adds In the Moment Planning: practitioners respond to children's interests as they develop, joining their play and extending an idea alongside a balance of child-led and practitioner-led activities.

Focus Child makes that approach concrete. One child takes this role each week, with turns rotating through the term; their interests and developmental needs help determine the week's activities. Other children are invited to participate as the play changes. Parents contribute beforehand and meet staff afterwards to discuss the learning and possible next steps at home.

Older children contribute ideas for their week; babies and younger children choose from options linked to their interests. Individual preferences shape the shared curriculum.

Cookery involves the nursery chef and can include pasta-making or preparing vegetables grown by the children. Music happens daily, with instruments and music selected around their interests. Dance brings a visiting teacher each week, followed by a watch session for parents at the end of each term.

In February 2025, children helped prepare vegetables for food served at the nursery, while staff paired spoken communication with Makaton. That provided another way for children to communicate alongside speech. Children also took part in garden safety checks, identifying hazards and discussing possible solutions with adults: responsibility was something they practised.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School uses the nearby woodland for outdoor learning. Gardening Club brings seasonal activity: each spring, children sow flowers and vegetables, including potatoes that they later dig up. Together, these give outdoor play a purpose beyond exercise, connecting growing things with the food children prepare.

The Sun Safe Nurseries programme adds sun-protection education through activities, songs and books. Families supply suitable hats, and the nursery provides broad-spectrum sunscreen. That is a practical part of an offer built around frequent outdoor access.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person, with a familiar alternative taking over when that practitioner is away. Before starting, families complete questionnaires that the room team reviews; a home visit and settling visits help staff understand the child's routines and interests. Settling is treated as a sequence of introductions.

Those visits can take place at different points in the day and grow longer gradually. Teepee usually finds three settling visits work, but does not prescribe a fixed number. Soon after starting, a child becomes the Focus Child, linking the settling process with the curriculum and giving parents a meeting to discuss how things are going.

Observations are shared through a smartphone app. Parents can also contribute a skill, read a story or share a meal during their child's Focus Week. Talks cover matters such as potty training, tantrums and moving to school, while Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, leavers and Christmas parties provide social occasions across the year.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Rest arrangements follow younger babies' home routines; indoor spaces are adapted for sleep, and outdoor sleeping is an option for babies. Older children who do not sleep may take part in yoga or mindfulness during the rest period.

The kitchen team prepares food from scratch, with a seasonal menu rotating over two weeks. Dietary arrangements cover allergies and religious or personal preferences, with discussion beginning when a family books; allergy-affected families should confirm the arrangements for their child before starting.

Later regulatory findings deserve direct attention: following an August 2025 welfare notice about staff support, key-person consistency, deployment, risk assessment and governance, Ofsted confirmed the actions were met in September 2025; during a July 2026 visit it found insufficient staffing for the required ratios, and subsequently confirmed the safeguarding and welfare actions were met after a named deputy was put in place. The later outcome does not turn the February judgement into a fresh assessment of daily practice.

Safeguarding arrangements include a designated lead, recruitment checks and staff training. Policies are accessible to parents, and an independent Safecall reporting route gives parents and staff another way to raise concerns.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Pembroke, Hanworth, Bracknell, RG12 7RD. Opening hours are 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year; the standard day is 7.30am to 6pm. Bank holidays and inset days are excluded, and the nursery closes between Christmas and New Year.

Earlier starts and later finishes sit within the longer opening window, with flexibility over collection and attendance times. Teepee recommends booking at least two days for continuity, while allowing a one-day pattern with a longer trial period and additional settling visits. The recommendation is not a compulsory minimum.

Enquiries, visit bookings and enrolment use separate online contact forms. Families can also telephone 01344 360601. A virtual Meet the Manager session precedes an invitation to visit, giving the joining process a staged introduction to the setting.

Getting There

The nursery has a car park and sits near South Hill Park, off the A3095, with road links to the A329(M), M3 and M4. Nearby bus services include Lion 4 and routes 412, 194, 172 and 171.

Funding and Paid Extras

Teepee accepts Free Entitlement funding and can help families with the claiming paperwork; it also accepts payment through Tax-Free Childcare.

Private fees include snacks and meals, specialist classes, formula milk and purées, plus nappies and wipes. Creams are included too, reducing the everyday supplies families need to send from home. The fees and funding page explains the inclusive structure; families should obtain a current written quotation for their chosen arrangement.

• Repeated staffing and welfare action. The August 2025 and July 2026 actions were subsequently met, but staffing and oversight recur across the events. At a visit, ask how deployment, deputy cover and key-person continuity are monitored now.
• A one-day start. Teepee allows this pattern but recommends at least two days, with extra settling support attached to a one-day booking. Consider whether that slower introduction fits your child and working week.
• The funded arrangement. Free Entitlement is accepted alongside inclusive private fees. Ask for a written breakdown showing the funded attendance pattern and the treatment of meals, consumables and additional hours.
• Baby routines and outdoor sleep. Home routines influence care, and outdoor sleeping is an option. Discuss the sleep plan and supervision arrangements for your baby during settling.

Teepee suits families who want child-led learning, substantial outdoor access and an active role in planning their child's experiences. Focus Child, woodland learning and practical cookery make the educational offer recognisable, while the standard day and flexible earlier or later attendance serve different working patterns. A one-day booking is possible too.

The February 2025 Outstanding judgement is a strength, but the later staffing and welfare events belong in the decision. Families should give the current arrangements for staff deployment and continuity as much attention as the garden and curriculum. The educational detail earns consideration; the repeated regulatory themes warrant specific discussion.