Spring Nursery Seesaw Lancaster Way

Outdoor learning gives Seesaw its clearest character: gardens reached directly from the children's rooms, a pond and practical experiences that bring nature into the nursery day. Inside, a sensory room and a children's cooking area add quieter exploration and hands-on food activities. This purpose-built Braintree setting has more to its offer than indoor play.

Spring Nursery Seesaw Lancaster Way, on Lancaster Way, Braintree, CM7 5UL, accepts children from two months to 60 months and has capacity for 61 children. At its 18 July 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children made good progress, including those needing additional support.

Full-day, half-day and flexible attendance sit alongside funded childcare. The practical choice is broad, but the detail of daily routines matters: questioning during play and the organisation of younger children's mealtimes were the two improvement priorities in July 2024.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: play and everyday routines provide opportunities to develop communication, independence and skills for the next stage. At Seesaw, outdoor exploration and cooking add concrete experiences to that framework. Children can investigate living things outside and use the designated children's cooking area in small groups.

Boogie Mites is another named addition to the day. It sits alongside sports sessions supported by a PANCO-trained practitioner. The branch's description gives families a useful reason to explore the balance between music, movement and other play, while the shared cooking area means these practical activities are accessible across the rooms.

In July 2024, activities followed children's interests and what they needed to learn next. Resources were within children's reach, allowing them to choose materials rather than wait for an adult to distribute them. Water play included sending water through drainpipes and using watering cans on plants and vegetables. These are tangible opportunities to explore movement, make choices and take responsibility for growing things.

Outdoor and Community Life

Three children's rooms each have direct access to a separate secure outdoor area. That arrangement brings outside play close to the rooms rather than making it dependent on moving the whole nursery together. The open-plan, purpose-built building also contains the sensory room and cooking space, giving children different settings for active and quieter experiences.

In July 2024, the forest school approach, learning through outdoor exploration, shaped activities in the gardens. Children dipped into the pond, helped care for chickens raised from eggs and toasted marshmallows with close adult supervision. Gardening brought a further connection between play and living things: children talked about vegetables approaching harvest.

A Seesaw outdoor development project subsequently brought together volunteers, parents and local businesses. Its design included seating around a firepit, a covered outdoor classroom with growing space, and an area around the pond. The March 2025 account describes the project becoming reality. For families drawn to outdoor learning, those spaces give Seesaw a recognisable character beyond a conventional nursery garden.

Relationships were a clear part of daily life in July 2024. Children sought reassurance from their key person, while practitioners spoke respectfully and acknowledged their efforts. Younger children were learning to share materials and wait their turn. This matters because care and learning meet in these ordinary exchanges, especially when a child needs help managing frustration.

Babies' routines were individualised in July 2024. Bottle feeds included physical comfort, and familiar comforters helped children settle to sleep; singing, instruments and dancing also featured in their play. The emphasis was on responding to each baby rather than treating feeding and sleeping as a single group timetable.

Communication with families included daily discussions, information and resources for learning at home, and a weekend board in July 2024. The board brought children's experiences outside nursery into conversation and activity planning. It gave staff something personal to build on, rather than leaving home life separate from the nursery day.

The current sensory room provides an additional space for children with extra needs, alongside a SENCO role supporting inclusion. In July 2024, inconsistent questioning limited children's independent problem-solving, and adult interaction was interrupted while younger children's meals and sleep were being prepared. Those findings make the transitions around lunch and rest a useful part of a family visit.

A chef prepares meals on site. The children's cooking area adds a separate opportunity for small-group participation in food preparation, connecting the food they eat with practical activity.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas. Full-day and half-day bookings are offered, together with flexible sessions and an ad-hoc hourly option. These are different ways to use the nursery, so its suitability extends beyond families seeking the longest day.

Breakfast, afterschool and holiday clubs also serve children up to 11 years old. That is a separate offer from the nursery age range, potentially relevant to families organising care for children at different stages. Enquiries can be made through the Seesaw enquiry form or by telephone on 01376555260.

Getting There

The address is Lancaster Way, Braintree, Essex, CM7 5UL, close to the town centre and adjacent to John Bunyan infant and junior school. There is no nursery parking, so collection and drop-off arrangements deserve attention when weighing the daily journey.

Funding and Paid Extras

Seesaw offers two year funding, three year funding and 30 hours funding, alongside paid childcare. Full days, half days and ad-hoc hours have separate prices; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Families comparing attendance patterns should consider the funded arrangement and any additional paid hours together.

• Younger children's transitions. In July 2024, preparing meals and sleep reduced adult interaction at some points. During a visit, ask how lunch, rest and the afternoon now fit together for the youngest children.
• Learning through conversation. July 2024 findings identified occasions when adults intervened quickly in disputes rather than helping children work out a solution. Ask for an example of how practitioners now extend children's thinking during play.
• Funding and everyday supplies. Seesaw combines funded childcare with full-day, half-day and flexible bookings. Request one written breakdown covering funded and paid hours for your chosen attendance pattern before committing.
• The daily journey. The central Braintree location has no nursery parking. Consider how the collection arrangements would work alongside the opening hours and any older child's club attendance.

Seesaw suits families seeking half-day or full-day childcare with outdoor exploration, cooking and a sensory room forming part of the offer. Flexible attendance adds another option. The gardens and outdoor development give it a clear practical appeal, while the July 2024 improvement priorities make adult interaction and younger children's transitions the most useful areas to explore on a visit.