Tiny Treasures Day Nursery

Bug hunts, tennis introductions and Teddy Bear picnics give Tiny Treasures Day Nursery a day shaped by movement and discovery. At this Pilgrims Hatch nursery, the garden sits alongside an outdoor area with coloured safety surfacing, while activities develop from babies’ sensory exploration to preschool science and cooking. There is plenty here for children who enjoy getting involved.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 22 October 2024. Familiar carers and learning built around children’s interests were strengths, although staff needed to stretch children’s thinking more consistently and organise changes between activities better. Those qualifications matter alongside the grade: relationships worked well, but some parts of the day needed sharper organisation.

Tiny Treasures accepts children from 3 months to 5 years and has 64 places in total. Full-day, morning and afternoon attendance patterns are offered, with a minimum of two sessions on separate days each week.

Rooms and Ages

Pearls, for babies aged 3 to 18 months, combines water and sensory play with painting, soft play, puppet songs and garden activities, adapting these experiences to each baby’s development.

Teenie Weenies is also a baby-room name, covering 3 months to 1 year and caring for six babies, with sensory activities and routines shaped around the individual child.

Diamonds caters for children aged 18 months to 2.5 years and cares for twelve children, bringing together planting, science and bug hunts with activities involving colours, shapes, letters and numbers.

Gems covers ages 2.5 to 5 years across two preschool rooms, where den building, cooking, role play and science sit alongside early number and letter activities.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through communication, movement, relationships, early literacy and mathematics, alongside exploration and creative expression. It is the shared framework for early years provision; here, planning takes account of each child’s interests, needs and stage of development.

Fundamental Movement Skills adds an introduction to tennis, football and other physical games in Diamonds. It gives the room’s movement activities a named structure beyond its planting and discovery work. Sports lessons are also offered in Gems. The curriculum description explains how the areas of development connect, including how talking, physical activity and relationships support later learning.

In October 2024, staff helped younger children connect words with objects, colours and shapes, while older children encountered vocabulary about plants and how they grow. Babies explored conditioner with sponges, and a playdough activity prompted older children to consider facial features. These were practical starting points for conversation. However, adults did not consistently use those exchanges to take children’s understanding further, making the level of challenge an important consideration for families.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor space has both a garden and a surfaced play area, with a climbing frame, trikes and sit-in cars. Those different resources allow climbing, pedalling and imaginative play to sit alongside one another. Seasonal activities add another reason to explore: spring brings bug hunts, while winter offers opportunities to notice frosty spider webs and make snowmen.

Teddy Bear picnics take place during the milder months, when children also have snacks on the lawn. Summer celebrations include face painting, apple bobbing, a bouncy castle and games. These are experiences tied to the season rather than a fixed weekly timetable. Organised outings extend the nursery’s activities beyond its own grounds.

Relationships and Communication

A key person supports settling, follows each child’s development and keeps parents informed. Introductory settling visits help establish that relationship, alongside an open-door policy for parents.

For babies, staff work with parents on existing routines and help when a routine needs establishing or changing. Mealtimes and sleep can be adjusted around individual needs and parents’ wishes. This is a useful emphasis for families whose baby’s pattern is still changing: care is organised around discussion with parents as well as the nursery’s day.

In October 2024, children were cared for by familiar staff and played cooperatively with friends. Gentle reminders helped them follow nursery rules, and staff used encouragement during activities. These observations give substance to the relationship-based model, showing how it worked in everyday interactions at that time.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described staff working with other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their progress. Key persons knew families and used children’s existing abilities and interests when planning next steps. That dated finding is a useful indicator of how individual support was working at the visit.

Potty-training support is available in Diamonds and Gems, connecting nursery care with a developmental step families may also be working on at home. For babies starting solids, freshly cooked meals are included in fees and blended to suit them, with staff discussing foods already introduced at home; parents provide jar food if they choose that alternative. This makes communication about feeding part of the care arrangement.

Changes between activities were a weaker point in October 2024. Tidying before lunch took too long for some older children, who lost interest, while babies returning indoors from the garden were uncertain about what came next. These are small moments with a real effect on children’s experience, so smoother transitions deserve attention alongside the activities themselves.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at 437 Ongar Road, Pilgrims Hatch, Brentwood, CM15 9JG. Opening hours run from 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, across 52 weeks of the year, with bank holidays closed. Families can enquire by telephone, email or the contact form.

Full-day sessions run from 7.30am to 6.30pm. Morning and afternoon sessions are also offered, and children must attend at least two sessions each week on different days. That separate-days condition matters when planning attendance: two sessions concentrated into one day would not match the booking rule. Bank holidays are charged at the normal rate despite the closure, so they belong in a family’s budget planning.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded childcare is offered for children aged 9 months, 2 years and 3–5 years. Paid childcare is also offered, and current prices should come in the nursery’s written quotation. The fees and opening-hours page sets out the attendance rule and what the fees cover.

Meals are included in the fees: full days cover lunch, afternoon tea, snacks and drinks, with breakfast for children arriving by 8.05am; morning sessions include breakfast, a snack and lunch, while afternoons include a snack and tea. Food is freshly cooked, and parents provide formula milk, preferred jar food and pull-ups, while the nursery supplies nappies, wipes and cows’ milk.

Formula can arrive in prepared bottles or be made up by staff during the day, according to parents’ preference.

Getting There

Brentwood and Shenfield are the named nearby rail options. From Brentwood station, bus routes 37 and 21 provide connections, while route 73 stops on Ongar Road.

• Challenge during play. In October 2024, adult interactions did not consistently extend children’s understanding. On a visit, ask how staff recognise that a child is ready for a more demanding question or activity.
• Changes between activities. The October 2024 concerns involved the tidy-up before lunch and babies returning from the garden. Ask to discuss how those particular transitions are organised now, especially if your child finds changes difficult.
• Your baby’s room and routine. Pearls and Teenie Weenies have overlapping baby age bands, and Teenie Weenies cares for six babies. During a visit, discuss which room your baby would use and how their feeding and sleep pattern would fit its day.
• Attendance and funding costs. The minimum is two weekly sessions on separate days, and closed bank holidays are charged. Request a written quotation for your proposed pattern that separates funded hours, paid hours and any associated charges.

Tiny Treasures suits families seeking either full-day attendance or morning and afternoon sessions, with outdoor movement and hands-on discovery forming a substantial part of the offer. Fundamental Movement Skills, seasonal garden activities and the progression towards science and cooking give its day recognisable content. For babies, individual routines and a key person are central practical attractions.

The October 2024 Good judgement comes with reservations about challenge during conversations and organisation between activities. Those deserve attention alongside the individual routines and settling approach.