Chestnut Nursery Schools, Taverham

Multiple garden spaces and natural learning resources give Chestnut Nursery Schools, Taverham a clear practical identity: indoor play has an outdoor counterpart. At its February 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged support for children with special educational needs and disabilities positively. That is a dated assessment, rather than a description of today's daily practice.

The nursery has capacity for 47 children, accepting ages from six months to five years, at Unit 11, Beech Avenue in Taverham. Its current outdoor spaces sit alongside an inspection-era account of bread making, songs and sensory play. These are useful details for families interested in how children learn through doing, rather than simply completing an activity.

Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings provide different ways to fit childcare around family routines.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, play supports language, relationships and growing independence alongside practical exploration.

In February 2022, preschool children explored The Little Red Hen through making bread, following an earlier activity shaping pretend loaves from play dough. The sequence connected a familiar story with something children could handle and make. Staff also introduced vocabulary about the mixture as children added water, linking words to an immediate experience.

Babies' activities in February 2022 included the Good Morning song, with remembered words and movements, and tiger-themed sensory play. Children spotted stripes in pictures, made animal sounds and pressed paint inside transparent bags. The materials allowed them to explore colour and movement with their fingers.

Questions also connected one day's learning with the next in February 2022. Young children recalled things they had seen overhead before outdoor play; older children retold parts of a book. This gives parents a more concrete picture of the curriculum than an activity list alone: remembering and explaining mattered as well as taking part.

Outdoor and Community Life

Multiple garden spaces and natural learning resources are part of the current offer. For families who value outdoor play, the useful feature is the choice of spaces alongside the indoor provision.

In February 2022, outdoor tricycle play developed into pretend emergency calls, with staff using a toy telephone to extend the children's scenario. An outdoor sensory shepherd's hut also contained resources selected for individual needs. These examples belong to that period; they show how physical resources were used, rather than establishing a current timetable or programme.

Relationships and Communication

In February 2022, children sought comfort from their key person and other staff, while older children asked for help and younger children drew adults into their play. Familiar relationships gave children someone to turn to during the day.

Settling arrangements in February 2022 could adapt to the individual child. Staff gathered information about interests and existing abilities from families before using it in learning plans. The important connection was between home knowledge and the nursery day, rather than expecting every child to start in the same way.

Emotion cushions helped children recognise feelings in February 2022. Staff encouraged discussion of happiness, sadness and excitement, and modelled polite behaviour. This made feelings something children could name and discuss during play.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The current deputy-manager role includes SENCO training, and designated safeguarding lead roles are identified within the management team. These are specific arrangements parents can discuss in relation to their child; they do not replace the dated safeguarding judgement.

In February 2022, additional funding supported individual needs, with the sensory shepherd's hut providing another space and set of resources. The practical emphasis was on matching support to children, rather than treating inclusion as a separate activity.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Full-day bookings run from 7.30am to 6pm; mornings finish at 1pm after a 7.30am start, while afternoons run from 1pm to 6pm. A morning booking therefore ends after lunch, whereas the afternoon pattern includes tea.

The nursery operates for 51 weeks, excluding bank holidays and inset days. Sessions cannot be exchanged for different sessions. Private booking terms require one month's written notice to end a place or change sessions; funded childcare contracts specify four weeks' written notice to end the arrangement. These terms matter for families whose working pattern changes regularly.

Visits can be booked through the nursery's contact form. The address is Unit 11, Beech Avenue, Taverham, Norwich, NR8 6HW. Bus routes 29, 28, 23 and 2 serve the location, and Norwich Station is the named nearest station.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare covers the 9–23-month-old entitlement, disadvantaged two-year-old funding, working-parent funding for two-year-olds, universal funding for three- and four-year-olds and extended funding for eligible three- and four-year-olds. Additional private hours can be purchased alongside an entitlement. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charge structure set out on its fees page.

Private session prices include the meals attached to that booking: breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks for a full day, with the relevant meals for mornings or afternoons. During funded sessions, lunch and tea are separately charged if families opt in, with suitable packed meals required otherwise; children using disadvantaged funding are not required to pay for meals.

Funded-only attendance carries neither a deposit nor a registration charge. A partly refundable initial deposit applies when private hours are added beyond the entitlement, with repayment subject to contract compliance and outstanding fees being settled. Trips and additional services are optional, with charges agreed beforehand. Payments are collected monthly in advance by direct debit, and Parent Zone carries invoices showing funding and additional charges separately.

• Extending learning. The February 2022 inspection identified a need for staff to make activities more consistently challenging and purposeful. This is the main qualification to the Good judgement, and a useful topic when discussing how activities develop as children gain confidence.
• Fixed bookings. Sessions cannot be swapped, and written notice applies to changes. Families with shifting work schedules need to weigh that rule against the choice of morning, afternoon and full-day patterns.
• Funded-session limits. Funded terms cap a session at 10 hours, alongside a full-day booking window from 7.30am to 6pm. Agree how funded and private hours fit together before committing to that pattern.
• Individual settling and support. Flexible settling and the sensory shepherd's hut featured in February 2022. At a visit, how are settling-in and sensory support organised for your child now?

Chestnut Taverham suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with outdoor space an important part of their choice. Its February 2022 Good judgement sits alongside concrete examples of story-based learning and individual support, qualified by the need to extend challenge more consistently. The practical decision is whether its fixed-session rules and funded-hours arrangements fit the family's week.