Once Upon A Time Nursery School

A former farmhouse, a decked outdoor area for babies and rooms called Cottontails, Puddleducks and Tiggywinkles give Once Upon A Time Nursery School its own character. This Wroxham Road setting combines a domestic building with spaces designed for young children, including low sinks and sockets positioned high above them. The practical details matter as much as the storybook names.

At its January 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged all six evaluated areas to be at Strong standard and safeguarding standards to be met. Those areas covered achievement, behaviour and routines, welfare, teaching, inclusion and leadership. The useful detail behind those judgements is a day built around communication, increasing independence and care adapted to individual children.

The nursery has capacity for 34 children aged 3 to 60 months. Its address is 170 Wroxham Road, Sprowston, Norwich, NR7 8DE, and its opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays.

Rooms and Ages

Cottontails is the baby room, Puddleducks the toddler room and Tiggywinkles the preschool room. Babies also have a decked area outside, while the main play space sits at the front of the building and the secret garden is at the rear. These separate outdoor spaces give families something concrete to consider alongside the indoor rooms.

The building retains part of the former farmhouse to Sprowston Manor. Its combination of older rooms and later extensions is more individual than a purpose-built unit, while child-height sinks support the everyday task of learning to manage personal care.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. Here, the January 2026 examples show what that can mean in practice: stories and songs for language, handling materials for physical skills, and counting or measuring during play. It is the common framework, with the nursery's teaching choices supplying the detail.

In January 2026, babies explored animals and their sounds, toddlers worked dough with tools, and preschool children used Makaton signs to help communication. The emphasis changed with the children rather than treating learning as the same activity for every age. Conversations about Australian animals gave older children opportunities to use new vocabulary in a specific context.

Problem-solving also took a playful form that January. Preschool children tried different ways of moving feathers, comparing blowing with throwing, while toddlers explored cars travelling down a slope. These are useful examples of children testing an idea and seeing what happens. Mathematical learning appeared in building towers, counting their blocks and measuring their height.

Leaders were developing mathematics in January 2026 and using staff-led projects to examine teaching practice. One project concerned adding more literacy opportunities to the garden. That gives the outdoor space an educational purpose alongside movement and exploration, while keeping the account tied to what was happening at that time.

Outdoor and Community Life

During January 2026, children used outdoor learning to practise physical skills and made visits to local care homes. Community outings extended the day beyond the nursery building. The care-home visits are a more revealing detail than a general promise of trips, although they should be understood as an example from that January rather than a fixed timetable.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is matched with a key person who helps with settling, supports development and acts as the family's main contact. This gives parents a clear relationship to build, rather than leaving responsibility for communication spread across the whole team.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, lets parents follow their child's activities and developmental progress. Its value is practical: families can see what their child has been doing between conversations with the key person. The journal and the personal contact serve different purposes and work alongside each other.

In January 2026, settling arrangements changed to suit individual children, and babies' familiar routines were followed. Staff shared information with parents and colleagues when children moved between rooms. For a child finding change difficult, that continuity of information matters as much as the move itself.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that tailored play plans, work with families and professionals, and adaptations to staffing, routines and activities supported children with SEND to participate and progress, while asking leaders to achieve more for disadvantaged children, children with SEND and children with present or past involvement from social care services. This is both a positive assessment of the support in place and a clear direction for further work.

In January 2026, nurture groups supported social and emotional development, and staff helped children put feelings into words. Preschool disagreements became opportunities to discuss emotions. Staff also asked whether a child wanted help or comfort before responding, giving children's preferences a place in ordinary care.

Independence was practised in small, repeatable tasks that January: managing coats, serving food and feeding themselves. Staff sat with children at meals and talked about food choices. The aim was not simply to get through routines, but to help children take a growing part in them.

A cook prepares fresh hot food daily in the nursery's separate kitchen, with special dietary needs catered for. Families managing an allergy should discuss the child's current requirements and the arrangements for meals before starting.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and a week at Christmas. That calendar is relevant to families planning regular childcare through school holidays.

Online registration forms are currently closed for the day-care settings, including Wroxham Road. Existing applicants on the waiting list are contacted when the nursery can make an offer. This is a joining process to plan around, rather than a reason to infer how many places might be free.

The contact route for Wroxham Road is 01603 787353. Parents can also send a message through the contact form. Current prices should be obtained in the nursery's written quotation.

• Joining route. Online registrations are closed, and existing waiting-list applicants are contacted if an offer can be made. Before planning a start, establish when you can submit a registration form for Wroxham Road.
• Baby routines. Cottontails has a decked outdoor area, and settling arrangements were adapted to individual children in January 2026. On a visit, ask how your baby's sleep and feeding routine would fit into the room's day.
• Additional support. The January 2026 next steps asked leaders to achieve more for disadvantaged children, children with SEND and children with present or past involvement from social care services. Families needing support should discuss how progress towards their child's individual goals would be reviewed with them.
• Food requirements. Fresh meals are cooked on site and special dietary needs are catered for. Allergy-affected families should confirm current meal arrangements, including who handles their child's requirements.

Once Upon A Time Nursery School suits families seeking regular childcare across the year, with a key-person relationship and an online journal to connect home and nursery. Cottontails, Puddleducks and Tiggywinkles make the stages of nursery life clear, while the baby decking, front play area and rear garden give the building more than one outdoor setting.

The January 2026 assessment provides a strong basis for considering it, with concrete examples of communication, independence and individual support. The decision also has a practical constraint: joining begins with the nursery's registration process, which currently has online forms closed.