Odds Farm Park Day Nursery & Pre-School

Daily animal encounters give Odds Farm Park Day Nursery & Pre-School its character. Supervised visits to Odds Farm Park sit alongside private gardens and a purpose-built nursery, making outdoor experience part of ordinary childcare rather than an occasional outing. For families who want animals, weather and growing things to feature in their child's day, the setting has a clear identity.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 16 July 2024 and judged its safeguarding arrangements effective. It has capacity for 94 children aged two months to five years. Babies, toddlers and preschool children have different room provision, with the oldest children joining Mini Farmers, where animal care and vegetable planting give learning a practical setting.

Full days and half days are offered, alongside term-time funded attendance for eligible older children. The practical detail matters here: funded days carry an enrichment charge, and bookings require at least two sessions each week.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Room learning uses touch, colour, sounds and movement, with its own garden allowing indoor and outdoor play to connect and feeding, sleep and care organised around home routines. That combination matters for a child whose day still turns on familiar rhythms: exploration sits alongside continuity of care, rather than replacing it.

For children aged two to three, the Toddler Room combines imaginative play, stories and music with opportunities to develop language, early number understanding and friendships, while farm visits extend those experiences outdoors. Practitioners also work with families on potty training. The emphasis is on the everyday steps towards independence, rather than treating school preparation as the only goal.

Mini Farmers serves children aged three to five, using tasks such as tending animals and planting vegetables to practise cooperation, problem-solving and independence. These are tangible experiences for children to discuss and investigate. A graduation celebration marks their eventual move to school.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the learning framework: children develop communication, social abilities and early mathematical understanding through play. Planning in the Moment adds the nursery's chosen method, with practitioners watching what interests a child and responding to it rather than relying on a predetermined activity sequence. The distinction is useful for parents: the framework sets the educational foundation; the approach shapes how staff turn a child's interest into an opportunity to learn.

That method makes the adult's response important. Watching and listening are followed by an intervention that extends what the child is already doing. Parents who prefer learning to begin with a child's curiosity have a concrete approach to weigh, explained further on the play and education page.

In July 2024, children explored actual vegetables and fruit during pretend play and handled everyday utensils. Staff used those experiences to introduce language about smells and tastes. Counting piglets brought numbers into an animal encounter, while making layered mud cakes gave older children something physical to compare and describe. These examples show how practical play can connect language, number and investigation.

Outdoor and Community Life

Supervised farm visits happen daily. Private nursery gardens also allow children to move between indoor play and outdoor activity, so the farm is one part of a broader outdoor day. Babies have gentler, age-appropriate animal visits; toddlers encounter nature and adventure play areas.

In July 2024, farm visits included pigs, donkeys and sheep, and lambing gave children a chance to learn about birth and animal care. Older children mixed water with compost, then added leaves and twigs. The value lies in repeated contact with real materials and living things: children have something to touch, observe, count and talk about, rather than learning only through pictures.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person, giving families a consistent relationship through settling and subsequent room changes. Famly, the parent communication app, carries photographs, observations and updates. Parent evenings and progress reviews are also included in the fee, providing another opportunity to discuss development beyond the daily exchange.

Settling usually begins with a one-hour visit accompanied by a parent or carer, followed by independent sessions lasting two, three and four hours. The sequence can be extended or shortened to fit the child, and a home visit may be arranged. It is a gradual introduction rather than a single handover, with flexibility around how quickly a child becomes comfortable.

In July 2024, staff gathered information about children's preferences and abilities before they started, and key people coordinated moves between rooms and preparation for school. However, guidance about extending learning at home did not reach every parent. The current communication arrangements are useful, but photographs and progress updates serve a different purpose from practical advice about what to try at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted found SEND support strong, with the manager and SENCO identifying developmental gaps early and staff using targeted support towards individual goals. That is a specific account of support at that date, rather than a blanket promise about every child's experience.

For babies, staff work with parents to keep sleep and feeding arrangements consistent with home. Toddlers receive similar cooperation around developing routines. This gives families a practical point of continuity as children move from highly individual baby care towards greater independence.

Chefs prepare food on site in Marmalade's Kitchen, with a menu cycle lasting three weeks. The nursery's allergy arrangements include adaptable menus, recorded dietary requirements and colour coding in both the kitchen and rooms, making communication between families and staff part of mealtime planning.

The sickness policy requires children to remain away for 48 hours after their last episode of vomiting or diarrhoea, and for 24 hours after starting antibiotics. Prescribed medicines can be administered when supplied in their original packaging with the prescription label and the required consent. These rules affect family backup arrangements as much as the nursery day.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at Odds Farm Rare Breeds Centre, Wooburn Common, Wooburn Green, High Wycombe, HP10 0LX. Standard opening hours run from 8am until 6.30pm on weekdays; Early Club provides a separately charged earlier start at 7.30am.

The stretched-funding booking patterns include a full day from 8am to 6pm, a morning from 8am to 1pm and an afternoon from 1pm to 6pm. Full and half days can be combined. Opening until 6.30pm should therefore be distinguished from the stated funded full-day session ending at 6pm.

Children must attend at least two sessions per week, and booked sessions cannot be swapped. These are meaningful constraints for families with changing work schedules: a choice of patterns does not amount to unrestricted flexibility after booking.

Attendance runs across the year, with bank-holiday closures. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve finish at 4pm when they fall on weekdays, and booked sessions remain chargeable during bank holidays and family holidays. Enquiries and registration forms use admin@oddsfarmdaynursery.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children aged nine months, two, three and four can use government funding, including the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements. Funding is stretched across 51 weeks, with the final December week fully chargeable. Term-time funding is also offered for eligible children aged three and over.

On stretched funding, the 15-hour entitlement becomes 11 hours each week, while the 30-hour entitlement becomes 22. The nursery allows combinations of full and half days within those arrangements. Extra private hours are charged at the standard rate, so funding and additional childcare need to be considered separately.

Private childcare fees include meals, snacks, formula, cow's milk, nappy cream, wipes and nappies, as well as an Odds Farm Park Membership. Funded days carry a separate enrichment fee covering food, activities, educational resources and associated experiences. Early Club is also charged separately; it should not be treated as part of the funded session simply because the building opens earlier.

A deposit includes a non-refundable administration element, with the balance credited against the first invoice. One calendar month's written notice is required to leave, and session changes require one month's written notice. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page explains the attendance and funding structure.

• Term-time hours need clarification. The funding options include a 9am to 3pm session, but the nursery's FAQ also says that this specific session is not offered. Before committing, establish which term-time pattern will appear in your agreement.
• Routines and home learning. In July 2024, some children waited unnecessarily around meals and group activities, and not every parent received guidance for learning at home. A weekday showround can help families ask how transitions now work and what practical learning advice accompanies Famly updates.
• Funded attendance still involves charges. Enrichment applies on funded days, and the final week of December is fully chargeable. Assess the written quotation against the exact combination of funded sessions, private hours and any Early Club attendance your family needs.
• Allergy arrangements involve coordination. Dietary needs are recorded and shared, with kitchen and room colour coding. Families managing an allergy should confirm how current practice will handle their child's requirements.

Odds Farm suits families who want daily supervised animal contact and outdoor play woven into either full-day attendance or morning and afternoon sessions. Term-time funded attendance adds another option for eligible older children, although the precise shorter-day arrangement needs resolving before booking.

Its appeal is concrete: private gardens, child-led learning and practical farm experiences. The July 2024 Good judgement supports that picture, while the concerns about waiting during routines and advice for learning at home keep the assessment balanced. Families who value this style of childhood should weigh it alongside the minimum attendance requirement, fixed bookings and the charge structure on funded days.