Partou Silchester Manor Day Nursery & Pre-School

A slide in the baby room, a kitchen for children's cooking and separate garden areas give Silchester Manor a character that starts with physical space. This Taplow nursery combines opportunities for movement with quieter sensory play, while preschool outings include Thames Valley Adventure Playground. There is plenty here for children who enjoy exploring with their whole bodies.

At its 10 December 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged achievement, behaviour and routines, welfare and wellbeing, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance to meet the Expected standard, with safeguarding standards met. The priorities for further work concerned the breadth of outdoor learning and how consistently teaching stretched children's understanding.

The nursery has capacity for 98 children aged 3 to 60 months. Full days, morning and afternoon sessions, and a school day session give families different ways to organise attendance. Its Bath Road address places it between Maidenhead and Bray, with a car park and nearby Taplow Train station.

Rooms and Ages

The baby room combines sensory resources and an indoor slide with an emphasis on movement, early communication and social development.

Toddlers have a bigger slide and opportunities for sensory exploration, while dressing up and the home corners give them material for imaginative play. Recreating familiar experiences offers a route into conversation and playing together. In the pre-school room, play and activities are directed towards greater independence and preparation for school.

Small groups use the changing sensory room, children build soft play arrangements together, and cooking in the kitchen gives them practice in coordinated movements.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the required framework for children's learning, development and care, practised through play, conversation, movement and everyday routines. Partou's group-wide child-led approach adds activity choices guided by children's interests.

In December 2025, babies explored dough with substantial tools and joined musical activities involving bells and maracas. Shared books gave staff opportunities to connect pictures with individual words. Older children compared quantities, shapes and sizes during an activity built around a box, and used earlier mathematical learning when solving problems. These were examples of learning through concrete materials rather than abstract instruction.

The December 2025 development priorities also matter. Adults did not consistently take learning further during planned activities, and some children missed parts of the intended learning. Peer observation between staff was still developing, while professional development needed a closer match to individual teaching needs. For parents, the useful distinction is between having engaging resources and making full educational use of them.

Outdoor and Community Life

Babies have their own garden area, with a mud kitchen, water play, an outdoor reading area and a small climbing frame. Separating this space from the older children's garden gives babies room for movement and exploration alongside equipment intended for their stage.

The toddler and preschool garden includes places for digging and gardening, a wooden play hut and another mud kitchen. Families help children look after plants. An additional playground provides bikes and scooters, with obstacle courses and PE classes adding organised physical activity. A woodlands activity centre extends the choice of outdoor settings further.

Preschool children visit Thames Valley Adventure Playground, while nearby ponds and rivers provide opportunities to feed ducks.

In December 2025, outdoor learning needed greater breadth and consistency. The extensive gardens therefore deserve consideration alongside how staff use them for learning.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with understanding the individual child. In December 2025, staff gathered information about home routines, health and care needs before children started. In the baby room, a permanent key person could be chosen after a baby had established a bond with an adult, rather than settling being organised around a fixed allocation from the outset.

In December 2025, room transitions allowed extra time for children who needed it, and shorter waits between outdoor play and lunch helped younger children and those needing support with emotional regulation.

Regular progress updates are part of the care fee. A monthly newsletter covers recent experiences and future plans, while summer fayres and festive parties bring families into the nursery. These events offer time for conversations with staff and opportunities for parents to get to know one another.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that targeted resources, clear learning goals and collaboration with families and external professionals supported progress for children with SEND, while supervision covered meals, naps and changes between activities. This gives parents concrete mechanisms to discuss, rather than a general promise of support.

The current staff team speaks several languages, helping communication with families and children learning English as an additional language. Cultural celebrations also reflect the backgrounds represented within the nursery. The small-group sensory room offers another setting for activities intended to help children manage their emotions.

Meals are cooked on site using seasonal menus, with menus changing on a three-to-four-week cycle. Dietary needs are accommodated through alternative meals and procedures for managing food allergies, making the child's individual requirements part of the food arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The full-day booking runs from 8am to 6pm; morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm and afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm. A school day session runs from 8.30am to 3.30pm, and an early drop off session covers 7.30am to 8am.

Early drop off extends the standard full day; shorter sessions offer other ways to fit family routines. Term-time and year-round attendance are both offered.

Bank Holidays and the period between Christmas and New Year are closure times. Charges run across 52 weeks, including Bank Holidays, so the charging calendar and the attendance calendar differ. This deserves attention when comparing the total cost of different booking patterns.

Getting There

The address is Bath Road, Taplow, Maidenhead, SL6 0AP, between Maidenhead and Bray. A large car park and proximity to Taplow Train station offer practical options for families combining nursery with their onward journey.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible families through Buckinghamshire Local Authority, with 15 or 30 funded hours across 38 term weeks, applied across a maximum of 10 hours a day. For year-round attendance, funding is stretched across 51 weeks, giving 11.17 or 22.35 funded hours each week; term-time attendance retains the 15 or 30 weekly hours across the term weeks.

The charge structure separates care from meals and snacks and from consumables. Meals and snacks are charged separately, as are consumables such as nappies, wipes and sun cream; both categories also attract charges during funded sessions. Funding applies to the care component, so it does not make the full attendance package free.

Registration involves either a non-refundable registration charge or a registration deposit to reserve the place, with eligibility governed by the terms and conditions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees and funding information sets out the structure, and enquiries can be made directly to the nursery.

• Outdoor learning. In December 2025, the outdoor curriculum needed more breadth and consistency. On a visit, ask how the gardens, playground and woodlands activity centre now support learning beyond exercise and exploration.
• Teaching and support. December 2025 priorities included extending learning more consistently and tailoring staff development more precisely. Ask for an example of how an activity is adapted for your child's stage, including any additional support needs.
• The whole attendance bill. Meals, snacks and consumables are charged during funded sessions, and charges include Bank Holidays despite closure. Compare a written quotation for your chosen session pattern, including any early drop off and the registration terms.
• Food allergies. The nursery provides alternative meals and has allergy procedures. Families managing an allergy should confirm the current preparation arrangements and how their child's requirements are communicated to staff.

Silchester Manor suits families seeking a choice between full-day care, morning or afternoon sessions, and a shorter school day, with term-time and year-round attendance options. Its gardens, children's cooking space and sensory room give the day several different settings, and multilingual staff add a useful dimension to family communication.

The December 2025 assessment supports an Expected standard across the evaluated areas, alongside clear work to do on teaching consistency and outdoor learning. For a family drawn to the physical space, the strongest next step is to connect those facilities with the learning and care their own child would receive.