Charlie Bears Childcare

Everyday care became a learning opportunity at Charlie Bears Childcare: picture cards beside the changing table encouraged conversation, while neighbourhood walks brought the surrounding community into children's day. At its August 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective.

Based in Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, the nursery has twelve places in total for children aged 0 to 36 months. The strongest inspection detail concerns relationships and language, alongside two practical improvements: protecting group activities from interruptions and letting children do more for themselves.

In August 2025, learning followed children's existing skills and interests. Babies practised reaching and turning during tummy time, building the physical foundations for crawling. Older children used climbing equipment, see-saws and push-along bicycles. Conversation accompanied movement: balancing became an opportunity to introduce vocabulary and connect play with children's experiences.

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, the August 2025 examples included physical play, conversation, songs and stories. Children repeated story phrases and used movement to act out familiar scenes, giving language a practical, playful purpose.

Daily community walks had been introduced following parent feedback. Children explored their neighbourhood, saw animals and visited shops, extending learning beyond the nursery. Group learning needed greater protection, however: routine care tasks sometimes broke children's concentration during activities.

In August 2025, children had close relationships with their key person, and staff gathered information from families about care and learning needs. Familiar adults and shared information helped connect home routines with nursery life. Staff also used greetings in children's home languages and planned activities around their cultural identities.

Daily updates and digital sharing of photographs, assessments and activities kept parents involved. Support included potty training and social development. A quiet sleeping area gave children somewhere to rest; staff stayed beside sleeping children and made physical checks.

Independence was less consistent. Children sometimes practised putting on shoes or preparing banana for a shared snack, but adults also handled taps, soap and feeding when children could manage those tasks themselves. That reduced opportunities to practise everyday skills.

The address is 38 Church street, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, GL53 8AR. Opening hours are 07:30 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, with an all-year opening schedule.

In August 2025, the nursery provided funded early education. At that time, closures included bank holidays, a week at the beginning of August and two weeks over Christmas. Families weighing year-round care should distinguish that dated closure pattern from the overall opening schedule.

• Uninterrupted learning. In August 2025, toileting and handwashing sometimes interrupted group activities. Ask how routines now protect children's time for stories and songs.
• Doing things independently. Adults sometimes completed manageable tasks for children in August 2025. A visit should explore how children practise feeding themselves and managing washing routines.
• Matching the working day. The opening window runs from 07:30 to 18:00. Which booking pattern would fit your child's routine within those hours?

Charlie Bears Childcare suits families seeking care for babies and young children who value the language-rich physical play and everyday routines observed in August 2025. Its August 2025 strengths were close adult relationships, communication with parents and neighbourhood exploration. The clearest points to examine are how group learning is protected and how consistently children are encouraged to manage tasks themselves.