Foxcubs Day Nursery

A house with a den-style library, a light-filled sensory room and a garden mud kitchen gives Foxcubs Day Nursery a recognisable character. This large 19th-century house in The Reddings, Cheltenham, accommodates children from birth to five, with capacity for 50 children. Its appeal rests on how those spaces are used: books, conversation, imaginative play and outdoor exploration run through the nursery day.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Foxcubs Good overall, with Outstanding behaviour and attitudes, recognising the substantial help children received in understanding emotions and managing their responses. That gives the nursery's emphasis on relationships a concrete foundation, rather than leaving it as a statement of intent.

Woodlands, Foxcubs and Pre-School divide the provision by age, while Tapestry connects families with care diaries and learning updates. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings serve different routines, although Friday finishes earlier than the other weekdays.

Rooms and Ages

Woodlands serves babies from birth to two, emphasising movement, early communication and emotional development, with artificial grass in its own garden area for crawling children and an adjacent kitchen for preparing bottles and baby food.

Foxcubs, for children aged two to three, combines singing, stories and role play with self-help skills, including potty training, and has daily messy-play areas alongside access to the garden mud kitchen.

Pre-School, for ages three to five, mixes activities led by adults with children's own ideas, encourages independence and provides direct access from its main room to an outdoor area where children grow flowers and vegetables.

The age divisions therefore mean more than different room names. Babies have outdoor space suited to exploring close to the ground; toddlers practise doing things for themselves; older children gain more scope to choose and sustain activities. The garden arrangements also keep the youngest children's space separate from the busier outdoor play of older groups.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) provides the common framework for learning through play, covering language, physical development, relationships and other areas of early learning. Foxcubs builds its own planning around children's interests, with its curiosity approach allowing children to pursue ideas through play while adults judge when to help and when to give them space. The curriculum overview describes the emphasis on communication and planning around individual interests.

Language has several practical routes into the day. Makaton supports children in expressing needs and communicating, with staff trained to use it daily; BSL (British Sign Language) adds another form of communication support, including during stories. Preschool children also learn French, using it in their morning greeting song. These additions sit alongside the EYFS rather than replacing it.

The Foxes Library gives the toddler and preschool departments a cushioned, den-like place to choose books and read together. Next door, the Sensory Room serves every age group: a bubble tube, torches and fairy lights offer different ways to explore light, while natural materials invite comparisons of texture and shape. It is also a quieter space for resting. The contrast with active garden play gives children different ways to spend their time.

Outdoor and Community Life

Both Foxcubs and Pre-School have transition areas that let children move between indoor and outdoor activities. In the mud kitchen, saucepans, a water butt and a microwave become props for pretend cooking; growing flowers and vegetables adds opportunities to care for living things. Supervised activities with real tools introduce practical risk-taking, with small groups rather than a stated numerical cap.

Community contact extends beyond the garden. Children visit the local church monthly to spend time with people from the community, and emergency-service visitors bring their vehicles into learning about different jobs. Past outings have included Westonbirt Arboretum, Cotswold Wildlife Park and Cotswold Farm Park, alongside walks to the local park. These are examples of trips, rather than a fixed timetable of destinations.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person, giving families a regular relationship through which to share interests, routines and developmental changes. For babies, daily information sharing and activities planned around individual needs make that relationship especially practical. Sleep is accommodated within Woodlands, and settling arrangements adapt as a baby's needs change.

Tapestry is the online learning journal, carrying care diaries, photographs and observations as well as messages to the key person. Shared Learning invites parents to contribute achievements from home through photographs, written updates and termly All About Me sheets. This helps staff recognise something a child can already do outside nursery, rather than planning only from what happens in the room.

Parent Play Days let families spend time alongside their children, while parent play evenings demonstrate activities such as making gloop. School-leaver information evenings happen annually, giving parents a chance to meet others discussing their children's next stage. An annual graduation also marks the move on from nursery. These arrangements involve families in both everyday learning and the transition towards school.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding, good progress from children's different starting points and especially strong SEND provision, with staff working with outside agencies to tailor support. Current arrangements include SEND coordinator roles, a communication and language lead, and a lead for personal, social and emotional development. The curriculum also directs staff to work towards targets in My Plans and My Plan+, providing a concrete mechanism for individual support.

In January 2024, staff used information from families about home languages to support children learning English, and adapted activities to children's interests. Emotional understanding was woven into play and daily responsibilities. Teaching was less consistent: some interactions missed chances to deepen learning, including bringing mathematics into activities, and signing was not used consistently.

Food is cooked on site in a fully equipped kitchen, with seasonal menus following a four-week cycle. Dietary requirements are discussed with parents, and families supply a water bottle so children can help themselves to drinks.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8am to 12.50pm, with afternoon sessions from 1pm to 5.50pm, Monday to Thursday; full days on those days run from 8am to 5.50pm. Friday retains the morning session but its full-day booking ends at 2.50pm. The minimum booking is two sessions, and childcare is sold by session rather than by the hour.

Collection needs to allow for conversation with the key person: families are asked to be there at least ten minutes before the session ends. This is worth building into the working day, especially on the shorter Friday. Foxcubs operates across the year, with bank-holiday and Christmas closures; additional Christmas closing arrangements include an early finish on 23 December when it falls on a weekday.

Session enquiries use an online form, telephone or email. Visits are arranged after suitable sessions have been identified, normally at 10am, with some flexibility subject to staffing ratios. That sequence matters for families who want to compare care arrangements before committing to a particular routine.

Getting There

The address is Chapel House, Old Reddings Road, The Reddings, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL51 6SA. The nursery is at the end of Old Reddings Road on the right, giving drivers a specific final landmark for the journey.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children from nine months can receive the 30 hours funding scheme, with funding stretched across 50 weeks. Families must register their eligibility code by the relevant deadline, and the scheme requires eligibility to be reconfirmed with HMRC every three months or when prompted. Hours beyond the funded entitlement are paid privately.

Private-session prices include lunch, snacks and drinks, while breakfast costs extra. Nappies are included in private fees; formula milk falls outside the inclusive price. Funded hours have a different structure: meals, snacks and consumables have separate optional charges, while a fully funded arrangement requires families to supply policy-compliant food and consumables themselves. The fully funded late-start arrangement also requires an agreed start time.

Trips and extras outside the consumables charge are priced when booked. There is a business administration charge when registering, and a refundable deposit for a fully funded place is credited against the final invoice. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the funding and prices page explains the charge categories. Fees are paid monthly in advance, and sickness or holidays do not attract refunds.

• Friday and collection time. Friday's full day ends at 2.50pm, and collection is requested ten minutes before each session finishes. Families needing care through Friday afternoon must weigh that difference carefully.
• Teaching consistency. In January 2024, some staff missed opportunities to extend activities, including mathematical learning, and signing varied. During a visit, ask how staff now develop children's ideas and use communication support consistently across rooms.
• Funded-place choices. Optional food and consumables charges sit alongside a fully funded route requiring families to supply both and agree a later start. Compare the whole arrangement against your child's meals, routines and the hours you need.
• Visit sequence. A minimum of two sessions applies, and a visit follows identification of suitable sessions. Ask how the proposed booking would work for your child's settling before finalising it.

Foxcubs suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day care, and who value books, communication support and outdoor play within an age-organised nursery. The separate baby garden, Foxes Library and Sensory Room give that offer substance; Tapestry and shared-learning arrangements make parental involvement practical.

The January 2024 strengths in emotional development sit alongside a clear need for more consistent teaching interactions. Friday's shorter day and the choices attached to funded hours are equally important to the decision. For families whose routines fit those arrangements, Foxcubs offers several concrete ways for children to explore, communicate and become more independent.