Nära Horton Nursery School

A large garden within the grounds of Horton Hospital gives Nära Horton a clear practical identity: outdoor play in a setting positioned for Banbury families and parents working on site. It has 55 places in total and takes children from 3 months to 5 years. The hospital location is useful, but the garden gives the nursery its strongest physical character.

At its May 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, while identifying two teaching priorities: making organised activities more responsive to children wanting to participate, and using stories more effectively to develop older children's early reading. That judgement belongs to that visit. The improvements give parents concrete teaching questions to explore alongside the current outdoor offer.

Attendance options include full days, mornings and afternoons, with early-start additions. This is a nursery with several ways to shape the working week, rather than a single attendance pattern.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play and everyday routines are opportunities to practise communication, movement, social skills and exploration. Here, cookery provides a concrete example, with children handling ingredients and learning about food through practical activity.

In May 2023, children experimented with toy vehicles on a ramp, repeating their trials to explore differences in speed and movement. That is a useful picture of learning through doing: a familiar toy became a way to investigate cause and effect. The interest came from the experiment itself.

Books offered different experiences for different ages at that time. In May 2023, babies heard repeated words accompanied by movements, while toddlers answered questions about pictures and encountered new vocabulary. For older children, the teaching needed to do more with the story to extend early reading. The distinction matters: access to books and purposeful interaction around them are separate parts of the experience.

Adult-led cooking also exposed a tension in May 2023. Children keen to participate were required to wait for another group, and the delay interrupted both their interest and the activity's intended learning. For families, the important issue is how staff respond when a child becomes interested, rather than simply whether an activity is listed on the timetable.

Outdoor and Community Life

The large garden supports daily outdoor play, giving children space for movement and exploration within the hospital grounds. In May 2023, children investigated insects using magnifying glasses, looking closely at small creatures and discussing them with staff. This connected outdoor play with observation and language, rather than treating the garden solely as somewhere to expend energy.

Alongside ordinary play, the group-wide enrichment offer includes Forest School, an approach centred on learning outdoors through exploration, and yoga. Community outings and seasonal events also form part of that offer. Their value lies in taking experiences beyond the usual indoor routine; cookery is the clearest example here of an activity with a described practical purpose.

In May 2023, settling began with staff learning about children's preferences and home routines before attendance started. Babies received comfort from their key person while exploring unfamiliar surroundings. This gave staff specific information to work with, rather than expecting every child to adapt in the same way.

Communication also had a practical emphasis in May 2023. Parents discussed their children's developing eating habits with their key person, and could access ideas through an app to continue learning at home. The useful connection was between nursery experience and family life: conversations about food or an activity could carry on beyond the nursery day.

Rest fitted into the daily routine at that visit. In May 2023, toddlers washed their hands before lunch, ate together and then settled to music for sleep. Those predictable steps helped mark the change from an active part of the day to rest.

Food is prepared by an on-site chef, with ingredients sourced locally where possible; this is part of the group-wide food offer used here. Menus accommodate different dietary requirements, so food is considered alongside children's individual care needs.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Horton Hospital, Oxford Road, Banbury, OX16 9AL. Opening hours are 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, while the main Full Day session runs from 8am to 6pm. Morning attendance is 8am to 1pm; Afternoon is 1pm to 6pm. Early Start additions run from either 7am or 7.30am until 8am.

That distinction between opening hours and booked sessions matters for work planning. A parent needing care before 8am would use an Early Start addition rather than assume it is part of the standard Full Day. Morning and afternoon sessions provide genuinely shorter alternatives.

The nursery operates across 51 weeks, with Christmas-week closure and two staff-training days each year. Its fee arrangements also account for bank holidays. Enquiries can be made through the branch enquiry form or by telephone on 01295 229083.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children aged 9 months and above can access the 15 Hours or 30 Hours funding offer. Funding is stretched across the year: the respective weekly amounts are up to 11.18 and 22.35 hours over 51 weeks, with a maximum of 10 funded hours in a day. This spreads support across the nursery year rather than concentrating it into school terms.

The higher stretched entitlement can be used with the first 20 hours allocated to two full days, and the remaining 2.35 hours applied to another full or half-day session. The lower entitlement can be distributed between full and half days. Families starting funding for the first time in the Summer term have a different arrangement for that initial term.

Private fees include meals, snacks, milk and infant formula, plus nappies, wipes, nappy cream and sun cream. During funded sessions, food, non-food consumables and enrichment activities carry separate charges; extra private hours are also charged. These are separate elements of the bill, even when presented together in a monthly total.

A deposit is credited against the first invoice, and the registration charge is non-refundable; children taking funded-only places are exempt from the registration charge. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees and funding information explains how these elements fit together.

• Teaching beyond the activity list. The May 2023 priorities concerned waiting during organised activities and older children's story experiences. On a visit, ask how children can join an activity when interest strikes and how staff extend a preschool child's response to a book.
• The cost of funded attendance. Funded sessions carry separate food, consumables and enrichment charges, while early starts sit outside the main Full Day. Have the written quotation match the exact mornings, afternoons or full days you intend to book, including any early additions.
• Individual food arrangements. Menus cater for different dietary requirements. Families managing allergies should confirm the current preparation and mealtime arrangements for their child before joining.

Nära Horton suits families seeking either full-day attendance or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, especially those for whom the hospital grounds are a convenient location. The large garden and hands-on cookery give the offer substance. Its May 2023 teaching priorities also provide a useful test for a visit: look for responsive participation and thoughtful conversations around books, as well as an appealing activity list. Funding can support attendance across the year, but the separately charged elements need to be understood alongside the chosen sessions.