Ash Tree Day Nursery

An indoor swimming pool and a Forest School area give Ash Tree Day Nursery a recognisable character: water-based activity sits alongside den building, bug hunting and outdoor exploration. At Dee Point Centre in Blacon, Chester, the nursery combines these facilities with rooms for babies, toddlers and preschool children. The practical attraction is the variety of spaces children can use, rather than a single approach dominating their day.

At its 9 May 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. There were also specific improvements to make: staff deployment sometimes left babies insufficiently engaged, and some older children waited too long for meals. Those details deserve attention alongside the headline grade.

The nursery accepts children from three months to five years. Full-day and half-day bookings sit alongside shorter funded sessions, giving families several attendance patterns to consider.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room, designed for ages 0-2, uses wooden equipment, natural materials and toys with different textures, with singing, movement and space for crawling or practising early steps supporting physical development. For a baby, this makes exploration something that can happen through touch and movement as well as through interaction with an adult.

In the 2-3 Room, children aged two to three explore colours, counting, weather and days of the week through imaginative activity, with an art area, a quiet sleeping area and direct access to their own outdoor play space. That combination allows active play and rest to sit within the same room's routine, rather than treating every toddler as ready for the same pace.

Pre School serves children aged three to five in a spacious room arranged to resemble a classroom, with a multilingual morning greeting and outdoor time at least twice daily. Children are encouraged to wear a uniform as part of preparation for Reception. This is a more structured stage, so its atmosphere and clothing expectations are useful considerations for families moving on from toddler care.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes the day through play, activities and observation of children's developing skills. A toddler's key person adjusts the learning environment through observation; daily preschool observations guide activity planning.

Forest School adds practical outdoor exploration: shelter building, insect hunting, storytelling and imaginative play, plus comparing, measuring and counting with natural objects. Its dedicated area allows children to return to these experiences repeatedly.

The indoor pool hosts professional swimming lessons. Free lessons are specifically offered to children aged between nine months and four years receiving 30-hour working family funding, so the funded swimming offer depends on age and entitlement.

Outdoor and Community Life

Large gardens and outdoor equipment supplement the age-specific rooms. Preschool children use a woodland area; toddlers' direct access to their private outdoor zone connects indoor and outdoor play.

In May 2025, children practised balancing on tyres, climbing trees and using ladders outdoors. Two-year-olds also had an indoor movement area with large balls and steps for bouncing and jumping. These concrete activities explain the physical emphasis: children had opportunities to practise balance, coordination and increasingly controlled movement in different spaces.

Relationships and Communication

Each baby has a key person who learns their preferences and individual needs and provides parents with updates. Settling involves working with the family on the move from home to nursery. The useful mechanism is a familiar adult building knowledge of that particular child, rather than expecting every baby to adapt in the same way.

Room changes are gradual. As a baby approaches their second birthday, staff and parents consider readiness, then introduce visits and longer stays in the toddler environment. Parents meet the new key person after the move. The next transition follows a similar principle: toddlers make supported preschool visits with their key person, following a discussion with parents about readiness.

Famly holds toddlers' learning records, and preschool families receive daily spoken updates. Before school, learning records are shared with the child's designated primary school. Reception teachers are invited to meet the children, and school visits are arranged where possible. This work helps connect the adults supporting the child across the change of setting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities made good progress, supported by developmental assessments, prompt targeted help and collaboration with parents and external professionals. The current preschool team includes a SENCO role. That provides a defined point of responsibility for additional needs.

In May 2025, staff used praise to reinforce positive behaviour and helped children who were finding their emotions difficult to manage. However, nappy changes and the settling of distressed babies sometimes occupied adults while other babies lacked purposeful interaction. The improvement was about organising adult attention across the room, a meaningful issue for families choosing care for the youngest children.

An on-site cook prepares fresh hot and cold food, and toddlers practise using cutlery and eating manners. In May 2025, some older children experienced lengthy waits for food, making mealtimes noisy and difficult for some; improving the organisation of daily routines was therefore another specific priority.

Sessions and Attendance

Ash Tree is at Dee Point Centre, Blacon Point Road, Blacon, Chester, CH1 5NF. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. It operates throughout the year, closing for one week between Christmas and New Year. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 01244 383200.

The standard full day runs from 8am to 6pm. Half days run from 8am to 1pm or from 1pm to 6pm, while shorter funded sessions run from 9am to noon or from 1pm to 4pm. A 7.30am start must be booked ahead and carries an additional charge. The difference between opening time and the standard day's start is useful when planning a regular morning commitment.

Funding and Paid Extras

Working Family Funding, Two Year Early Learning Funding and the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds are offered. Eligible working families can use up to 30 hours weekly; the two-year early learning and universal offers provide 15 hours. Funding can be taken over 38 term-time weeks or spread across the year, with a reduced weekly allowance when stretched. Extra attendance beyond the funded entitlement is charged privately.

Meals, snacks and consumables carry separate charges on funded sessions. Children attending through the two-year early learning offer or the universal three-year 15-hour entitlement are charged for snacks and consumables only. Consumable charges cover items including wipes, sun cream and barrier cream; the charge is waived when no more than two funded hours are used in a day.

Nursery meals are charged separately as an opt-in package covering all meals. Current prices should form part of the nursery's written quotation, with the session pattern and funded hours clearly identified. The fees and funding terms explain how these categories fit together.

• Baby-room attention. In May 2025, care tasks sometimes drew staff away from engaging other babies. During a tour, ask how nappy changes and settling are covered while the rest of the room continues playing, and what group size your baby would usually experience.
• Stretched funding calendar. The funding guide describes spreading hours over 52 weeks, while the chargeable-extras terms use 51 weeks and different weekly allowances. Ask which calendar and allowance will apply to your written booking.
• Food choice. Opting into nursery meals means paying for the meal package rather than combining selected nursery meals with food from home. This deserves consideration alongside the separate snack and consumable charges on funded attendance.
• Preschool expectations. Pre School encourages uniform and uses a classroom-style layout. Consider whether that structure suits your child and discuss the clothing expectation before their move into the room.

Ash Tree suits families considering either full days or half days, as well as those looking for shorter funded sessions, who value an indoor pool and repeated outdoor learning. Forest School has concrete activities behind its name, and room transitions include supported visits and parent discussions.

The May 2025 Good judgement sits alongside specific concerns about baby-room deployment and mealtime organisation. For parents, the decision rests on both sides of that picture: substantial facilities and thoughtful transition arrangements, with everyday routines deserving close attention.