Farndon Day Nursery & Forest School

A Mini Orchard, Wildflower Meadow and daily Forest School sessions give Farndon Day Nursery & Forest School a clear outdoor identity. Children tend animals and harvest from an allotment as well as exploring natural play spaces. For families who want nature to be part of ordinary nursery life, rather than an occasional outing, those are substantial practical details.

The nursery cares for children from birth to five and has 86 places in total. Its address is Monument Place, Churton Road, Farndon, Chester, CH3 6QP. At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and found effective safeguarding, good progress and effective support for children with special educational needs and disabilities. That is a dated judgement, separate from the current outdoor and curriculum offer.

Independence is another recurring theme. The indoor approach draws on children choosing activities and using accessible resources, while the outdoor spaces give them practical tasks involving plants and animals. The important qualification is that the June 2022 findings also identified weaknesses in opportunities for younger children to feed themselves and in toddlers’ lunchtime waiting.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children’s learning, development and care: their nursery day combines learning with play and everyday care routines. Farndon adds Reggio Emilia-inspired learning, in which children’s interests help shape activities, and Montessori Principles, using organised, accessible surroundings and activity choices to encourage independence. These approaches sit alongside the framework.

Reggio Emilia has concrete expression here. Children use materials with more than one possible purpose, explore questions together and develop shared projects. Drawing, construction and imaginative play provide different ways to express an idea. For a child who enjoys pursuing a question or making something, the approach gives their interests a role in what happens next.

Montessori Principles place emphasis on choosing activities within a structured environment. Resources are accessible, and clear expectations accompany that freedom. This gives families a useful picture of the intended balance: children have choices, while routines and responsibility for their surroundings remain part of the day. The curriculum description explains how these elements fit together.

Stories, drama and role play also feature. Their practical value is straightforward: children can try out ideas, take different roles and practise expressing themselves. In June 2022, hospital play involved bandages and adults joining children’s imagined scenarios; preschool children also worked together to arrange wooden blocks into obstacle courses. These are examples from that period, rather than a current activity timetable.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily Forest School sessions bring learning into natural surroundings through exploration and practical activity. The Mini Orchard and Wildflower Meadow sit alongside an allotment and animal care, giving children practical activities in natural surroundings. Animal care and harvesting make the natural world something children can take part in.

Outdoor time has a substantial place in the routine: children spend at least three hours outside each day. That makes an appetite for outdoor play an important part of the fit between child and setting. The offer involves sustained time in natural spaces, rather than just a brief break between indoor activities.

In June 2022, children explored small creatures in soil, grew vegetables from seed and learnt vocabulary for plants and gardening tools. Community experiences then included local craft activities and singing carols to residents. Together, those examples show how practical experiences connected language, physical activity and life beyond the nursery during that period.

Relationships and Communication

Regular updates, open communication and family events are part of the current parent partnership offer. For families, that creates opportunities to understand nursery life and share information about their child beyond the immediate care routine.

In June 2022, key people spoke with parents daily, while an online app carried observations and assessments. Practitioners also watched children’s development and used what they learnt to plan next steps; children beginning to walk, for example, had access to walkers. Those dated details describe communication and planning in practice, rather than simply a promise of individual attention.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that staff identified possible additional needs promptly and worked with the SEND coordinator, local authority and health visitors to obtain support. That finding gives specific substance to the support judgement: it concerned recognising needs and seeking help from others.

Meals and snacks are freshly prepared in the nursery’s on-site kitchens by a chef, with dietary restrictions taken into account.

Independence needs attention in care routines too. In June 2022, children practised putting on outdoor clothing, but younger children did not consistently get opportunities to feed themselves. Toddlers also waited too long for lunch, becoming restless. These findings matter because practical self-care develops through repeated opportunities, and the organisation of meals affects children’s experience of the day.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates throughout the year and closes on bank holidays. This makes the opening calendar relevant to families organising care across working weeks and school holidays.

The address is Monument Place, Churton Road, Farndon, Chester, CH3 6QP. Contact is by telephone on 01829 272277, and show-arounds can be booked.

Funding and Paid Extras

In June 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. That describes participation at the time of the inspection. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

• Outdoor routine. Daily Forest School and at least three hours outside give nature a large role in the day. Consider how that routine matches your child’s enjoyment of outdoor activity.
• Mealtime independence. June 2022 findings highlighted younger children’s opportunities to feed themselves and toddlers’ waits for lunch. On a visit, ask how meals now give children time to eat, practise self-care and stay engaged.
• Your attendance and funding plan. Which booking patterns and funded-hour arrangements would apply to your child, including the treatment of meals and non-food consumables? Use the written quotation to assess the complete arrangement.

Farndon suits families seeking substantial daily outdoor activity alongside indoor learning shaped by children’s interests. Its Mini Orchard, Wildflower Meadow and practical gardening offer give that preference somewhere concrete to develop. Reggio Emilia-inspired activities and Montessori Principles add a clear emphasis on choices, expression and independence.

The June 2022 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, with specific mealtime weaknesses to weigh alongside it. For parents choosing on the character of the nursery day, the strongest attraction is the combination of sustained outdoor time and opportunities to explore, make and take responsibility.