Jigsaw Ash Tree Farm Day Nursery

A pirate ship, a vegetable patch and a plant-based menu give Jigsaw Ash Tree Farm Day Nursery a recognisable character. Outdoor exploration and food are substantial parts of its offer, alongside age-specific rooms that take children from early sensory play towards reading, number work and greater independence. This is a nursery with plenty for children to do with their hands.

Based at Ashgrove Farm on Wrexham Road in Chester, it accepts children from birth to five years. At its 28 March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, with Outstanding behaviour and attitudes, and found safeguarding effective. That dated judgement sits alongside two practical improvement points: helping children understand the cultural identities of their nursery friends, and making staff interactions during activities more useful and manageable.

Full days, mornings and afternoons are offered, with a separate morning arrangement for funded hours. The breadth of attendance patterns matters as much as the gardens: families can consider a shorter session as well as a whole working day.

Rooms and Ages

Teenies Room serves babies aged three to 12 months, combining individual home routines with mirror exploration, songs and messy materials, so early play can sit alongside familiar care habits.

Tweenies Room caters for three to 18 months, with roof windows, an enclosed outdoor space under shelter, a ball pool and a small wooden climbing frame to support exploration as babies become more mobile.

In Toddler Room, for 18 months to two years, low windows connect the indoor space with the outdoors, while a role-play kitchen, painting and signing through songs give children different ways to communicate and imitate familiar routines.

Tots Room covers two to three years, pairing direct garden access with a mud kitchen, nature gardening and opportunities to practise kicking, throwing and catching on the sports court.

Tots 1 Room, for two to two-and-a-half years, combines role play and painting with a weekly emphasis on a colour and shape, while staff work with parents as children start potty training.

Tots 2 Room, for two-and-a-half to three years, emphasises social play, creative materials and early use of a computer, with outdoor climbing providing a physical counterbalance.

Tikes Room serves children aged two years eight months to three years two months, encouraging confident toileting and self-expression in a bright space whose panoramic folding doors open into the garden.

For three- to five-year-olds, Tops Room combines imaginative play and music with a separate classroom for small-group reading, experiments, mark-making and numbers, giving school preparation a practical place within the day.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the learning and development framework: here, children work on communication, movement, relationships and early understanding through play. Activities are planned around observations of individual children, their interests and their developmental needs. That gives staff a reason for choosing an activity beyond simply keeping everyone occupied.

Jolly Phonics introduces Tops children to letter names and initial sounds. In Toddler Room, Makaton signing is practised through rhymes and songs to support communication. These additions have concrete purposes: one introduces early sound awareness, while the other supports communication through signs, songs and visual aids.

In March 2022, children discussed vegetables and tested their ideas about how to classify them, while a story discussion introduced different words for facial expressions. Practical independence received attention too, including ways to put on a coat. However, some group activities became harder to follow because adults supplied excessive information or asked questions that did not help the task. The useful question is how an activity invites children to think, rather than how much an adult tells them.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School adds planned outdoor exploration for preschool children in a garden-side area containing dens, a tunnel, a digging shed and a pirate ship. Elsewhere, the grounds include grass, a vegetable patch, a mud kitchen and a sports court. This gives outdoor time several purposes, from growing and imaginative play to physical activity.

The Sensory Room offers exploration through light, sound, touch, smell and taste. It provides a different kind of activity from energetic garden play, allowing children to investigate materials and sensations indoors. Quiet and story corners within the rooms also make books and calmer play part of the everyday environment.

Outings are generally local and use minibuses fitted with appropriate child seats and harnesses. Parents receive the trip details and a permission request beforehand, including any contribution required. In March 2022, children's experiences beyond the nursery included forests, beaches, shops and the nursery allotment, bringing conversation and social contact into settings beyond their usual rooms.

Relationships and Communication

The nursery recommends a short introductory session with a parent, followed by at least two longer sessions for the child alone. Those first conversations cover the child's needs and routine, and the information is shared with the team in their room. The sequence gives adults time to understand familiar habits before regular attendance begins.

Each child has a designated Key Worker who builds a relationship with the child and their family. Teenies staff try to retain babies' routines from home, rather than expecting every baby to follow an identical timetable. In March 2022, babies received practical help from their key person while standing at a water tray, allowing them to join the splashing and singing.

During March 2022, parents received electronic updates and termly accounts of learning and development. Families could use those reports to connect nursery experiences with what they noticed at home. These are dated communication arrangements; the current settling process still makes the exchange of information about the individual child central.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support for additional needs begins with staff observations and conversations with parents, with professional advice sought where necessary. Visiting professionals, including health visitors carrying out developmental checks, can work within the setting. These are specific routes for discussing a concern and bringing in help, rather than a general promise about outcomes.

Rooms have quiet spaces for afternoon sleep, and children may bring a familiar toy or blanket. Prescribed medicine can be administered following written instructions, with forms recording administration and a parent signature afterwards. Following vomiting or diarrhoea, children must remain away for 48 hours after the final episode, a rule families need to build into their childcare plans.

Mindful Monsters supplies activity cards through Scope, giving staff ideas for sharing mindfulness activities with children. Its emphasis is on paying attention to present thoughts and feelings. This adds a named resource for quieter emotional work alongside the nursery's physical and sensory activities.

Food is entirely plant-based, with an 18-day menu rotation developed with input from an early-years dietitian or nutritionist. Meals introduce flavours from different countries, accompanied by music associated with those cultures, so eating also becomes an opportunity for conversation and discovery.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Ashgrove Farm, Wrexham Road, Chester, CH4 7QR. Opening hours are 7.15am to 6.15pm, Monday to Friday; the nursery closes for public and bank holidays and approximately one week over Christmas. Contact is by telephone or email, and registration uses a downloadable form.

Full Time runs from 7.15am to 6.15pm, Mornings from 8am to 1pm, and Afternoons from 1pm to 6.15pm. Morning or afternoon hours may be extended by agreement with the manager. Families commit to their child's arrival and departure times so staffing can be planned at the beginning and end of the day.

Fees are paid monthly in advance, with the annual charge spread into equal payments. Absence remains chargeable, while the Christmas closure week carries no charge. A registration charge applies, and there is no deposit to secure a place; one month's written notice is required when a place is no longer needed. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charge structure on its fees page.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible working families from nine months, targeted two-year-olds, and children aged three and four. Working-family funding begins the term after the child reaches nine months or the relevant birthday, subject to eligibility; universal funding begins the term after the third birthday. Funding is normally stretched across 51 weeks. A limited number of term-time places are offered for two-year-olds and three- to four-year-olds, following Cheshire West and Chester term dates, with ten funded hours per day. Working-family eligibility codes must be presented to the nursery and reconfirmed every three months.

Funded mornings run from 7.15am to 12.15pm. Parents may purchase an extra hour with lunch, extending attendance to 1.15pm; additional private full days and half days can also be bought. This funded morning differs from the standard paid morning, so the end time matters when planning collection.

For funded hours, meals and snacks attract a daily charge, and non-food consumables are charged separately. Additional enrichment for children over three is voluntary and charged separately, covering Forest School, outings, music and classroom sessions. The distinction between funded time and these additions is important when comparing the complete cost of attendance.

Outside funded hours, mid-morning and afternoon snacks, drinks and light tea are free, while breakfast is separately charged. The private daily fee includes nappies, wipes and consumables for under-threes, and consumables and enrichment for over-threes; parents supply babies' prepared feeds or formula, as well as sun cream.

• Room progression. Teenies and Tweenies have overlapping baby age bands, and several rooms serve children around two and three. During a visit, ask which room your child would join and how moves between rooms are decided.
• Cultural identity and adult interaction. In March 2022, opportunities to explore the heritage of children attending were weaker than the international lunchtime experiences, and some adult-led activities overloaded children. Ask how children's own family backgrounds now shape activities and how staff keep group discussions manageable.
• Funded mornings and extras. The funded morning ends at 12.15pm, earlier than the standard paid morning. Lunch with an extra hour, food, consumables and voluntary enrichment have separate charge arrangements, so compare the written quotation with the attendance pattern you need.

Jigsaw Ash Tree Farm Day Nursery suits families considering full days, mornings or afternoons who value substantial outdoor play and a plant-based food offer. The garden-side Forest School, sensory exploration and small-group classroom work give its day clear substance. For babies, the settling sequence and attention to home routines are useful practical strengths. The March 2022 assessment was positive overall, but its points about cultural identity and adult interaction remain worthwhile topics for a visit. Choose on the fit between your child's room, the daily experiences and the complete attendance cost.