Jigsaw Curzon House Nursery

Woodland exploration, a plant-based menu and a Sensory House for experimenting with light, sound and texture give Jigsaw Curzon House Nursery a recognisable character. Its gardens include a vegetable patch and a petting area; Forest School adds nature-based learning in the woodland. This is a nursery where outdoor activity and sensory experiences have concrete spaces of their own, rather than being confined to a list of activities.

At its 21 June 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, while identifying inconsistent communication and language teaching as the area needing improvement. That distinction matters: the overall judgement was positive, but the precision of everyday conversations deserved attention.

Based at Curzon House, Wrexham Road, Eccleston, Chester, CH4 9DQ, the nursery has 158 places in total and an age range from birth to five. Its room arrangements begin with babies from three months. Full days, mornings and afternoons are separate attendance options, with funded arrangements also covering stretched and term-time provision.

Rooms and Ages

Room differences are practical here, from babies following familiar routines to older children practising independence. The age bands overlap in places, so they should be read as room descriptions rather than a rigid timetable for moving every child.

Teenies Room, for babies aged three to twelve months, combines home routines and individual attention with mirror exploration, bubbles, music and messy materials such as jelly and shredded paper.

Tweenies Room caters for children aged three to twenty months, with garden access, a ball pool and a wooden climbing frame with a slide supporting increasingly mobile play, alongside stories, early words and sensory exploration.

Toddler Room covers twenty months to two years two months, combining painting, bikes, balls and pet care with songs, stories and Makaton signing to support communication.

Tots Room, for two years two months to two years eight months, occupies the main building’s upper floor and combines social play and growing independence with painting, role play, the builders yard and nature garden.

Tikes Room serves children aged two years eight months to three years two months, emphasising confident self-expression and toileting independence in a space whose folding doors open a whole side towards the garden.

Tops Room, for three years two months to five years, brings together creative work, dressing up, outdoor music, educational technology and early reading, writing and number activities as children prepare for school.

These descriptions make the progression tangible. Babies have materials to investigate and room to move; older children encounter more opportunities to manage personal tasks and express ideas. Garden access in Tweenies and Tikes also connects the room environment with outdoor play.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning and development from birth to five: children build skills through play, interaction and experiences matched to their development. Here, observation of children’s interests and needs informs activity planning. The practical implication is that an interest in painting, construction or music can become a starting point for learning rather than simply a way to fill time.

Books have a physical place in the day. Each room contains spaces for stories and quieter activity, including the baby rooms. Painting and craft introduce colour, shape and texture, while the Sensory House gives children opportunities to investigate through their senses. Its purpose is exploration, with sound and light among the materials children can experiment with.

In June 2023, younger children persisted with handles, buttons, catches and locks, experimenting until they worked out how things operated. During the same month, some practitioners crowded conversations with questions or modelled pronunciation inaccurately. That is a useful distinction between providing engaging resources and using language precisely while children explore them.

Outdoor and Community Life

Three gardens, large outdoor play spaces, a vegetable patch and a small petting area create several different reasons to go outside. Forest School takes preschool children into the woodland behind the holiday-club bus for planned exploration. Gardening and animal care add living things to the learning environment, alongside movement and play equipment.

In June 2023, two-year-olds connected insects in a book with creatures they could search for outdoors, while preschool children watched tadpoles develop into froglets. Older children also practised balance and coordination over uneven ground and through climbing and swinging. These were hands-on encounters with change, movement and the natural world.

A further connection reaches beyond Chester. Through 3rd World Hope Charity, Jigsaw is twinned with the Tiziwane Orphan Care Centre in Malawi; preschool children have developed friendships with children there, and the nursery sends supplies, clothing and Christmas gifts. The educational value lies in a named relationship through which children encounter life elsewhere, rather than an abstract discussion about other countries.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins before regular attendance. The nursery recommends a short introduction with a parent, followed by at least two longer sessions for the child alone. Parents can explain routines and individual needs, and that information is passed to the room team. This gives the first separation a practical preparation stage rather than treating it as a single event.

Each child has a designated key person, called a Key Worker here, who develops the relationship with both child and family. Teenies staff aim to maintain babies’ familiar home routines. In June 2023, small areas within the nursery gave children opportunities for close contact with their key person, and practitioners shared detailed development information with parents, including ways to extend learning at home.

Sleep has a place in the rooms too. Quiet areas are used for afternoon rests, and children may bring a familiar toy or blanket. Bedding is individual to each child. These arrangements allow familiar comforts to be part of care alongside the nursery’s routines.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children’s needs, including SEND, well supported through collaboration with families, other settings and outside agencies. Those are dated judgements, separate from the nursery’s current procedures.

The SEND arrangements include a SENCO role, assessment of a child’s strengths and needs, individual education plans and consultation with parents. Plans are reviewed, and external services can become involved where further support is needed. For children with SEND moving to another setting or school, staff exchange information and discuss needs with the receiving team, helping care continue across the move.

Mindful Monsters adds activity cards supplied monthly through Scope, giving staff ideas for exploring attention to the present moment with children. Staff induction also covers child protection, first aid, food hygiene and Prevent, while supervision and development plans provide a structure for discussing practice and training needs.

The menu is entirely plant-based, follows a fifteen-day rotation and was developed with specialist early-years dietetic input. Families supply babies’ prepared milk feeds or formula, with weaning preferences discussed individually.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.15am to 6.15pm, Monday to Friday. The Full Time option uses that whole window; Mornings run from 8am to 1pm, and Afternoons from 1pm to 6.15pm. Morning and afternoon hours may be extended by agreement with the manager, and additional paid hours can be booked.

There is a separate funded morning pattern from 7.15am to 12.15pm, with the option to purchase another hour and lunch to stay until 1.15pm. The funding arrangements also include term-time places for two-year-olds and three- to four-year-olds, following Cheshire West and Chester term dates, with ten funded hours per day. These are different arrangements from the ordinary paid morning session.

The nursery operates across the year, closing on bank holidays and for approximately a week at Christmas. Fees are spread into twelve monthly payments across fifty-one weeks, and payment is due in advance. Absence remains chargeable; the Christmas closure week is excluded from charges.

Registration involves a form and contract, including health, dietary and collection information. Admissions decisions take account of siblings, waiting-list duration and the nursery’s ability to meet a child’s needs; full-time attendance can receive preference depending on family work commitments, occupancy and room circumstances. An administration charge applies at registration, with no deposit required to secure a place.

One month’s written notice is required to end attendance. Changing the requested starting date or days carries a separate requirement for eight weeks’ written notice, with charges beginning from the original date if that notice is not given.

Getting There

The address is Curzon House, Wrexham Road, Eccleston, Chester, CH4 9DQ, within the grounds of Holiday Inn Chester South on the A483. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email, and a nursery registration form is provided for families to complete.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding includes working-family entitlement from nine months, targeted support for eligible two-year-olds and provision for children aged three and four. The main delivery stretches entitlement over fifty-one weeks: the stated weekly patterns are 11.18 or 22.36 hours, with eligibility conditions applying to the relevant entitlement. Working-family codes must be supplied and reconfirmed every three months where required.

For funded hours, meals and snacks are charged separately, as are consumables including nappies, wipes and nappy cream. Voluntary enrichment for children over three is another separate category, covering activities such as Forest School, outings, music and classroom sessions. Families should distinguish these extras from the funded hours themselves.

Private daily fees include consumables, with nappies and wipes included for under-threes and enrichment included for over-threes; parents supply sun cream and babies’ milk or formula. Private attendance includes snacks, drinks and afternoon tea free of charge, while breakfast carries a separate charge. Current prices belong in the nursery’s written quotation, and the fees and attendance terms explain the payment structure.

• Language teaching. In June 2023, communication support varied between practitioners, including rushed questioning and inaccurate pronunciation. At a visit, ask how staff now develop conversation and model words across the rooms.
• Overlapping room ages. Teenies and Tweenies both begin at three months, while several older room bands overlap. Discuss the proposed room, how moves are decided and how familiar routines will follow your child.
• Funded-session costs. Funded meals and consumables, plus voluntary enrichment for children over three, sit separately from entitlement hours. Compare the written quotation for your chosen pattern, including whether you want the funded morning’s additional hour and lunch.
• Changing plans. Ending attendance requires one month’s written notice, but changing requested starting arrangements requires eight weeks. Families with uncertain work dates should consider both commitments before completing registration.

Jigsaw suits families seeking either full-day attendance or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, with a further choice between stretched funding and term-time arrangements. Its strongest character comes from the combination of woodland, sensory exploration, animal care and a plant-based menu, supported by room descriptions that explain how children’s experiences change with age.

The June 2023 language-teaching concern deserves a direct conversation, and the separate funded extras need careful comparison with private attendance. For families who value outdoor learning and gradual settling, there is substantial practical detail to weigh alongside the dated Good judgement.