Strawberrys Day Care

A separate sleep room for babies, an open-plan nursery divided by age, and a garden used for everyday learning give Strawberrys Day Care a clear practical character. This purpose-built setting on Harmer Close in Bodmin has 26 places for children aged 3 to 60 months. Its appeal lies in personal routines and play that can continue outdoors.

At its November 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and behaviour and routines to be at the expected standard, with safeguarding standards met, but children's welfare and wellbeing and leadership and governance needing attention. Those distinctions matter. Educational experiences and the safety of day-to-day supervision need to be considered separately here.

Full-day care, morning sessions and afternoon sessions give families different attendance options. For parents weighing them, the central decision is how the nursery's personal care arrangements sit alongside the supervision weaknesses identified in November 2025.

Rooms and Ages

Babies have their own area, with a separate sleep room available when needed and an individually labelled basket for belongings, giving rest and personal possessions a place of their own. That physical separation is useful for a child whose sleep pattern differs from the activity around them.

Within the open-plan layout, the 2 Year Olds area combines exploration of toys and equipment with sensory play, signing, music and shared stories. Group activities add opportunities to listen to other children, while sand, water and pretend play give toddlers different ways to investigate and express ideas.

Pre-school provision is for children aged 3 and 4, with activities planned around each child's interests and stage of development. The emphasis is on adapting learning to the child rather than expecting children of the same age to move at an identical pace.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through play, covering language, physical skills, relationships and, as children grow, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. It is the common framework for early years provision; Strawberrys' practical choices give it shape in children's daily activities.

In November 2025, preschool children mixed cookie ingredients, bringing hand movements and mathematical ideas into the same task. Wooden puzzles provided opportunities to sort and match, while staff gave children thinking time during conversations and introduced vocabulary through discussions about food. These are concrete ways to connect language and early mathematics with something children can handle or talk about.

During that November 2025 visit, Healthy Movers sessions included balance practice, with younger children taking part in a separate group. Toddlers also joined music and dance activities. The point was participation at an appropriate level, rather than expecting the youngest children to follow the older group's activity unchanged.

Outdoor and Community Life

Fenced outdoor play areas extend the nursery's purpose-built accommodation. The garden and surrounding space form part of everyday learning, with adaptable play materials supporting different uses. Wet-weather clothes and footwear are provided, making outdoor activity less dependent on families bringing a separate set of waterproof equipment.

Cornwall Council's Healthy Under 5’s programme brings together eating, dental care, movement and emotional wellbeing. The Goodness Gang adds a tangible teaching resource: toy vegetables used as puppets to introduce health topics. For young children, that turns an abstract conversation about healthy choices into something they can recognise and engage with.

Relationships and Communication

Baby settling includes time for parents to become familiar with the baby area and the people caring for their child. The key person discusses the baby's usual routine and parents' preferences; contact during the day is offered if wanted, followed by a conversation and an end-of-day report. This gives families a practical way to pass on the details that make individual care work.

For two-year-olds, staff work with parents when toilet training begins, and an end-of-day report accompanies the session handover. Communication therefore covers both daily experiences and a significant change in a toddler's independence.

In November 2025, children helped with snack-table tasks and practised sharing and turn-taking. Staff also prepared individual learning packs for use at home, linking family activities to each child's current learning goals. These examples show how everyday routines and communication could support learning beyond a single planned activity.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that targeted support helped children with SEND progress, but staff sometimes lost sight or hearing of children eating while doing other tasks, creating choking and dietary risks, and did not consistently recognise risks during activities. The supervision finding is substantial. Being nearby did not ensure that children were adequately observed.

In November 2025, leaders' monitoring of mealtime deployment and activity supervision also required improvement; actions to strengthen both were due by 26 November 2025. The compulsory and voluntary Childcare Register requirements were not met at that inspection. These are dated findings and should carry weight in a family's decision about care.

School transition has a practical mechanism: a child's future teacher can visit Strawberrys, and staff can share the child's Learning Journey. That helps the new teacher understand the child's experiences and development before the move to school.

Sessions and Attendance

Strawberrys offers full-day care alongside morning and afternoon sessions. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and the nursery operates throughout the year, closing for Bank Holidays and one week at Christmas. Families choosing shorter sessions therefore have a different attendance option from those booking a full day.

Enquiries and enrolment contact use the contact form, telephone 01208 78093 or email info@strawberrys-daycare.co.uk. The form includes the child's age, intended start date and the provision being considered, giving families a direct starting point for discussing their requirements.

Getting There

The address is Harmer Close, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL31 2EU. Secure access doors control entry to the indoor play space; children are signed in and out, and parents supply details of authorised collectors. These are concrete collection arrangements, rather than a general assurance about safety.

Funding and Paid Extras

Childcare support routes include the universal fifteen-hour entitlement for families with children aged 3 and 4, support for eligible two-year-olds, and thirty hours for eligible working parents with children under five. These are conditional entitlements, not a promise that every family qualifies for the same support.

Parents supply a packed lunch when children attend between noon and 12.30pm; Strawberrys prepares snacks on site and supplies them in the morning and afternoon with milk or water. Breakfast is offered for children booked for an early start, and drinking water remains accessible during the day.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The choice between a full day and a shorter session should be considered alongside that quotation and any funded-hours arrangement.

• Mealtime and activity supervision. The November 2025 findings concerned children eating outside staff's sight or hearing and risks missed during activities. At a visit, seek a clear explanation of the changes made to deployment and monitoring since those findings.
• Short sessions and year-round attendance. Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside full-day care, while Bank Holidays and a Christmas closure interrupt the annual pattern. Match the proposed booking and closure calendar to the cover your family needs.
• Funding and the total booking cost. Packed lunches come from home, and attendance can take different forms. What would your written quotation include for your chosen sessions, funded hours, snacks and non-food consumables?

Strawberrys suits families comparing full-day care with morning or afternoon attendance, especially those who value a separate baby sleep space, discussion of individual routines and everyday outdoor play. Healthy Under 5’s and the Goodness Gang give health learning a recognisable form, while teacher visits and Learning Journey sharing provide practical preparation for school.

The November 2025 supervision findings are the decisive caution. The setting has useful care arrangements and concrete learning experiences, but a family's choice should rest on a convincing explanation of how mealtime observation and supervision during activities have changed.