The Elves and Fairies Woodland Nursery

Campfire cooking, notebooks for woodland discoveries and an indoor refuge for extreme weather give The Elves and Fairies Woodland Nursery a clear identity. Nature supplies much of the material for learning, from branches used in construction to vegetables prepared for lunch. This is an outdoor childhood with practical jobs woven into play.

Based at Edmondsham Village Hall in Edmondsham, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 5RF, the nursery takes children aged two to five and has 16 places in total. At its April 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall, with Outstanding behaviour and attitudes. That dated judgement sits alongside a current offer built around woodland exploration, creative work and participation in everyday tasks.

Morning, afternoon and all-day Kindergarten sessions give families different ways to use the term-time provision. The strongest reason to choose it, however, is the character of the day: children help prepare food, experiment with natural materials and spend substantial time in woods and fields.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning and development: here, language, early mathematics, physical skills and creative expression are developed through play and practical activities. Forest School adds regular woodland learning, with child-directed exploration alongside adult-led tasks such as building shelters, making crafts and learning about campfires. It gives the outdoor setting an educational purpose beyond fresh air.

Literacy travels with the children. Paper and drawing materials on clipboards can be carried around, while chalkboards give another surface for early marks. In the woods, sticks become letter shapes and identification sheets help children investigate plants. Books serve both storytelling and discovery, connecting an interest in something outdoors with the idea that print can provide answers.

Mathematics is similarly concrete. Setting out cups and plates introduces counting; cooking brings weight into the conversation; biscuit making creates opportunities to explore shape. Shells and beads are used for sorting, while tally books and collected sticks extend number work. These are recognisable jobs and objects, so early mathematical ideas have something children can handle and discuss.

Conversation has several settings. Puppet play, rhymes and stories sit alongside exchanges over meals and during free play. Ring-time brings children together to talk about experiences, sing and listen to others. For a child learning to contribute to a group, this supplies a recurring opportunity to speak as well as hear other children's ideas.

Creative materials are deliberately simple. Branches and blankets can become shelters, while pine cones and shells take on imagined roles in play. Painting and modelling leave room for children to decide what to make. The approach asks them to supply the story rather than rely on a toy with a fixed identity.

Outdoor and Community Life

The daily routine includes observing wildlife and plants, followed by a discussion and walk to assess risks. Later, children can use balance bikes, build dens or explore the mud pit kitchen. A wood chip pile and rope swings add different kinds of movement and play. The outdoor space is part of the working day, rather than a brief interval between indoor activities.

Practical skills extend beyond climbing. Sawing, gardening and supervised tool use sit alongside sewing, weaving and kneading bread. Larger movements and careful hand work both have a place. Natural art includes colouring canvas with earth and plants, giving children a reason to examine what their surroundings can produce.

Seasonal Food – Wild Garlic & Stinging Nettle Soup connects gathering ingredients with cooking over a campfire. Children use thick gloves when picking nettles and explore the taste of wild garlic. Campfire cooking happens regularly during Kindergarten, with a practitioner remaining beside the fire and children taught its boundaries. The activity combines food preparation with learning how to behave around a specific risk.

Festivals from different cultures bring seasonal crafts, songs, stories and foods into the day. Parents may also contribute examples of their work to relevant activities. These experiences broaden a curriculum whose most immediate reference point is the surrounding countryside.

Relationships and Communication

Parents and carers can remain during settling in, allowing a child to become familiar with the nursery while keeping a trusted adult close. The separate Toddler Group offers another introduction through shared woodland activities, songs and picnics. Parents and carers remain responsible for their children throughout that group, so it is a family activity rather than childcare.

In April 2022, staff used encouragement to build close relationships with children and spoke to them calmly. They also worked with other settings that children attended. This gives a useful picture of relationships at that time, especially for families combining nursery with another setting.

Independence has practical expression in the current curriculum. Children help put materials away, pass food bowls around and manage coats and shoes. Bread making, sewing and preparing vegetables give them tasks with a visible result. Care includes helping children do things for themselves, as well as supporting participation in the group.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children making good progress, including those learning English as an additional language; staff used strategies such as signing and language about position to support understanding. Those findings describe practice at that inspection, rather than a fresh assessment of today's provision.

Rest is part of the all-day routine. Children who need sleep have a rest period, while stories, puzzles and sewing provide quieter alternatives. An indoor space is used in extreme weather, with natural materials and wooden toys supporting activities there. Outdoor provision therefore includes a different plan for conditions that make staying outside unsuitable.

Children help with chopping and grating ingredients, and lunch is cooked with their participation, including fetching items and preparing the table. Food preparation is itself a learning activity, giving everyday care a practical role in the curriculum.

Sessions and Attendance

Kindergarten offers morning sessions from 8.45am to 1.45pm, afternoons from 12.15pm to 4.15pm, and all-day attendance from 8.45am to 4.15pm. Opening days are Monday to Thursday during term time, with school holidays as the normal closure period. The different session lengths matter for families planning work or combining nursery attendance with time at home.

Adventure in the Woods is a separate holiday offer involving den building, nature exploration, crafts and campfire food. Its full-day sessions run from 8.30am to 4.15pm, with single or multiple bookings. It caters for children aged three to eleven and also welcomes two-year-olds who attend Kindergarten during term time; it should be understood separately from the nursery's usual two-to-five age range.

General enquiries use the contact form. The nursery's base is Edmondsham Village Hall, Edmondsham, Wimborne, BH21 5RF.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered. The funding terms describe 15 or 30 hours of free education each week over 38 weeks, or equivalent hours spread across the year, for eligible children. The nursery's normal term-time calendar remains an important part of planning attendance.

Private Kindergarten fees include meals, snacks and the Forest School supplement. For funded places, meals, drinks, snacks and Forest School sit outside the education funding, but contributions towards these costs are voluntary: families can choose to contribute nothing, and the activities remain part of the day. A registration payment is deducted from the first invoice; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charge structure set out on its funding and fees page.

Parents provide summer sunscreen. They also supply a water bottle, spare clothes and waterproof jacket and trousers throughout the year. Layered winter clothing and suitable footwear are part of the kit advice, making preparation at home a substantial part of using an outdoor nursery comfortably.

• Outdoor preparation. Waterproofs are needed throughout the year, and the kit advice anticipates wet and muddy clothing. At a visit, discuss how your child would manage the outdoor routine and the move indoors during extreme weather.
• Time to work things out. In April 2022, some staff stepped in before children had enough time to solve problems themselves. The improvement request was to allow more independent thinking; ask how practitioners now decide when to help and when to wait.
• Funded attendance and holiday care. Kindergarten runs during term time, while Adventure in the Woods is a separate holiday service. Discuss how the funded-hours arrangement fits your intended sessions, keeping the voluntary contribution position clear in the written agreement.

The Elves and Fairies Woodland Nursery suits families seeking morning, afternoon or all-day term-time care with woodland activity shaping the child's experience. Portable drawing materials, practical cooking and natural craft give the approach substance. Children have things to investigate and jobs to do.

The April 2022 judgement provides a positive, dated assessment, while the request for more independent problem-solving remains a useful discussion point. For parents comfortable with the clothing preparation and outdoor emphasis, this is a nursery with a clearly defined way of spending the day.