Enchanted Nursery

Six babies in Pixies, a canopy garden for younger children and swimming at Energique Fitness Club give Enchanted Nursery a character that extends beyond its four age rooms. This Alton setting combines a small baby-room cap with a broader preschool offer, including play in a separate Garden Room. The practical appeal is clear: children can move through different spaces as their interests and independence develop.

Enchanted cares for children from 3 months to 5 years and has capacity for 72 children in total. At its 13 April 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. That dated judgement sits alongside a current offer built around home routines, play and community connections.

There are full-day, morning and afternoon sessions, with early and late extensions. For parents, the strongest reasons to look closely are the baby-room arrangements, the combination of indoor and outdoor spaces, and activities that connect children with people beyond the nursery.

Rooms and Ages

Pixies, for babies aged 3 months to 1 year, has a cap of 6, space for crawling and floor play, and cots within the room, with sensory exploration supported by supervised messy play and baskets of objects. That cap deserves attention when comparing baby provision: it describes the room's maximum, rather than the number of children attending the whole nursery. Feeding and sleep follow routines established at home, giving parents a concrete starting point for discussing their baby's day.

The Rainbows serves children aged 12 to 24 months, combining craft and messy play with a carpeted playroom and movement between indoors and a covered garden area. The emphasis changes as children become more mobile. They can choose resources for themselves and gradually become familiar with other nursery spaces.

For children aged 2 to 3 years, The Wizards has a cap of eighteen and an attached sensory room, with an emphasis on independence, friendships and toilet training that follows the family's approach when the child is ready. Its first-floor position makes the layout relevant when considering how a child will use the different spaces.

The Unicorns, for ages 3 to 5 years, combines literacy, mathematics and imaginative play with a messy room, carpeted play space and access to the Garden Room, where school preparation includes individual and smaller-group activities. On busier days, preschool children are divided between upstairs spaces and the Garden Room. Moves between nursery rooms depend on each child's development rather than age.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, with a key person observing each child's development and planning what comes next. This is the shared early-years foundation. Enchanted adds concrete choices around movement, languages and music, rather than relying on the framework's name to explain the day.

French takes place on Monday mornings, while ballet runs on Tuesday afternoons for children signed up to the class. Tatty Bumpkin Yoga, on Tuesday mornings for children aged 2 to 4, combines movement with sensory stories and music. These are term-time extras with separate charges and termly sign-up, so their practical value depends on both the child's attendance days and the family's choices.

Swimming takes children aged three and above to Energique Fitness Club at Anstey Park. The sessions last 30 minutes on Fridays, over 12 weeks each term, with nursery staff accompanying children and helping them change. Thursday music sessions explore rhythm and musical styles, sometimes using instruments. These options give families specific activities to weigh, rather than an undifferentiated promise of enrichment.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor provision includes the main Over 2's garden, a smaller Nature garden and a canopy garden for children under two. Enchanted aims for outdoor access at least twice daily; younger children also have sand and water play. The different garden spaces provide room for physical exploration alongside indoor activities.

Bushy Leaze Children's centre brings Storytimes into the nursery each term, and visits to Brendon Care Elderly home take place twice a month. Outings also explore Alton and Holybourne, connecting nursery themes and children's interests with their local area. The Annual Family Day out and Sports Day form part of an annual events calendar, giving families opportunities to join nursery life beyond the ordinary session.

In April 2022, children collected natural materials from a local field for an art activity, and stories used props and acting to extend children's use of new words. These examples show how outdoor exploration and imaginative play connected at that time.

Relationships and Communication

A key person links care with learning. Observations, artwork and contributions from home go into an individual scrapbook, supported by a separate book tracking development. Parents can access the learning journey and arrange a discussion between the twice-yearly parents' evenings. That makes communication more substantial than a brief account of what a child enjoyed.

For babies, written daily information covers feeding, drinks, activities and nappy changes. Parents can also telephone during the day for an update. Changes to the home routine, including a feed needed earlier than usual, are discussed at collection, allowing the nursery day and the evening at home to be considered together.

Sleep is accommodated across the age groups, with quiet areas for rest. Toddlers have mats or cots to continue their home sleep patterns, while sleeping babies are monitored and those checks recorded. These are concrete arrangements to explore alongside a child's usual comfort and sleep routine.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that the SENCo worked with families and professionals on individual plans, but speech and language strategies were applied inconsistently; it also called for stronger support for children's independence. For a family seeking communication support, the important issue is how an individual plan becomes everyday teaching, rather than the existence of a plan alone.

In April 2022, daily routines sometimes passed without staff extending children's responsibility and self-help skills, and learning from professional development was not consistently put into practice or evaluated. These are useful questions about implementation. They sit alongside current arrangements such as parent-led toilet-training strategies and preschool activities intended to prepare children for school.

The partnership with Bushy Leaze Children's centre includes outreach support for children with additional needs. Enchanted also has procedures covering medicines, illness, child collection and food allergies, and staff hold paediatric first-aid certificates with allergy-awareness training. Those arrangements describe how care is organised; the dated safeguarding judgement remains the basis for assessing effectiveness.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks, with closures at Christmas and on bank holidays. The full-day session runs from 8am to 6pm; mornings are 8am to 1pm and afternoons 1pm to 6pm. Early Bird Session covers 7.30am to 8am, and Twilight Session covers 6pm to 6.30pm. The distinction between the core booking and opening hours matters when matching care to work commitments.

The joining rule requires a minimum of 2 full-day sessions each week. Additional days are billed separately, and occasional swaps of a booked day depend on availability. Families considering the shorter sessions therefore need to reconcile their intended pattern with that minimum before committing.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01420 87031, by email to info@enchantednursery.co.uk or through the contact form. These routes allow families to discuss the nursery's arrangements directly.

Getting There

The address is 103 Anstey Road, Alton, Hampshire GU34 2RN, with road links towards the A31. There is no nursery parking; a public car park is opposite, making the walk between car and nursery part of the practical routine.

Funding and Paid Extras

Enchanted offers funded childcare, including the 15 hours entitlement described for 3-5 year olds and 30 hours funding, alongside privately paid care. A school day session is restricted to 30 hours funding. The fees page explains the charge structure.

Children attending only for funded hours pay separately for nursery meals; families can instead bring meals from home without a meal charge. Privately paid daily sessions include meals. Parents supply baby nappies, barrier creams, expressed or formula milk and sun cream, so these consumables need to be included in the family's preparations.

On-site chefs cook food fresh each day, using summer and winter menus on a four-week rotation. The nursery has an allergy-management system and offers vegetarian and Halal meals; arrangements for an individual child's diet need to be agreed alongside current practice.

• Session choice and minimum booking. Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside a joining rule requiring 2 full days weekly. Ask how your intended pattern fits that rule, especially if you are planning funded attendance, and obtain a current written quotation before committing.
• Speech and language support. The April 2022 improvement priorities included more consistent communication strategies and stronger support for independence. Ask for examples of how these now work in everyday play and routines for your child.
• Baby care and diet. Pixies has a cap of 6 and follows home routines, with parents supplying milk and several care items. During a visit, discuss sleep monitoring, weaning and any allergy arrangements against your child's needs.
• Layout and the car park. The Wizards is upstairs, preschool uses upstairs spaces and the Garden Room, and parking is across the road. A visit can help you judge how that layout fits your child's mobility and your daily routine.

Enchanted suits families looking for progression from a small baby room into more varied preschool spaces, with local connections and separately charged activities adding choice. Full-day care and morning or afternoon sessions serve different routines, although the minimum full-day booking rule needs to fit the family's plan.

Pixies' cap, the Garden Room and recurring links with Bushy Leaze Children's centre and Brendon Care Elderly home give the nursery clear practical character. The balance rests on implementation: personalised routines and learning records are tangible strengths of the offer, while communication support and independence were important improvement priorities in April 2022.