Mad Hatters Nursery

Cheshire Cat's Cabin gives Mad Hatters Nursery a quiet counterpoint to its classrooms and garden. The outdoor classroom hosts emotional literacy support, interventions and small-group work, giving children somewhere to pause as well as play.

Mad Hatters has 46 places in total for children aged two to five. At its September 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall. Age-based rooms, an allotment and village outings give families concrete reasons to consider it.

Term-time attendance includes morning, afternoon and full-day sessions, plus a morning option extending through lunch.

Rooms and Ages

Little Hattie's accommodates up to 22 children aged two to three and has a covered veranda, while Big Hattie's accommodates up to 24 children aged three to four; both classrooms combine messy activities, books, imaginative play and quieter spaces. Those room caps describe the maximum each room can hold, rather than the number of children attending any particular session.

Paint, collage materials, water and sand give children different ways to experiment. Each classroom's calm corner has a wooden teepee or hideaway, mats, books and toys, providing somewhere quieter within the room.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage covers language, movement, relationships, literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. Mad Hatters' Child-Led Curriculum uses observations and family communication to shape activities around children's interests and needs.

Structure is clear, but there is room for spontaneous activity. Children have circle time before lunch and stories towards the end of the day. At the snack bar, staff help them choose food, prepare it, pour a drink and clear up afterwards. These ordinary routines give children repeated chances to practise making choices and managing small tasks themselves.

In September 2022, younger children explored dough shapes and used scissors; older children made recycled-material models and handled tape themselves. Some activities needed greater challenge, with more precise staff coaching required to address this.

Yoga and Playball are optional, separately charged sessions. Families can choose whether their child takes part; they sit alongside the nursery's everyday curriculum rather than replacing it.

Outdoor and Community Life

A sensory herb garden, bug hotel, digging space and mud kitchen provide different reasons to spend time outside. The fenced hard surface and separate grass area support different kinds of play, while the large sand-pit adds another material to explore. Little Hattie's covered veranda makes outdoor activity less dependent on dry weather.

The allotment gives growing a practical place in the day. Children help care for vegetables and herbs, with strawberries, peas, pumpkins and runner beans among the crops grown. This connects looking after plants with seeing what they produce. In September 2022, children also investigated beneath logs and used magnifying glasses to examine their discoveries, giving conversation a concrete subject.

Frequent Liphook Library visits include borrowing books, activities and librarian-led stories. At Age Concern's Day Centre, children share activities with older adults, broadening their social experiences. The annual hot cross bun walk takes them to Sainsbury's.

Relationships and Communication

A key person follows each child's progress across the week, with more concentrated observations half-termly. Tapestry journals allow staff to share those observations with parents, who also have access to their child's journal. This gives families a continuing picture of learning between conversations with staff.

In September 2022, new children received comfort and reassurance while settling. Staff shared progress through conversations and digital communication, including ideas for supporting speech and language at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

ELSA, the nursery's emotional literacy support, uses play, stories, games and gentle conversation to help children recognise feelings and develop ways to manage them. Sessions are adapted to the individual child. Cheshire Cat's Cabin provides a quieter setting for this work, interventions and small groups, complementing the calm corners within the classrooms.

The staff structure includes a SENCo, a Speech and Language Lead and designated safeguarding lead roles. Staff have undertaken training relating to Autism Spectrum Condition. At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted found support for children with SEND and those learning English as an additional language highly effective, with carefully reviewed intervention plans and professional collaboration, and judged safeguarding effective.

The usual staffing ratios are one adult to four children aged two to three and one to six for ages three to five, compared with the statutory minima of one to five and one to eight respectively. These provide more adults per child than the minimum, although the nursery reserves the option to use the statutory ratios when covering staff illness. The team also includes two staff with Early Childhood Studies honours degrees and two with foundation degrees, adding depth to its early-years experience.

Sessions and Attendance

Mad Hatters operates during term time, Monday to Friday, at Bohunt Community School and Centre, Longmoor Road, Liphook, Hampshire, GU30 7NY. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, afternoons from 1pm to 4pm, and full days from 9am to 4pm. A morning extending through lunch runs from 9am to 1pm, with lunch brought from home. An early start from 8.30am to 9am can be arranged.

Half-term weeks are closed. Invoices are issued at each term's start and follow fixed term dates; fees remain payable during sickness or family holidays. Parents working through school holidays need to account for these closures.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01428 727288 or by email at madhatties@aol.co.uk. A registration form is also provided.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible working families, the universal entitlement beginning in the term after a child's third birthday, and eligible two-year-olds receiving support linked to certain benefits. Delivery is term-time, with the universal entitlement covering 15 hours over 38 weeks. Working-family funding requires an approved code and eligibility reconfirmation every three months; the general younger-child eligibility wording does not change this nursery's accepted age range.

Additional hours beyond the funded entitlement, including early starts, are separately charged and arranged with the nursery. Snacks also carry a separate charge, with families able to opt out and bring their own, while children staying for lunch bring a packed meal. These arrangements make food costs separate from the childcare entitlement rather than part of funded hours.

Lunch goes in a named box with ice packs; the nursery's policy excludes peanuts and whole-egg foods, while permitting eggs in cakes and some prepared foods. Families are notified of other children's allergies when they occur. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; its fees page explains the charge categories and payment arrangements.

Moving on to School

The nursery describes close links with Liphook Infant School, including shared training and resources with the Liphook School Federation and work on the move into Reception. Attending Mad Hatters does not guarantee a school place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process. The relationship concerns preparation and continuity, rather than an admissions entitlement.

• Term-time fit. Morning, afternoon and full-day options offer different lengths of attendance, but half-term closures and fixed term invoices still shape the commitment. Match the calendar to your family's working pattern.
• Challenge in learning. In September 2022, staff coaching needed to help practitioners extend children's learning more consistently. On a visit, ask how activities now develop when a child is ready for a harder task.
• Food and allergies. Packed lunches come from home, snacks can be purchased or supplied by parents, and the lunch policy distinguishes whole eggs from eggs in some prepared foods. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice before agreeing their child's food arrangements.
• Room and staffing arrangements. Little Hattie's has a cap of 22 and Big Hattie's of 24, while usual staffing can move to statutory ratios during illness cover. Ask how the intended sessions are organised within those room limits.

Mad Hatters suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions as well as those wanting a full day or a morning with lunch. Its strongest practical combination is the connection between hands-on outdoor activity, village relationships and spaces for emotional support. The allotment, Liphook Library visits and Cheshire Cat's Cabin each serve a different purpose in a child's week.

The September 2022 Good judgement is balanced by the need for greater learning challenge. Term-time closures and parent-provided lunches remain practical considerations.