Dandelion Day Nursery and Kids Club

Garden animals, covered outdoor space for babies and a room devoted to funded sessions give Dandelion Day Nursery and Kids Club a character that extends beyond its timetable. At Clinton Park in Tattershall, its rooms separate different stages of early childhood and different attendance patterns. Choosing here means thinking about both the room and the hours.

At its January 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, while requiring more consistent staff interactions through better coaching and training. That is a positive overall assessment with a specific improvement priority. The same visit documented an incident involving access to medication and the action taken afterwards, which deserves attention alongside the strengths.

The nursery age range runs from birth to five, with daycare sessions starting at six weeks. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings sit alongside sessional and term-time arrangements, making this more than a single-pattern childcare option.

Rooms and Ages

The room structure gives parents a useful way to distinguish everyday daycare from shorter attendance. Physical arrangements matter as much as the flower names: outdoor access, space for rest and opportunities to practise independence recur across the rooms.

Buttercup room serves the youngest children, combining space to explore with a private covered outdoor area and a separate place for sleeping. The separation of activity and rest is the practical strength here. Babies can sleep away from the main play space, while the covered area makes outdoor exploration possible in different weather.

For children aged one to two, Bluebell room combines sensory play, stories and pretend play with a private garden containing decking and artificial turf, plus an adjoining sleep room. That gives this age group several ways to move between active exploration and quieter moments within its own room arrangement.

Poppy room, for two- to three-year-olds, links construction and imaginative play with self-help practice and direct garden access, where children help feed and clean out chickens, rabbits and a guinea pig. Caring for animals gives a concrete purpose to helping others. It also takes learning beyond toys and tabletop activities.

The sessional rooms have their own character. Peony room serves children aged zero to two, with space for exploration and a private outdoor area that is partly covered. Snowdrop room serves two- to three-year-olds, combining sensory and pretend play with accessible toileting facilities and a garden containing a mud kitchen and an enchanted story telling area. Its outdoor provision supports movement, while the toilet and changing arrangements give children opportunities to practise doing things for themselves.

Among the older groups, Forget Me Not room provides daycare for three- to four-year-olds, emphasising independence and extending exploration into the garden. Bizzie Lizzie room serves three- to four-year-olds attending for funded hours only, with play-based learning areas and direct garden access. Daisy room serves three- to four-year-olds from the term after their third birthday, combining term-time mornings with activities that encourage curiosity and use of the nursery gardens.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: play and everyday interactions support learning across different areas. Here, the January 2025 account gives useful examples of how that worked in practice.

In January 2025, songs and books shaped activities around children's interests and intended learning. Babies explored positional ideas by moving a toy into and out of a container while an adult supplied the words. Older children used photographs to revisit a walk and discuss ice. These are small experiences with a clear purpose: linking actions, language and memory.

Social learning was equally concrete at that time. Toddlers practised sharing during pretend tea-making, while preschool children chose a play-dough colour through a vote. The distinction matters. Taking turns and making a collective choice were things children actually practised, rather than rules adults simply explained.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor space is built into the room arrangements, with older children using two large gardens. Children explore the surrounding area, and Woodland Trust land is nearby. Local outings give children places beyond the nursery in which to notice their surroundings.

Snowdrop children take community walks and use their garden in different weather. Poppy children also spend time outdoors across weather conditions, with animal care adding another reason to return to the garden. For families who value everyday outdoor experiences, these room-level details are more useful than a general promise of fresh air.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is part of the joining process rather than an extra purchase. Every child has at least one settling-in session before their first full session, without a charge, and further sessions can be arranged with parents where needed. The purpose is straightforward: children and carers get to know the room and its staff before regular attendance begins.

A move between rooms also includes settling during the child's usual attendance time and an introduction to the receiving staff team for parents. This makes the next stage a planned change. It gives families a chance to establish contact with the adults who will take over everyday care.

In January 2025, staff shared information about care and learning with parents and colleagues, and families described room changes that worked smoothly because the next team already understood their child. Information passed between adults is especially valuable at these transitions: the child should not have to start again with their routines and needs.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff identified learning gaps promptly and worked effectively with specialist services, parents and agreed targets to support children's progress. The useful detail is the mechanism: assessment led to shared goals and monitoring, rather than a general assurance that extra help would be offered.

By January 2025, children had accessed medication, management had notified the incident, and weaknesses in supervision and staff deployment had been addressed to prevent a recurrence. Separately, some adult interactions remained uneven despite support and training. These findings should be read together with the positive safeguarding judgement, rather than lost beneath it.

Care staff receive paediatric first-aid training and regular safeguarding training. Food is prepared in the nursery kitchen, with fresh homemade lunches and high teas alongside snacks, using a three-week menu rotation reviewed each term. Special dietary requirements are accommodated; families managing allergies should discuss their child's arrangements in detail.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 0730 to 1730, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas. Daycare for children from six weeks to school age can be booked as an AM Session (0730 to 1230), a PM Session (1230 to 1730), or a Full Day (0730 to 1730).

Shorter sessional patterns run from 9am to noon or 9am to 3pm, Tuesday to Friday, for 47.5 weeks of the year. These also cover children from six weeks to school age. Peony and Snowdrop have opening hours of 9am to 3pm on those days, while Bizzie Lizzie operates on the same timetable for funded-only attendance.

For children aged three to school age, the term-time timetable includes 9am to noon and 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, with holidays following local primary schools wherever possible. Daisy's own arrangement is term-time mornings from 9am to noon. The difference between those descriptions is a practical point to resolve before choosing an attendance pattern.

Kids Club adds breakfast and after-school care: it opens at 0730 and closes at 1730, with staff walking children to school and collecting them afterwards. Holiday Club has morning, afternoon and full-day sessions matching the daycare clock times. It welcomes local children beyond those who use term-time Kids Club.

Getting There

The address is Clinton Park, Tattershall, Lincolnshire, LN4 4QZ. Enquiries can be submitted using the nursery's form by email, post or in person; telephone contact is also available on 01526 344325.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered under government schemes, including eligible children from nine months. Bizzie Lizzie accommodates 15 or 30 funded hours across its 47.5-week year, while Daisy provides a term-time option. Tax Free Childcare payments are accepted too. Eligibility and the attendance arrangement remain separate questions.

Breakfast, lunch and high tea are included in the session price, with a separate food entry on invoices for administrative purposes. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. A booked holiday does not reduce the invoice; the Christmas holiday grant covers two weeks without a charge.

• Medication safety and staff consistency. In January 2025, management had acted after children accessed medication, while coaching and training still needed to improve the consistency of interactions. At a visit, ask how supervision, medicine storage and coaching now work in daily practice.
• The term-time timetable. The general timetable includes a 9am-to-3pm option, whereas Daisy operates from 9am to noon and the nursery's FAQ places term-time attendance only there. Ask which term-time pattern can be booked and how the longer option is delivered.
• The room behind the booking. Bizzie Lizzie is for funded-only attendance, while Peony and Snowdrop open Tuesday to Friday. Discuss the intended room alongside the hours, rather than choosing from clock times alone.
• Dietary and everyday supplies. Special diets are accommodated and session meals are included. Families managing allergies should confirm their child's food arrangements and ask what non-food supplies they need to bring or pay for.

Dandelion suits families considering morning or afternoon daycare as well as full days, and those weighing shorter sessional attendance against term-time mornings. Its strongest practical detail is the connection between rooms, ages and outdoor provision: separate sleeping spaces for younger children, garden animals for Poppy and funded-only attendance in Bizzie Lizzie all help parents picture a particular choice.

The January 2025 Good judgement supports that appeal, but the medication incident and interaction-quality priority deserve direct discussion. A decision here should rest on the room and timetable that fit the child, alongside a clear understanding of how those care improvements operate now.