Bright Horizons Fair Oak Day Nursery and Preschool

Separate gardens for babies, toddlers and preschool children give Fair Oak a clear outdoor identity, with vegetable growing and minibus outings extending the day beyond indoor play. Preschool children can move freely into their large garden. That independence is a useful part of the offer, alongside music, yoga and preparation for school.

At its 4 October 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good and found effective support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities through individual plans and collaboration with families and professionals. Later safeguarding action needs to be read alongside that dated judgement. The position includes both completed branch actions and a subsequent organisational notice affecting Bright Horizons.

Based at Vicarage Farm on Winchester Road in Fair Oak, the nursery accepts children aged 4 to 60 months and has 67 places in total. Full-day attendance is offered across the year, with funded childcare stretched over 50 weeks.

Learning and Activities

Four rooms organise provision around children's ages and stages. Separate outdoor areas serve babies, toddlers and preschool children, so the youngest children have their own garden rather than sharing every outdoor experience with older children. For preschoolers, freeflow access makes the large garden part of their everyday choices.

The EYFS framework sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: learning through play sits alongside communication, growing independence and relationships. Alongside this, the group-wide Nurture Approach emphasises wellbeing and uses creative activities to develop skills and confidence. Its practical relevance here is continuity as children change rooms and prepare for school.

Ready for School, a group-wide programme, introduces older children to early maths, writing and reading. Boogie Mites adds learning through songs and music, while yoga and dressing up provide different ways to participate. These are concrete additions to the day, rather than a curriculum name left unexplained.

In October 2023, babies explored water and sand with equipment for pouring and tipping. Older children built a balancing route from crates of different sizes and practised jumping, with reminders to take turns and consider safety. These examples show different demands for different stages: sensory exploration for babies and shared physical challenges for older children.

Outdoor and Community Life

The vegetable patch gives children a practical growing activity within the nursery grounds. Regular minibus outings include Marwell, the local garden centre and the library; pumpkin picking also features. The frequency is regular rather than a fixed weekly timetable, giving families an outdoor and community offer that reaches beyond the garden.

In October 2023, garden-centre visits were also part of children's experience of their local community. Inside, songs, conversations and activities in small groups gave children opportunities to practise listening and use new vocabulary. Participation was uneven, however: quieter children were sometimes overlooked when staff could have brought them into discussions.

Relationships and Communication

The Bright Horizons Family app shares photographs, videos and developmental milestones with parents. This gives families a view of activities and progress between conversations with staff, rather than depending entirely on spoken feedback when collecting their child.

In October 2023, parents received spoken feedback as well as app updates, including information about incidents and accidents. Staff used books to discuss feelings and displayed family photographs when talking about different family backgrounds. Familiar people and experiences therefore had a place in nursery life, although staff did not consistently build on what they knew about each child's background.

Behaviour guidance was another area for improvement in October 2023. Praise and encouragement were used, but explanations of expectations were sometimes insufficient. For a parent, the relevant distinction is between reminding a child what to do and helping them understand why.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In October 2023, individual educational plans set targets for children with additional needs, with the special educational needs coordinator involved in support and links with other professionals. The mechanism matters: support was organised around an individual child's next steps rather than a single approach for everyone.

Safeguarding requires a more recent qualification. In October 2025, branch action addressed procedures for concerns about staff, respectful interactions and safe sleep; the safeguarding and welfare actions were subsequently met. In April 2026, a further branch action concerned immediate referrals about children's safety or welfare; this was met following changes to record keeping and refresher training.

On 22 June 2026, Ofsted issued a Welfare Requirements Notice to Bright Horizons concerning organisational safeguarding leadership, oversight and consistent practice, with actions due by 1 August 2026, while explicitly distinguishing these organisational concerns from findings at every individual setting. The latest published position is that notice and its required actions; it does not establish a new inspection judgement for Fair Oak or demonstrate completion of the organisational actions.

Sessions and Attendance

The Full Day session runs from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Funded childcare uses ten-hour sessions beginning at opening time, with additional attendance outside the funded session charged separately. Buying those additional hours is not a condition of accessing a funded place.

Attendance runs across the year. Closures include one inset day, bank and public holidays, and the period between Christmas and New Year. Families therefore need alternative arrangements for those closures even where their usual booking continues through school holidays.

Vicarage Farm, Winchester Road, Fair Oak, Hampshire, SO50 7HD is the nursery's address. Onsite parking is provided, and the setting is near bus routes.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both private childcare and funded childcare are offered. The funding arrangements cover 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements, subject to eligibility, stretched across 50 weeks rather than delivered solely during term time. Funded hours and privately paid additional hours are separate parts of the calculation, so a funded entitlement does not mean the whole booked day carries no charge.

An onsite chef prepares meals, with meals and snacks included in private fees; on funded attendance, food carries a separate, non-mandatory charge that is not a condition of taking a funded place. Nappies and wipes are included in private fees, while consumables associated with funded hours are supplied by Bright Horizons.

There is a registration charge, and fees are paid in advance through monthly direct debit. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The useful comparison is the complete arrangement: funded hours, any additional attendance and the treatment of food, rather than the headline entitlement alone.

• Safeguarding follow-through. The 22 June 2026 organisational notice required changes to leadership oversight, escalation and staff practice. At a visit, ask how those changes operate at Fair Oak and what subsequent outcome has been communicated to families.
• Early starts. The branch opening timetable begins at 8am, while the fee sheet gives a 7.45am opening and an 8am Full Day start. These opening times conflict; confirm the contracted start time if an early handover matters to your working day.
• Quieter children. October 2023 improvement points included participation in conversations, recognition of family backgrounds and clearer behaviour explanations. Ask for practical examples of how staff now involve a child who hangs back.
• Funded attendance costs. Food and additional hours are non-mandatory purchases on funded places. Request a written quotation separating those items from funded childcare before agreeing your booking.

Fair Oak suits families seeking year-round full-day attendance, whether privately paid or combined with stretched funded hours. Separate gardens, Boogie Mites and regular outings give its offer recognisable substance, while the app provides a practical connection with home.

The Good judgement belongs to October 2023. Later safeguarding actions, including the organisational notice, materially qualify the decision today. The learning and outdoor offer merits attention, but a family's choice should also turn on a clear account of safeguarding follow-through and the exact funded attendance arrangement.