Little Bears Day-Care, Walton-on-Thames

A cricket-club pavilion, a grass play area and a veranda give Little Bears Day-Care, Walton-on-Thames a clear outdoor identity. Based at Ashley Park Pavilion, the nursery combines an open-plan classroom with age-group areas, so children can spend time with older and younger peers while also having activities suited to their stage.

There is capacity for 36 children aged 2 to 5. At its 17 January 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), making good developmental progress. The qualifications to that judgement matter: staff deployment and opportunities to build children's interest in books both needed attention.

Term-time attendance includes morning sessions and full days. The strongest reasons to consider this branch are its outdoor space, the choice between age-group and mixed-age interaction, and the practical learning seen in January 2025.

Rooms and Ages

The classroom is shared rather than divided into entirely separate rooms. The ducklings group covers ages 2 to 3, while cygnets covers ages 3 to 5; each has an age-appropriate area within the open space. Children can join peers of different ages or remain with their own group, an arrangement that gives families a useful choice between social mixing and activities matched to development.

That layout deserves attention alongside the total capacity. A whole-nursery place count does not describe how busy an individual activity feels, and the shared classroom is an important part of this branch's character.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, its practical meaning can be seen in play that develops language, movement, counting and independence. In January 2025, learning followed children's interests and themes, with activities building on things they had already encountered.

Real vegetables brought vocabulary into pretend cooking. Children handled and cut them for imaginary soup, giving staff a concrete opportunity to introduce unfamiliar words. Elsewhere, building a dinosaur home with blocks became an opportunity to count and compare sizes. These examples connect early language and mathematics to something children want to do, rather than treating them as separate exercises.

Physical learning was equally tangible in January 2025. Moving crates and assembling a bridge gave children a reason to lift, balance and coordinate their movements. Younger children explored mixtures of water and sand; older children worked with cornflour, water and brushes. The hand movements involved offered preparation for later writing through playful activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large grass play area provides room for running, while the veranda gives outdoor play a sheltered option in different weather. Outside activities encompass imaginative, creative and exploratory play as well as movement. This is more than a patch of outdoor space: the grass and covered area offer different ways to use it.

The funded-session consumables package also covers forest school and outings. Forest school is outdoor learning centred on experiences in nature; here it sits alongside the classroom offer and within the charging arrangements described below.

Relationships and Communication

In January 2025, key-person knowledge translated into planned next steps for individual children. Staff understood their key children's needs and brought those next steps into play. Communication with parents included updates about children's needs and suggestions for activities at home, helping learning continue beyond a nursery session.

Emotional support had concrete tools. During January 2025, sand timers helped children understand turns, and adults used a calm voice when children needed help managing feelings. Children were given time to work out sharing rather than having every disagreement settled for them. These are useful examples of how everyday play can also teach patience and cooperation.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The assistant manager has SENCO training and experience supporting children with special educational needs. The branch also has practitioners with early-years qualifications, including at level 3.

In January 2025, staff identified children needing extra help, sought professional advice and used it to shape individual support plans. Everyday independence was encouraged through managing belongings, handwashing and using the toilet. These routines made self-care part of the nursery day rather than something reserved for preparation for school.

There were limitations alongside these strengths. In January 2025, adults were sometimes positioned in ways that left children without enough interaction to extend their learning. Story sessions took place towards the end of attendance, but children's spontaneous interest in books did not consistently receive an adult response. Those are specific practice issues, and they belong in the decision alongside the Good judgement.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Ashley Park Pavilion, 197 Ashley Park Avenue, Walton-on-Thames, KT12 1ET, at Walton-on-thames Cricket Club. Standard opening hours are 9am to 3.30pm on weekdays; attendance is term-time, with school-holiday and bank-holiday closures.

For children aged 2 to 3, the booking choices are Morning, 9am to noon; Extended Morning, 9am to 1pm; and Full Day, 9am to 3.30pm. For ages 3 to 5, Morning runs from 9am to 1pm and Full Day from 9am to 3.30pm. Both age bands also have a Breakfast club booking from 8.30am to 9am. The different morning finishing times matter when coordinating collections for children of different ages.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form by selecting Walton-on-Thames, or by emailing info@littlebears.club.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery accepts FEET and FEE 15/30hrs Government Funding. Funding is used against complete booked sessions, rather than part of a session, and covers core care hours. Additional hours sit outside that funding. The term-time calendar makes this an attendance arrangement to match carefully against a family's holiday childcare needs.

Snacks are included in privately paid session fees; on wholly or partly funded days, they fall within a separately charged voluntary consumables package, while meals are excluded from core funding. Nappies, wipes and sundries follow the same structure: included in private session fees and covered by the voluntary package on funded days, alongside activities, forest school and outings.

Fees are invoiced monthly and payable in advance. A non-refundable registration charge applies when a place is offered, and the deposit is credited towards the final calendar month's fees when notice is given; it is retained if notice is absent or the child does not start. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charging structure set out on its Walton-on-Thames fees page.

• Adult interaction and books. January 2025 brought two clear improvement priorities: staff positioning during play and responding to children's interest in stories. During a visit, ask how both are now addressed in the shared classroom.
• Term-time collections. Morning attendance ends at noon for the younger age band and at 1pm for the older band; full days finish at 3.30pm. Match those collection times and school-holiday closures to your working pattern.
• Funded-session extras. The voluntary package covers snacks, care supplies and activities, while meals sit outside core funding. Ask how lunch is arranged for your child's chosen session and how the voluntary package works in practice.

Little Bears suits families seeking term-time morning attendance or a full day ending at 3.30pm, with an earlier Breakfast club option. Its shared classroom and substantial outdoor space give it a recognisable character: age-group areas indoors, grass for active play and a veranda for sheltered outdoor activity.

The January 2025 judgement supports consideration, but the two improvement priorities deserve equal weight. Families who value practical play, mixed-age contact and outdoor space have clear reasons to consider this branch; the quality of adult interaction during that play is the detail to examine most closely.