The Treehouse Nursery

Tree planting with the Woodland Trust, gardening at Honey Lane Care Home and a baby room with its own secure garden give The Treehouse Nursery a clear identity. Outdoor learning reaches beyond running around: children tend plants, watch wildlife and take part in practical jobs. For families who want nature to feature in ordinary nursery life, there is substance here.

Based at Hazelwood Childrens Centre in Waltham Abbey, the nursery has 44 places and accepts children from three months. Ofsted rated it Outstanding on 29 July 2022. That is a dated judgement, while the current offer includes three age-banded play rooms, direct outdoor access and a sustainability plan that turns environmental ideas into things children can do.

Attendance requires at least three days, with both full-day care and a shorter 9am to 4pm day offered. The practical distinction matters: this is an all-year nursery, rather than a provider of half-day or term-time-only places.

Rooms and Ages

The purpose-built premises are shared with Hazelwood Children's Centre, and each play room connects to a secure outdoor space. Separate patios extend the classrooms, giving drawing, water play, books and sand activities an outdoor setting. Children can move between different kinds of play rather than treating the garden solely as a place for energetic activity.

Seedlings, for ages zero to two, accommodates up to 12 children daily and combines music, movement, imaginative and messy play with a separate crawling space, a milk kitchen, its own changing facilities and a secure garden. That daily limit is a baby-room measure, separate from the nursery's overall capacity. The protected crawling area gives younger babies somewhere suited to their stage of movement.

Little Acorns, for two- to three-year-olds, emphasises child-led play and growing independence, supported by a child-friendly bathroom and outdoor access. Its stated staffing is one adult for four children, compared with the legal minimum of one for five at age two. This is a meaningful staffing difference, although it does not tell parents how many children attend together.

Willows, for three- to five-year-olds, keeps play central while encouraging independence and preparation for school in partnership with parents. Its children also take responsibility for putting food scraps into the green-waste bin. Practical responsibility becomes part of the day, rather than something discussed only in an activity.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play and supporting children's development. Here, the room descriptions connect that framework to everyday experiences: babies explore through movement and imaginative play, toddlers practise doing things for themselves, and older children work towards greater independence.

In July 2022, small-group work included revisiting earlier learning, listening to stories and connecting letters with familiar words and people's names. Staff made space in conversations for quieter children as well as confident speakers. Those examples give parents a concrete picture of the teaching at that time: language practice happened through exchanges with adults and other children, not only through a planned literacy activity.

Children also built an obstacle course from blocks and crates in July 2022, then adjusted it to make the movements more challenging. Adults stayed nearby while allowing children to try the course themselves. The example brings together physical movement, decision-making and learning to judge a manageable risk.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Secret Garden gives older children a weekly gardening experience, with sunflowers to watch, plants to water and a Mud Kitchen for messy exploration. Seedlings has its own garden too. These are different outdoor arrangements for different stages, rather than one shared experience described identically for every age.

The Climate Action Plan connects sustainability with planting, weather, seasonal change and wildlife. Annual tree planting with the Woodland Trust lets children observe growth on site, while monthly gardening visits to Honey Lane Care Home take place during spring and summer. The care-home visits give gardening a community setting as well as a nursery setting.

A sensory garden contains a hedgehog shelter and hibernation space; classroom bird feeders and bird houses bring wildlife observation close to the rooms. Children help water plants using collected rainwater. Wet-weather and snow suits support outdoor time throughout the year, and open classroom doors extend learning onto the patios in spring and summer.

Trips to the local market connect buying produce with growing and planting projects. Recycling, reusable face cloths and a second-hand uniform shop add everyday examples of using resources carefully. Parents who value environmental learning can see how the subject reaches into meals, clothing and ordinary routines.

Relationships and Communication

Home routines guide the day in Seedlings, making continuity a clear part of baby care. Its milk kitchen supports bottle and snack preparation, while the separate changing facilities keep those practical tasks within the baby-room arrangement. Families supply formula milk, and staff work with parents as babies begin weaning.

Play and Stay sessions regularly invite parents to join their child's nursery day. Christmas, Easter and Summer Workshops provide further opportunities to participate, alongside parent workshops addressing issues families may be facing. These are useful ways to understand nursery life through shared activities, rather than relying entirely on conversations about what happened afterwards.

In July 2022, babies took part in small jobs such as giving face cloths to other children after snacks, responding to names as they did so. Staff also paused during exchanges of sounds to allow babies to respond. Care routines doubled as opportunities for participation and communication.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its July 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and rapid progress among children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with support adapted to individual needs. The current staff structure includes SENCO and designated safeguarding roles, and all staff are paediatric first-aid trained. These arrangements give families identifiable responsibilities to discuss when planning support.

In July 2022, stories including The Rainbow Fish helped children consider sharing and how their actions affected friends; adults also supported children in recognising feelings and responding when overwhelmed. Emotional understanding was connected to familiar situations and stories.

An on-site cook prepares lunch daily, with menus rotating over four weeks. Special diets can be arranged for allergies, vegetarian preferences or religious requirements, so an affected family should discuss the arrangements for their child before booking.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Hazelwood Childrens Centre, Hillhouse, Waltham Abbey, Essex, EN9 3EL. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year.

Full-day care is offered, and the shortest booked day runs from 9am to 4pm. A minimum booking of three days applies; half-day sessions and term-time-only places are excluded. Parents comparing attendance patterns should therefore distinguish the opening window from the shorter day they can book.

Enquiries and waiting-list requests can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01992 719990 or by email at info@treehousenursery.org. The waiting-list route is a booking mechanism, rather than an indication of how many places might be free.

Getting There

The nursery car park is closed to parents, and a shelter at the front accommodates buggies and scooters. Families planning to drive should consider that restriction when deciding whether the location works for their routine.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal funded provision covers 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds, with a further 15 hours for eligible parents. The nursery stretches funded hours across 51 weeks, which suits an all-year attendance pattern rather than concentrating the entitlement into term time.

Lunch and snacks are included in private fees. For funded hours, a voluntary consumables charge covers food and snacks, wipes, sun cream and optional activities such as events and celebrations outside the required educational provision; the charge does not apply to paid hours. Formula milk remains parent-supplied, so consumables have different arrangements depending on the item and attendance basis.

The nursery accepts childcare vouchers and employer tax-free schemes. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and fees are reviewed annually. Its terms also allow changes to hours, fees or conditions without notice for safe and effective operation, a contractual point families should weigh alongside the attendance commitment.

• Three-day commitment. The shortest day is 9am to 4pm, with at least three days required and no half-day or term-time-only pattern. This suits regular attendance better than a small amount of occasional childcare.
• Baby-room organisation. Seedlings accommodates up to 12 children daily and has a separate crawling area and its own garden. At a visit, ask how those spaces and home routines work for your baby's stage of development, including sleep.
• Funded-hour extras. The voluntary charge on funded hours covers food, selected consumables and optional activities, while private fees include lunch and snacks. Request a written quotation showing the arrangements for your chosen mix of hours and, where relevant, the handling of your child's dietary requirements.
• Travel and contractual flexibility. Parents cannot use the nursery car park, and the terms permit changes to hours, fees or conditions without notice. Both points matter when assessing whether the nursery fits a tightly organised working week.

The Treehouse Nursery suits families seeking either longer full-day care or the shorter 9am to 4pm day, provided they want at least three days across an all-year pattern. The baby-room cap, separate crawling space and dedicated garden are useful practical details; for older children, gardening and community visits give outdoor learning a recognisable shape.

The Outstanding judgement belongs to July 2022. Today's decision rests alongside that dated assessment on the rooms, attendance rules and current offer. Families drawn to hands-on environmental learning have plenty to consider here, while those needing half-days or term-time-only attendance will find the booking model a poor fit.