Fennies Epsom, Hook Road

A daily cooking studio, a garden with water play and a lending library give Fennies Epsom, Hook Road a practical, hands-on character. Children can experiment with recipes, borrow books for home and move between indoor activities and outdoor exploration. These are useful features for families who want learning to extend beyond table-based tasks.

At its 26 February 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, highlighted the support for language development and judged safeguarding effective. The important qualification concerns consistency in everyday practice, which deserves attention alongside the learning opportunities.

The nursery accepts children from three months to five years. Its purpose-built accommodation includes two Explorers rooms, followed by Discoverers, Creators and Inventors, with different spaces and activities as children grow. A cooking studio and garden provide shared opportunities beyond those age-based rooms.

Rooms and Ages

The two Explorers rooms cater for children aged three to 18 months, combining layouts that support crawling and standing with sensory spaces for exploration and quieter moments, plus direct access to milk kitchens and nappy-changing facilities. That places physical discovery and routine care close together.

Discoverers serves children from 18 to 36 months, with an adaptable layout that changes around developing interests and supports independent exploration, communication and mobility. Milk preparation and nappy-changing areas remain part of the arrangement.

For children aged 36 to 42 months, Creators emphasises conversation, social interaction and growing independence, with garden access and opportunities to take responsibility at meals. Inventors, next door, serves children from 42 months to five years through problem-solving, imaginative play and activities involving science, art, technology, mathematics and engineering, also with direct garden access.

Having Creators beside Inventors gives children opportunities to become familiar with the next room and its staff before moving. It makes the physical progression through the nursery part of the transition process, rather than an entirely unfamiliar change of setting.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for care and learning: children develop skills through play, exploration and interactions with adults. Hook Road adds concrete experiences to that foundation. The cooking studio is used daily, with a cooking club that brings recipes, taking turns and mathematical ideas into the same activity. Children have a place to work with food themselves, alongside the meals prepared for them.

In February 2025, children made carrot soup with adult guidance and pursued their own ideas through play dough. Staff introduced vocabulary while ingredients were mixed, connecting words to the textures children could feel. Cooking therefore supplied more than an end product: it gave children something tangible to discuss and instructions to follow.

Group-wide enrichment includes Artist of the Month, which introduces an artist through related creative activities, and Book of the Month, which develops storytelling and literacy. An art specialist visits Hook Road as part of this provision. The group-wide Music and Movement campaign has also brought listening activities and work on fine motor development to the branch.

Reading continues at home through the lending library. Community-donated books can be exchanged and taken home, while parents have early-years books available to read. This gives families a practical way to share stories beyond nursery hours and connects the nursery's interest in reading with something children can use outside it.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden combines a mud kitchen, a water feature and a space for storytelling. These support different kinds of outdoor activity: making and experimenting, sharing resources and listening together. Creators and Inventors have direct access, so outdoor learning is connected to their rooms rather than confined to a separate destination.

Community experiences include library outings and nature walks. A birdwatcher visited during the Big Garden Birdwatch, and a beekeeper introduced children to bees. These are specific examples of bringing outside knowledge into nursery life, giving children people and experiences to connect with their questions about the natural world.

Community litter-picking is another activity at Hook Road. It places participation in the local area alongside play and visits, giving children a practical task beyond the nursery's own garden.

Relationships and Communication

New starters have personalised settling sessions, with staff and parents working together on a gradual introduction. The emphasis is on building familiarity and routines around the individual child. This is especially relevant for families whose child needs time to become comfortable with new adults and surroundings.

In February 2025, staff shared information about themselves before children started, allowing parents to introduce the adults who would care for them. Information also passed between staff when children moved rooms. Those arrangements linked the preparation at home with the child's next step inside the nursery.

The Famly App provides updates about meals, sleep and nappy changes, alongside learning milestones and nursery messages. Weekly memos include activities families can continue at home. These serve different purposes: the app follows the child's care during the day, while the memo helps parents connect with what children are learning.

Coffee mornings take place every other Tuesday, and parents can contribute by reading with children or sharing professional skills. Regular parent events include School Readiness and Meet the Manager evenings, plus sessions called Stay and Play, offering further opportunities for discussion. Their practical value is the opportunity to speak with staff and other families, alongside receiving digital updates.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A regional SENCO and inclusion role supports the branch with additional needs and English as an additional language. This includes work with staff to develop their understanding of those needs.

At the February 2025 inspection, Ofsted identified uneven implementation of agreed hygiene routines and plans for supporting and supervising activities, and asked for more consistent care and learning practice. This is a material qualification to the positive findings. It concerns what staff do during ordinary routines and activities, so it belongs in a family's assessment of day-to-day care.

An on-site chef prepares the children's meals, with menus changed twice yearly for the seasons. The nursery's food arrangements include catering for dietary preferences and allergies; families affected by allergies should discuss the current arrangements for their child.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at 1A, Hook Road, Epsom, KT19 8TH. Opening hours are 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with closures for bank holidays and the Christmas period.

Enquiries go through the admissions team by telephone or email. Tours follow a durable booking rule: they are typically offered once a space becomes available, with open days providing another opportunity to see the nursery.

Getting There

There is a car park for collection and drop-off, together with a buggy shed. Epsom Train Station is a 5-minute walk from the nursery, giving families a stated pedestrian connection to rail travel as well as facilities for arriving by car or buggy.

Funding and Paid Extras

In February 2025, the nursery accepted funding for free early education. Families comparing costs should obtain a current written quotation and consider the complete charge structure alongside the attendance arrangement they want.

• Consistency in everyday care. The February 2025 improvement point concerned hygiene and the implementation of activity support and supervision plans. During a visit, ask how these routines are checked and how staff now apply agreed plans consistently.
• The tour booking rule. Personal tours are typically offered when a space becomes available, with open days as another route. Ask how that timetable fits the start date you are considering.
• Your child's complete cost. Funding was accepted in February 2025. Ask for a written breakdown covering the funded arrangement, additional hours, meals and consumables so that the total can be assessed against your intended attendance.
• Dietary arrangements. Meals are prepared on site and the nursery caters for allergies and preferences. Families managing an allergy should confirm how their child's requirements are handled in both meal preparation and cooking activities.

Fennies Epsom, Hook Road suits families who value practical learning, reading at home and regular contact with staff. The daily cooking studio, lending library and garden give that offer substance, while the age-based rooms provide different environments as children develop.

The February 2025 Good judgement sits alongside a clear improvement point about consistency in care and activity supervision. The strongest decision will weigh both: the learning opportunities are concrete, and the implementation of ordinary routines deserves equally close attention.