Woodentots Nursery

Military family life gives Woodentots its clearest identity. Based inside HMS Collingwood in Fareham, it supports children during parental deployments and combines that understanding with separate spaces for babies, direct outdoor access from its rooms and a wooded area beside the nursery. Access to the establishment is a deciding factor: this is childcare for families with the relevant military, civilian or contractor connection.

At its 11 October 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged Woodentots Good and found safeguarding effective, with well-planned learning and assessment helping children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make progress. The same assessment identified two improvements: more consistent conversation with children and better communication when their key person changes. Those qualifications matter alongside the grade.

Children are accepted from three months to five years, while The Nest's room age band starts at around four months. Attendance options include full days, mornings, afternoons and a shorter School Day, subject to a minimum booking of three days each week. The combination gives eligible families several ways to organise care, rather than a single daily pattern.

Rooms and Ages

Sleep and outdoor play have their own spaces here. The Baby Unit contains The Nest and The Explorers, both with separate sleeping accommodation, changing facilities and enclosed outdoor areas reached directly from their rooms. That arrangement lets quieter care routines sit alongside active play rather than compete for the same space.

• The Nest, for around four to 16 months, accommodates up to 12 babies and combines a separate sleep room and milk preparation kitchen with parent-led feeding and sleeping routines, sensory exploration and opportunities to practise movement.
• The Explorers, for around 14 to 26 months, accommodates up to 12 children, with separate dining and sleeping rooms, resources within children's reach and play involving water, stories and role play to encourage independence and social development.
• The Discoverers, for around 21 to 28 months, accommodates up to 12 children and uses natural materials, imaginative play and sensory experiences in a bright room with its own outdoor learning space.
• The Investigators, for around 26 to 39 months, combines direct outdoor access, a book corner and separate sleeping accommodation with play that develops conversation, sharing, creativity and everyday independence.
• The Preschool, for around 36 to 60 months, combines freely accessible play areas with adult-supported learning, using children's interests to introduce challenge and encourage initiative.

These age bands overlap. They describe stages rather than sharply separated birthday groups, which is useful context for families considering how a child might move through the nursery. The youngest rooms' stated maximum is a room limit, not a description of how many babies attend together on a particular day.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the learning framework: children develop skills through play, conversation and everyday experiences, with early learning goals guiding preparation for their next stage. In The Preschool, planning starts from children's interests and combines time to explore independently with support from adults.

Forest School adds a concrete outdoor element. Preschool children take part weekly in the large wooded area next to the nursery, with activities including bug hunting, weaving and tree rubbings. It gives this age group a recurring opportunity to investigate natural materials and work together outside the room.

In October 2023, learning drew on children's immediate interests. Older children looked up tornadoes in encyclopaedias, while a lunchtime conversation connected seasonal vegetables with harvesting and cooking. Number activities used play dough to link a numeral with an amount. These examples show how books, meals and practical materials could become starting points for discussion rather than isolated tasks.

There was also room to persist. In October 2023, children spent time developing construction ideas, and adults allowed them to attempt solutions before offering help. The useful distinction is between doing a task for a child and giving them time to work through it.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor access extends beyond the wooded area. Each Foundation Unit room has its own outside space, used daily, and children also take trips around the establishment. This makes outdoor activity part of the ordinary routine rather than something dependent on an occasional excursion.

In October 2023, older children practised digging, careful climbing and pedalling ride-on toys; babies pulled themselves upright and tackled steps. The physical experiences differed with development, giving younger and older children appropriate ways to practise balance, coordination and movement.

The Woodentots Parent Staff Association (WPSA) brings families and staff together through community events and shared use of resources. Parents, carers and staff become members automatically. Its purpose includes helping parents meet others in similar circumstances, a useful social connection for families whose working lives include military service.

Relationships and Communication

Deployment support is part of the current offer. Woodentots recognises the disruption military duties can bring to family life and provides continuing support during those periods. In October 2023, familiar routines and close relationships with adults helped children cope with significant family changes, including a parent's deployment.

A key person system provides the relationship around which individual care is organised. Free settling sessions take place before a child starts, allowing the transition to begin before the regular attendance pattern. Room-based appointment calendars also give parents a route to book time with their child's key person.

In October 2023, families received information through meetings, electronic messages and daily handovers. Communication had an important weakness, however: changes of key person were not consistently explained early enough for parents to prepare their children. That finding is especially relevant where a familiar adult helps a child manage changes at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Individual routines are clearest in baby care. Families supply formula, expressed milk can be fed, and parents can breastfeed during the day. Feeding and sleep are shaped around each baby's needs. For a family balancing nursery with an established home routine, this is a practical care arrangement rather than a fixed timetable imposed on every baby.

Food is cooked on the premises, with menus changing on a three-week cycle and reviewed each term. The dietary policy asks families to disclose allergies and special requirements when enrolling, provides alternatives where required and involves parents in decisions during weaning.

Written health procedures also define responsibilities. Prescribed medication requires a completed form; children must stay away for 24 hours after the initial dose, and medicines must go home each day. Parents are informed about accidents and asked to sign the relevant documentation. Collection by an unfamiliar person must be arranged beforehand; identity checks and the child's password form part of that process.

In October 2023, adults encouraged kindness through their responses to babies and helped older children consider other people's feelings. Everyday independence included children serving meals and toddlers using mirrors while learning personal-care tasks. Care and learning met in those small routines.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is HMS Collingwood, Newgate Lane, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 1AS. Eligibility centres on serving personnel, MOD civilians and contractors authorised to enter HMS Collingwood, with priority for personnel based within HMS Collingwood/MWS. This access requirement should shape a family's decision before the attendance options do.

Attendance options are Full Day (07:30–17:30), Morning (07:30–13:00), Afternoon (13:00–17:30) and School Day (09:00–15:30). Late Club runs from 17:30 to 18:00 and carries an additional charge. Morning and afternoon are also sold as half-day sessions.

The minimum commitment is three days per week. A waiting list operates on a first-come basis, with priority for full-time bookings and siblings of children already attending. Care runs across the year, closing for public holidays and Christmas week; term-time-only places are also recognised in the payment terms.

Enquiries can be made through the nursery's online form or by telephone on 01329 237652. Once a place is confirmed, a deposit holds it; cancellation makes that deposit non-refundable, while satisfactory notice allows it to be credited against the final month's fees. Ending a place or reducing sessions requires a month's written notice, with fees remaining payable during the notice period.

Funding and Paid Extras

The Everything Covered Plan bundles funded entitlement, additional paid hours, meals and activities into a monthly price. Funding is spread across the year: the 15-hour entitlement becomes 11.4 hours each week, and the 30-hour entitlement becomes 22.8 hours. Funded time is applied first from the child's first attendance session.

Build Your Own Package separates the choices. Funded hours are free, while additional hours, meals during funded time and activities during funded time are optional purchases. Meals are therefore included in the bundled plan but charged separately when selected under the individual package, including during funded hours.

Formula is supplied by parents. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, which can reflect the attendance pattern and whether meals and activities are selected. Tax Free Childcare and childcare vouchers are accepted, and monthly invoices are collected by Direct Debit.

• Military access. One parent must meet the military, MOD civilian or contractor eligibility criteria. For a booked tour, a parent without a pass can be arranged entry at the gate and should bring photo identification.
• Friday and Late Club timings. Friday closing times conflict between 17:00 and 18:00. Confirm Friday collection arrangements before booking.
• Conversation and continuity. The October 2023 improvement points concerned uneven conversational interaction and preparation for key person changes. During a visit, ask how quieter children are included and how families are told about a change of key person.
• Individual care and package choices. Tours usually last 30 to 45 minutes and must be booked. Use that discussion to confirm allergy arrangements and ask which nappies, wipes and other care supplies families should bring alongside formula.

Woodentots suits eligible military-connected families who need full days or morning and afternoon sessions, as well as those whose timetable fits the shorter School Day. Its strongest practical combination is deployment-aware support, separate baby sleeping spaces and outdoor access throughout the room structure, with weekly Forest School for preschool children.

The October 2023 Good judgement provides a positive assessment with specific qualifications concerning conversation and communication about key person changes. For families able to access HMS Collingwood, the care routines and attendance choices give this nursery a clear purpose.