Mia Rose Nursery Ellwood

A tyre swing, a bike track and woodland adventures give Mia Rose Nursery Ellwood a clear outdoor character. Inside the Old School House, activity spaces extend across two floors, with an Art Studio, Construction and Role Play areas alongside dedicated Under 2s spaces. This is a nursery with several different settings for play, rather than a day centred on one room.

Children can attend from 3 months to 5 years. At its June 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and reported that children were progressing well from their starting points. That judgement provides a useful quality marker, while the detail beneath it shows both engaging play and areas needing attention.

The attendance menu includes longer days and, for children over two, morning and afternoon sessions. The distinction matters: younger children's bookings follow a different pattern from those for older children.

Rooms and Ages

Art Studio, Construction and Role Play name the indoor activity spaces, while Under 2s have a dedicated area. These are useful distinctions for parents comparing the surroundings offered to younger and older children. The rooms occupy two floors, so the layout is part of the practical character of the setting.

In June 2023, babies investigated damp sand, and children experimented with combining glue and paint in the art studio. These were hands-on encounters with texture and change: children could try something, watch what happened and alter it. The activities gave them something concrete to investigate.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care. In parent language, it brings together learning through play, communication, physical development and everyday care, rather than treating nursery as an early version of formal lessons.

In June 2023, the day combined child-chosen play with adult-led phonics activities. Staff used pictures during planning circles so children could select where to play, and signs helped them understand routines. Choosing a pictured activity gave children a clear way to express a preference, including when words alone were less useful.

Conversation was another practical tool in June 2023. Adults introduced vocabulary and invited children to think about quantities and size during play. Water play, for example, involved considering how much more water was needed. The learning grew out of what children were doing, rather than requiring a separate task.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden brings together a bug hotel, mud kitchen and slide, with the bike track and tyre swing adding different ways to move. That combination gives outdoor time room for investigation as well as energetic play. The woodland setting adds another environment beyond the garden.

Forest Adventure sessions are regular woodland activities, accompanied by woodland walks. The nearby woods are within walking distance, making them part of the nursery's outdoor offer rather than merely a backdrop.

In June 2023, small-group nurture walks involved spotting flowers and gathering twigs; babies and toddlers also went out into the local community daily. Garden play included moving water through pipes with large buckets. Those examples show how outdoor experiences brought together movement, observation and practical problem-solving at that time.

Relationships and Communication

In June 2023, daily handovers gave parents contact with staff, and families of babies and toddlers received information about routines and interests. This made everyday care part of the conversation between home and nursery.

At the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted also identified two improvements: parents needed more timely information about learning and staff changes, and practitioners needed a more consistent understanding of each child's next learning steps. These are meaningful qualifications to the Good judgement. A friendly handover and a clear account of a child's development serve different purposes; families benefit from both.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Pictures and signing helped children follow routines in June 2023. Sand timers made waiting for a turn more concrete, while adults reminded children about sharing. Those tools translated expectations into something children could see and use.

The same month's examples included children helping friends with drinks and dealing with spills themselves. Everyday tasks gave them opportunities to practise independence and consideration for others. This is useful care detail because it shows how social habits were built into ordinary play and routines.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 5.30pm, for 50 weeks of the year. Its address is Old School House Bromley Road, Ellwood, Coleford, GL16 7LY. Enquiries can go to ellwood@miarosenurseries.co.uk or 01594 835624, and visits can be booked.

For children under two, starts are at 7.30am, 8am or 9am, with finishes at 3pm, 4pm, 5pm or 5.30pm. Children over two have those longer-day choices plus mornings ending at 1pm and afternoons beginning at 1pm, ending at 4pm, 5pm or 5.30pm. These are booking choices within the opening day, so a family need not automatically choose the earliest start and latest finish.

The standard sessions run across the year. A specific exception is the term-time 1pm to 4pm session for parents using 15 hours of funding per week. Extra sessions can be booked in advance, including one-off bookings.

Breakfast and after-school clubs are also offered. Breakfast bookings start at 7.30am or 8am; after-school bookings end at 4pm, 5pm or 5.30pm. Staff take children to school and collect them afterwards, connecting childcare with the school day.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and private paid sessions are offered. The term-time afternoon funding option has separately charged snacks and no meal charge; supplying a snack from home instead requires written confirmation. If a snack is not supplied, the charge applies.

For other nursery sessions, the food package is charged separately and covers breakfast, snacks, lunch and tea; parents receiving government funding may instead send food from home under the nursery's food-from-home policy. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Different bookings by age. Morning sessions ending at 1pm are part of the over-two menu; under-two sessions finish from 3pm onwards. Families planning a shorter day for a baby should weigh that distinction.
• Communication and individual learning. In June 2023, timely parent updates and staff understanding of children's next steps needed improvement. At a visit, ask how these now work across the team, alongside how younger children use the two-floor layout and outdoor spaces.
• Term-time funding exception. The 1pm to 4pm option is specifically for parents using 15 funded hours per week during term time. Its snack arrangement needs to be included in the family's attendance plan.

Mia Rose Nursery Ellwood suits families who value woodland activities, a garden with varied physical play and indoor spaces organised around making, building and role play. Its attendance choices serve both longer-day bookings and morning or afternoon sessions for older children, with a specific term-time funded afternoon option.

The June 2023 Good judgement is balanced by clear development points around communication and staff understanding of each child's next learning steps. The strongest reasons to consider Ellwood are concrete: its outdoor setting, named activity spaces and the practical choice of attendance patterns.