Riverside Nursery

A converted farmhouse, a separate stable block for babies and a large garden with access to surrounding fields and copse give Riverside Nursery at Powder House Farm a clear countryside character. Its outdoor life includes tending vegetables and helping care for chickens. These are concrete experiences of living things, rather than nature being confined to pictures and stories.

At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Riverside Nursery Good overall. The nursery has capacity for 73 children in total. Its three named rooms are Otters, Squirrels and Badgers, with age bands running from three months to four years.

Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions sit alongside half days and extended mornings. That breadth matters for families fitting childcare around different working patterns, although the detail of each booking belongs alongside its hours and charges.

Rooms and Ages

Otters accommodates children aged three months to two years in a converted stable block, separate from the main farmhouse, with a garden of its own. That gives the youngest children their own outdoor space as well as a separate base indoors. For parents choosing baby care, this physical arrangement is one of Riverside’s most useful distinguishing details.

Squirrels, for two- to three-year-olds, occupies the farmhouse’s ground floor; Badgers, for three- to four-year-olds, is upstairs. The age groups therefore have different bases within the same building. The move from Otters also involves a change of building, something families can consider alongside their child’s readiness for the next room.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children’s learning, development and care. In parent language, this brings play, communication, physical development and relationships into the educational day rather than treating care and learning as separate jobs.

In January 2023, babies explored snow brought indoors, while older children used wooden blocks to make their own snowmen. The same experience prompted different responses at different ages: sensory exploration for babies and construction and shared creativity for older children. Books also featured throughout the day, with a book sharing scheme extending reading into family time through borrowing books for home.

Celebrations supplied further material for learning in January 2023. Chinese New Year activities included using chopsticks for paint marks and discussing their use at mealtimes. This connected an unfamiliar object with both practical exploration and conversation about how people live.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Grade II listed farmhouse has a large garden, with access to neighbouring fields and copse. Children help look after five chickens and tend the vegetable patch, where crops include carrots, strawberries and pumpkins. Caring for animals and growing food give outdoor time a purpose beyond running and climbing.

Regular walks take children to the local park and around the surrounding area. The annual Scarecrow Trail in spring adds a named community event to that pattern of outings. Together, these experiences make the rural location part of nursery life, rather than simply its address.

In January 2023, garden play included balancing and climbing along an obstacle course and kicking a football. Those examples show how the outdoor space was used for movement and coordination at that time; they are separate from the current offer of garden, field and copse access.

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described staff working with families and other professionals through individual support plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This was a dated judgement about practice, alongside a concrete mechanism for coordinating care and learning.

In January 2023, staff collected information about children’s interests and home routines when they started, and each child had a key person. However, colleagues covering a key person’s absence needed a deeper understanding of that child’s learning needs. The important distinction was between knowing a child socially and knowing how to continue their individual learning.

Two other improvements were required in January 2023. Changes between play and meals sometimes reduced useful learning time, and monitoring staff practice needed to identify training needs more promptly. These findings make continuity of care, the organisation of the day and staff development sensible priorities when weighing the nursery’s offer.

Sessions and Attendance

Riverside Nursery is at Powder House Farm, Coleford Road, Tutshill, Chepstow, NP16 7PT. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. Closures include public holidays and the three days between Christmas and New Year.

The morning session runs from 8am to 1pm, the afternoon from 1pm to 6pm, and the full day from 8am to 6pm. Early Bird is a separate 7.30am to 8am option. Half days, full-time care and extended mornings are also offered, so the opening window should not be mistaken for one fixed attendance pattern.

Enquiries and applications can be made through the contact form, which includes a callback request, or by contacting the Powder House Farm nursery directly. The car park can be used by parents and staff.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded places are offered at Powder House Farm under the England funding arrangements. Funding and privately paid sessions need to be considered separately when planning attendance and costs.

Meals and snacks are included in the cost of non-funded sessions. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the sessions, fees and funding page sets out the attendance options and the route to England funding information.

• Continuity of learning. In January 2023, cover for an absent key person needed better knowledge of children’s individual learning, while staff monitoring needed to identify development needs sooner. These are useful subjects for a discussion about how the nursery now maintains continuity.
• The shape of the day. January 2023 findings called for better organisation between play and meals. During a visit, discuss how those changes now work, especially for a child who finds interruptions difficult.
• A separate baby base. Otters has its own converted stable block and garden, while Squirrels and Badgers occupy the farmhouse. Consider the move between those buildings as well as the change of age group.
• Funding and the complete bill. Meals and snacks are included for non-funded sessions. Which funded entitlement and attendance pattern would apply to your child, and how would food and consumables be treated in that arrangement?

Riverside suits families drawn to countryside childcare with tangible outdoor experiences: chickens, a vegetable patch, nearby fields and regular local walks. The separate Otters base gives baby care a clear physical identity, while morning, afternoon and full-day patterns serve different family schedules.

The January 2023 Good judgement is a useful foundation, balanced by specific improvements concerning key-person cover, changes between play and meals, and staff development. For parents, the decision rests on both parts: the appeal of the setting’s spaces and activities, and how those everyday care arrangements work now.