Beech Green Nursery

Learning to manage everyday tasks, explain a feeling and join a conversation gives Beech Green Nursery its character. Its curriculum puts everyday independence alongside language, physical development and relationships, with practical experiences used to make learning meaningful. This is preparation for the next stage through the small tasks of childhood.

Based at Beech Green Primary School in Quedgeley, Gloucester, the nursery welcomes children aged two to four and has 36 places in total. The overall judgement on 11 July 2023 was Good. That dated judgement sits alongside a current curriculum built around conversation, shared stories, movement and understanding other people.

Owlets gives younger children a dedicated room, while preschool children can attend for a whole day; attendance is Monday to Friday during term time. The distinction matters for families choosing between a shorter introduction to nursery and a longer preschool day.

Rooms and Ages

Owlets is the room for children aged two and three. This age group attends three-hour sessions, giving families a shorter attendance pattern rather than the preschool all-day option. The nursery's overall age range extends to four, so its offer centres on toddlers and preschool children.

Physical development includes handling tools, practising movement and managing personal care, connecting coordination with everyday independence.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care, bringing communication, physical skills and social development into everyday experiences. Beech Green's curriculum gives this a concrete shape through conversations, books, imaginative play, creative materials and real-life mathematics. Children are encouraged to express ideas as well as listen to other people.

Language receives sustained attention. The curriculum includes experimenting with words and sounds, developing vocabulary and learning how to hold a conversation. Shared stories sit alongside exploring print and making marks, connecting the pleasure of books with early reading and writing experiences. This gives children several ways to participate, whether they are talking, listening or representing an idea on paper.

Mathematics is intended to make sense within everyday activity. Playing with number patterns, making predictions and solving practical problems are part of the approach. In July 2023, children counted while baking and families received mathematics boxes containing games for counting and number order. The improvement priority was to deepen mathematical understanding through comparing amounts, measuring and weighing, rather than stopping at counting.

Creative work involves exploring materials, planning ideas and expressing them through different media. Valuing effort alongside results encourages persistence.

Outdoor and Community Life

In July 2023, the garden included slides, balancing beams and climbing equipment, while small tools were used for investigating insects in soil. These offered different kinds of physical challenge: larger movements outdoors and more precise hand movements during exploration. Children also tended fruit and vegetables, connecting growing food with eating it at snack time.

Community experiences reached beyond the garden. In July 2023, children visited the local church and heard about its building and past from the reverend; classroom caterpillars provided another way to investigate living things. The current curriculum continues to emphasise the local community, caring for nature and understanding that other people may have different views. These are concrete starting points for learning about a wider world.

Relationships and Communication

Tapestry is the online journal used to share each child's learning with their family. Parents can access it from home and respond to accounts of activities and experiences. This keeps families involved between sessions.

The curriculum includes recognising feelings, considering others, resolving disagreements and preparing for changes. Emotional development gets explicit attention.

The behaviour policy sets out a stepped response when difficulties persist. A key person works with the SENCO and parents to understand possible causes, agree adjustments and review what happens next. Children who are distressed can be supported in a quiet space to settle their feelings; the policy rules out using isolation as punishment. This gives families a clear account of how difficulties should be handled.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support good, including collaboration with outside professionals. Current arrangements include designated safeguarding lead cover, and all staff hold paediatric first-aid qualifications. These are arrangements for responding to concerns and emergencies, rather than a substitute for the dated inspection judgement.

SEND support follows an assessment, planning and review process involving the child's key person, SENCO and family. The SEN support: Action plan sets out interventions, who will deliver them and the resources needed, with reviews agreed at least termly. Parents contribute their knowledge of their child, so planning brings home experience together with nursery observations.

The admissions policy also addresses preparation before a child with complex SEND starts. Adjustments can include staff training, a risk assessment or a health care plan, with a realistic timetable shared with the family. Where support cannot be met from the nursery's core budget, an inclusion-funding application is made with Gloucestershire Early Years Team. This makes preparation part of joining, rather than leaving it until difficulties arise.

Snacks are prepared for the morning and afternoon, with children encouraged to help serve food and pour drinks. The allergy policy calls for individual planning where necessary and generally excludes nuts and nut products; families affected by allergies should confirm current practice before their child starts.

Sessions and Attendance

Beech Green Nursery is at Beech Green Primary School, St. James, Quedgeley, Gloucester GL2 4WD. It opens from 9am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. The shorter attendance windows are 9am to noon and 12.30pm to 3.30pm; Owlets children attend three-hour sessions, while preschool children have an all-day option from 9am to 3.30pm.

A preschool pattern from 9am to 3pm on five days uses the full 30-hour funded allocation. Staying until 3.30pm adds a separately charged half-hour. The choice therefore affects both collection time and the balance between funded attendance and paid hours.

Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form. The waiting list is ordered by children's birth dates, with additional considerations including funded-entitlement eligibility, siblings, proximity to the setting and individual needs. Children of nursery staff receive priority. These are allocation rules, so a family's circumstances can influence how an application is considered.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded and privately paid childcare are offered during term time, with 15-hour funding for two- and three-year-olds and up to 30 hours for preschool children.

There is an opt-in voluntary contribution each term towards cooking and sensory activities and resources. It is separate from attendance charges, giving families a choice about contributing to those materials. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

For fee-paying families, an annual invoice is issued with monthly payments due at the start of each month. Booked sessions remain payable when missed through illness or holidays, and additional one-off sessions are paid for when booked. The practical consequence is that the cost follows the booking rather than the number of days actually attended.

Attending nursery on a primary-school site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process. Nursery preparation for school and the allocation of a school place are separate decisions.

• Short sessions for Owlets. Two- and three-year-olds in this room attend three-hour sessions, while preschool children can stay all day. Match the age-specific pattern to the care your family needs.
• Mathematical challenge. The July 2023 improvement priority concerned weighing, measuring and comparing amounts. During a visit, ask how those experiences now extend children's learning beyond counting.
• Preparing additional support. The admissions policy links starting arrangements for complex SEND to necessary adjustments. Discuss the preparation timetable and how your child's plan will be reviewed before agreeing a start date.
• Booked attendance carries a cost. Privately paid sessions remain chargeable during sickness or holidays. Factor that rule, and the separate charge for the preschool extension after 3pm, into your chosen pattern.

Beech Green suits families seeking term-time mornings or afternoons for younger children, or all-day sessions for preschool children. Its strongest current features are a curriculum grounded in communication and independence, Tapestry's connection with home, and a defined process for planning additional support.

The July 2023 Good judgement provides a dated quality reference, with mathematical challenge the clear improvement priority. For parents comfortable with the age-specific session rules, this is a nursery whose educational priorities connect closely to everyday childhood and preparation for school.