Wentwood House Day Nursery

A Sensory Suite, a separate sleep room and a Forest Area give Wentwood House Day Nursery several different ways to organise a young child's day. This Fleet nursery occupies a former chiropractor surgery, with younger children upstairs and older children on the ground floor. Its appeal lies in that combination of age-specific indoor spaces and outdoor exploration.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall and judged safeguarding effective. The strongest practical features are the separation of play, rest and sensory spaces, alongside a garden that combines an astroturf surface with a natural area for exploration. Children can encounter different materials and activities rather than spending their day in one kind of play space.

The current age range is 3 to 60 months. Weekday opening extends from 7.30am to 6.30pm, with closures for bank holidays and a week at Christmas.

Rooms and Ages

The Under 2’s Top Floor- Babies accommodates children aged 3 to 15 months, with carpet for crawling, a harder surface for messy activities and meals, and black-and-white sensory resources. Its separate Sensory Suite has blackout shutters and clouds, giving this youngest age group a separate sensory space alongside the main play areas.

For children between 15 months and two years, the Toddler Suite combines an open layout and bay windows with wooden resources supporting different areas of learning. A dedicated changing room keeps personal care close to this stage's play space.

The Over 2’s Floor occupies three ground-floor rooms, combining increasingly structured routines with play, and placing toilets and changing facilities nearby. French doors and bay windows are physical features of these rooms. The Construction and Role Play Suite divides space between imaginative play, building and small-world activities linked to children's interests. That gives older children room to develop an idea through several kinds of play.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning and care: everyday play, conversation and practical experiences help develop skills across its areas of learning. Here, the room arrangements give that work different forms as children grow, from sensory exploration and crawling to construction and imaginative play.

In September 2024, babies practised reaching for resources while staff talked and played with them; toddlers experimented with paint and crayons, and older children developed imaginative play together. These examples show how activities were adapted to different stages rather than treating the nursery as one undifferentiated group.

Questioning was a mixed picture in September 2024. Staff encouraged children to explain their ideas, but sometimes supplied answers too soon and missed signs that children were losing interest. The important distinction is between offering an activity and keeping children actively involved in it.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Forest Area adds den building, nature investigation and a mud kitchen to the outdoor offer, with stories and songs also taking place there. Wooden equipment uses locally sourced oak. Alongside the astroturf garden, this gives children both a conventional play surface and opportunities to handle natural materials.

In September 2024, children collected bark, soil and twigs in bowls, then discussed what they had found, including differences in size and colour. Older children also explained how to handle African snails carefully and why handwashing mattered. These were concrete opportunities to connect curiosity with care for living things.

Relationships and Communication

In September 2024, staff knew children's interests and needs, and children settled into their age-group rooms and joined activities readily. Babies' rest arrangements followed routines agreed with their parents. That matters for families whose baby's sleep pattern needs to remain recognisable across home and nursery.

Parents were positive about the developmental information they received in September 2024. The useful point is the connection between everyday care and communication: staff's knowledge of each child informed activities, while parents received updates about development.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children needing additional help, including those with SEND, received good support, with the special educational needs coordinator helping staff put individual plans into practice. Training addressed speech, language, emotions and behaviour, connecting support to specific needs rather than a general promise of inclusion.

Daily transitions needed more attention in September 2024. During some changes of activity, staff became occupied with preparation or tidying, leaving children uncertain or overexcited. This is a practical care issue: the moments between activities need adult guidance as much as the activities themselves.

Food is prepared by an in-house chef at the sister setting across the road, with seasonal menus covering breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks. International Days introduce food associated with staff's and children's home countries, adding a cultural element to meals.

Sessions and Attendance

Wentwood House opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6.30pm, and operates across the year apart from bank holidays and one Christmas week. That opening window gives families scope to align childcare with the working day, while the closure pattern needs to fit their holiday arrangements.

Enquiries go through Famly, the nursery's early childhood platform, with the team then discussing the family's requirements and arranging a visit. This provides a direct route into the joining process.

Getting There

The address is Wentwood House, Stockton Avenue, Fleet, GU51 4NP, at the junction with Fleet Road. A large car park serves the nursery, a useful practical feature for families travelling by car.

Funding and Paid Extras

In September 2024, the nursery received funding for early education for children aged two, three and four. That is a dated participation fact; the financial decision for a family also depends on the attendance arrangement and what accompanies those hours.

• Support between activities. In September 2024, some children needed more guidance while staff prepared or cleared activities. During a visit, ask how adults now organise these changes, especially around meals and outdoor play.
• Time to think and respond. In September 2024, adults sometimes answered their own questions too quickly or missed waning attention. Look for how children are given thinking time and how group activities respond to their engagement.
• Attendance and the total package. The weekday opening window runs from 7.30am to 6.30pm, with bank holiday and Christmas closures. What booking arrangement and current funded terms would apply to your child, including charges or parent-supplied items for meals and consumables?

Wentwood House suits families who value separate spaces for different developmental stages, sensory play and a natural outdoor area alongside the garden. The baby accommodation has concrete features worth weighing: crawling surfaces, sensory resources and a separate sensory space, rather than simply an age label.

The September 2024 Good judgement supports that appeal, but the two improvement points deserve attention: guidance during transitions and more responsive questioning. For parents whose weekday schedules fit the opening window, the strongest case is the combination of purposeful room layouts and outdoor exploration, assessed alongside how consistently adults support children throughout the day.