Good Manors Day Nursery Queenswood Lodge

Spanish nursery rhymes, a homemade zebra crossing and baking for charity give Queenswood Lodge a recognisable character: practical play connects children with language, everyday safety and other families. This Waterlooville nursery accepts ages from 3 to 60 months.

At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received support suited to their individual needs. That judgement also came with clear improvements to make: staff needed to give children more responsibility for everyday tasks and make teaching more consistent.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning and care; here, its inspection-era examples included learning through play, developing language and practising everyday skills. It is the common framework for early years provision, rather than an additional programme unique to Queenswood Lodge.

In January 2023, staff built activities around what individual children were ready to learn next. Babies practised using spoons, while older children progressed to other cutlery. Conversations followed children's interests: looking through a window prompted adults to introduce words for what babies could see, and exploring water with tea bags gave younger children opportunities to describe their actions. These are useful examples of learning woven into ordinary experiences.

There was a limit to that approach. In January 2023, adults sometimes removed children's shoes or made decisions for babies when the children could have done more themselves. Older children's work on letters also received explanations that were occasionally inaccurate. For parents, the issue is how consistently adults extend learning, rather than how many activities fill the day.

A November 2024 Spanish visit brought Kidslingo Petersfield, Waterlooville & Havant to the preschool children. They tried greetings, counting and familiar songs in another language, with Rio the bear joining the lesson and a parachute game finishing it. Children looked forward to receiving a sticker for their Brighter Learning Approach passport to mark their achievement. This was a specific visit, rather than evidence of a weekly language timetable.

Rooms and Ages

During Road Safety Week in November 2024, children in the Baby Room used their garden for a road activity and explored traffic-light colours through playdough. The Tweenies painted a car together for imaginative play, while children in Pre-School developed a road and zebra crossing in their exploration area. The same theme took different forms across the groups, giving younger children materials to investigate and older children signs and rules to discuss.

Outdoor and Community Life

In January 2023, outdoor play gave children sustained time to dig, construct and practise balance, including on beams. Children also persisted as they built towers of blocks. These examples show the place that physical experimentation held in the day at that time.

July 2025 brought rainbow-themed fundraising for Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity, which supports families caring for a seriously ill child. Preschool children baked rock cakes to sell, and the Tweenies made shortbread; children also wore rainbow colours. Baking gave the fundraising a concrete task children could take part in, rather than leaving the charitable purpose entirely to adults.

In January 2023, young children sought comfort from staff, while older children formed friendships and played together. Adults knew individual children's interests and used that knowledge when planning activities. Familiar relationships mattered both for reassurance and for choosing the next manageable challenge.

Home learning bags were another practical connection between nursery and family life in January 2023. Parents could borrow them to continue activities at home, giving families something tangible to share with their child. Staff also worked with external professionals supporting children with additional needs, linking nursery activities with the child's wider care and education.

Mealtimes in January 2023 brought children together for meals and snacks, alongside opportunities to practise feeding themselves. The independence concern extended into daily care and hygiene routines, making these ordinary parts of the day as relevant to parents as planned learning activities.

Queenswood Lodge's address is 223 London Road, Waterlooville, PO8 8DA. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with year-round operation and closures for bank holidays and one week at Christmas. Those closures matter when arranging childcare around work.

In January 2023, the nursery received early education funding for children aged two, three and four. A family's current prices should come in the nursery's written quotation, with the attendance arrangement and any funded hours set out together.

• Independence in everyday care. In January 2023, adults sometimes did tasks children could manage. During a visit, look at how staff support children to make choices and handle shoes, cutlery and hygiene routines themselves.
• Consistency of teaching. January 2023 highlighted occasional inaccuracies in letter work. Ask how staff now keep explanations accurate and adapt activities to each child's next step.
• Attendance and the total bill. The opening window runs from 7.30am to 6pm, with Christmas and bank holiday closures. What booking pattern would suit your child, and how would funded hours, meals and consumables fit into its written quotation?

Queenswood Lodge suits families seeking year-round weekday childcare and a nursery where practical activities connect learning with everyday life. The Spanish visit, road-safety play and charity baking give that character substance. Its January 2023 Good judgement needs to be read alongside the specific concerns about independence and teaching consistency; those are the most useful points to explore when deciding whether its current practice fits your child.