Growing Places, Morelands

Growing vegetables, preparing snacks and investigating the garden give Growing Places, Morelands a practical, hands-on character. Its purpose-built nursery shares the Morelands Primary School site in Waterlooville, bringing cooking, outdoor exploration and conversation into the nursery day. Everyday tasks become things children can take part in themselves.

At its December 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, alongside those learning English as an additional language, developed confidence in communication. Those are dated judgements, rather than a description of every child's experience today.

The nursery accepts children aged 6 to 60 months. Breakfast and after-school clubs sit alongside its nursery provision, making this a setting with both early-years care and support around the school day.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, conversation and practical experiences help children build skills together. Alongside it, the group-wide Growing Places Approach gives children opportunities to make choices, connect ideas and communicate their interests. Here, the garden and food preparation provide concrete ways to put those principles into practice.

During December 2023, children investigated how pine cones changed under different conditions. Staff encouraged them to remember what they had discovered, propose another experiment and discuss what happened. The value lay in the thinking as much as the activity: children were practising how to test an idea and explain their reasoning.

Mathematics also had a practical setting that month. Making mince pies involved weighing ingredients, while comparing cups with the children present gave counting an immediate purpose. Toddlers explored shapes through stacking blocks and considered why particular shapes would not balance together. These were different routes into understanding quantity, shape and space.

Outdoor and Community Life

A garden extends the space for imaginative play and investigation. Children grow vegetables, join cooking activities and help prepare snacks, connecting what they grow with what they eat. Food tasting introduces flavours from different parts of the world, giving mealtimes a role beyond refuelling.

In December 2023, older children were visiting a local care home weekly. Conversation with residents brought contact with another generation into their learning, rather than keeping all social experiences within their own age group. Children also explored different Christmas customs, discussing traditions and taking part in recreated experiences. That gave differences between families something tangible to talk about.

In December 2023, staff adjusted their responses to individual children and used a calm manner during interactions. Children helped one another with practical difficulties, including an activity involving scissors and sticky tape. Care was visible in small exchanges between children as well as in adult support.

Language work was woven into routines that month. Younger children heard short sentences and clearly spoken words; older children took turns asking friends what they wanted at snack time and passing the food across. These examples show how a familiar routine can become an opportunity to listen, speak and respond, with different demands for different stages of development.

Independence had a similarly practical form. During December 2023, children washed fruit and discussed the dirt left in the water, then practised cutting it with guidance about handling knives safely. The task connected hygiene, risk awareness and preparation of their own food. It asked children to understand the reason for a routine as well as follow it.

Fresh meals are provided, and preparing food is part of the children's experience. Mealtimes also create space to share and talk together.

Partnership work in December 2023 involved parents, other childcare settings, schools and professionals supporting children's next steps. This matters for families whose child needs continuity between different adults or settings: the example is collaboration around the child, rather than an implied advantage in school admissions.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at Morelands Primary School, Crookhorn Lane, Waterlooville, PO7 5QL. It opens Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 18:00 and operates across the year, closing for bank holidays, a week at Christmas and a summer closure of one week. Those closures matter when planning care across a working year.

Breakfast and after-school clubs are also offered at this branch. They serve a different purpose from nursery attendance, extending the setting's role to care around the school day. Enquiries can be made through the contact form by selecting Morelands, or by calling 02392 241 798.

Funding and Paid Extras

In December 2023, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. Families should use a current written quotation from the nursery when considering prices and the terms of their proposed attendance.

Moving on to School

Sharing the Morelands Primary School site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still need to use the local authority admissions process. The practical distinction is between attending childcare on a school site and securing admission to the school itself.

• A school site, a separate admissions decision. The nursery shares the Morelands Primary School site, but attendance does not guarantee Reception admission. Keep the local authority application separate from childcare arrangements.
• Closures across the year. Bank holidays and the Christmas and summer closure weeks interrupt the usual weekday opening pattern. These are concrete dates to build into family care planning.
• Your child's attendance and care arrangements. During a visit, ask how your proposed nursery attendance would work, how settling is organised and what the written quotation includes for meals and non-food consumables. For a baby, include sleep arrangements in that discussion.

Growing Places, Morelands suits families who value practical learning, garden exploration and children's participation in everyday tasks. Vegetable growing and snack preparation give that character substance, while the December 2023 examples show how questioning, counting and conversation were threaded through ordinary activities.

Its attendance offer reaches families seeking nursery care as well as those needing breakfast or after-school clubs. The school site is useful context, but the admissions decision remains separate. The strongest reason to consider Morelands is the combination of practical experiences and the detailed, positive December 2023 assessment of education and care.