Oak House Nursery School

A separate baby sleep room, daily field trips for Kindergarten children and a garden shaded by the oak tree give Oak House Nursery School a clear country character. In Brampton Abbotts, outside Ross-on-Wye, its outdoor spaces support growing, digging and physical play, while the indoor rooms make space for both busy activity and rest. The countryside is part of the nursery day.

At its 9 December 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Oak House Outstanding overall and across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. That is a dated judgement, rather than a description of every aspect of today's provision. The current setting has capacity for 100 children, with an accepted age range of 3 to 60 months.

Families can choose attendance during nursery terms or across the year. The practical distinction matters: term-time children do not attend during half-terms or school holidays, while year-round attendance continues outside those breaks, subject to the nursery's closures.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Nursery combines a playroom with underfloor heating and air conditioning, an adjoining activity space and a separate Beatrix Potter-themed Sleep Room; folding doors connect it to enclosed outdoor play beneath an electric awning. Sleep has its own space. For parents of babies, that separation is a useful distinction from resting in a room still being used for play.

Tiny Tots Nursery has a wooden playroom, a carpeted Sun Room and its own garden, with access to sensory activities and soft play alongside messy play. Toddler Nursery occupies the ground floor of the main house, pairing its base playroom with movement into the garden and an upstairs Quiet Room for sleep or calmer activities. These arrangements give children different spaces for energetic and quieter parts of the day.

Kindergarten Department occupies the upper floor of the Westside building, with two classrooms linked by an Activity Room used for making things and snack time. Its learning moves between play reflecting children's interests and more structured work on early reading, writing and number. The emphasis shifts towards independence and preparation for school, rather than simply adding harder versions of younger children's activities.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the shared foundation for learning and care: children learn through play, with experiences covering its seven areas of learning. Oak House takes account of children's interests and development when planning those experiences. Painting, stories, music and investigating everyday objects therefore have an educational purpose alongside their immediate enjoyment.

Kindergarten adds several concrete teaching routines. Letters and Sounds supports phonics, alongside Jolly Phonics Stories and Songs; from the spring term, Sound of the Week introduces a letter sound, with children bringing a matching object for discussion. Boo Zoo Maths Programme covers mathematical concepts within the EYFS, with the level adjusted to children's development. These routines give families recognisable ways to connect nursery learning with conversations at home.

Field School means daily Kindergarten visits to the field to extend learning outdoors. Specialist activities also include Spanish, rugby and yoga, while Kindergarten drama sessions take place on Thursdays. An Artist in Residence leads individual and group art projects on Wednesdays during term time. Cookery involves examining ingredients, pouring, chopping and mixing, so children take part in the process rather than only eating the result.

In December 2022, vocabulary work included Fab Vocab, an initiative that introduced new words and revisited them in conversation and activities across the rooms. Babies explored an indoor sandpit and painting, while older children used songs, stories and early phonics. Those examples show what the language emphasis looked like at that time; the current phonics routines provide the more immediate guide for families choosing Kindergarten.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor layout offers more than a single playground. Babies have their own Astro garden, while a covered sand pit extends outdoor play into damp weather. Beneath the oak tree, a mud kitchen and digging space support hands-on exploration. The field opposite contains chickens and growing areas, linking outdoor activity with looking after food sources.

Kindergarten outings have included Ross Library, Ross Garden Store, The Wye Valley Butterfly Zoo and The Forest of Dean. Outings are arranged across different weekdays so children attending different patterns can participate. These are examples of past destinations, rather than a fixed future itinerary.

The seasonal calendar includes an autumn Harvest Festival, a Christmas Nativity Play and Carol Service, spring concerts and summer Sports Days. Parents accompany babies and toddlers to Christmas parties. Events create opportunities for families to share nursery life, and the inclusive fee arrangements cover event props and outfits rather than expecting parents to supply them.

Relationships and Communication

Settling in Baby Nursery is gradual and tailored to the family. Parents spend time with their child and the team before stepping back, and a familiar comfort object can come from home. Bumps and Babes runs on Fridays for families considering the nursery, providing a recurring opportunity to become familiar with the baby provision.

Moving to Tiny Tots involves meeting the new Key Carers and team leader, followed by short visits with a member of the baby team accompanying the child. That makes the move a sequence of familiar introductions. Toddlers continue to work with their own Key Carers, including liaison with parents as toilet training begins.

iConnect carries daily observations, photographs, assessments and messages between home and nursery. Parents contribute All About My Development charts when their child joins, helping staff establish a starting point. Welcome Meetings introduce the nursery's arrangements, and annual parents' evenings provide a scheduled conversation about progress. The combination offers both everyday contact and occasions to discuss development in more depth.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described SEND support involving the SENCo, an inclusion team, parents and outside specialists, with extra staffing funded for individual needs. The current safeguarding arrangements include staff training, safer recruitment procedures and a Child Protection policy. Those mechanisms are distinct from the dated effectiveness judgement.

Rest is accommodated beyond the baby stage. Tiny Tots use a dedicated sleeping room, with sleep times entered on iConnect; Kindergarten children have quiet time after lunch, and a daytime nap can be arranged in the Quiet Room. The two-year development discussion involves parents and the Key Carer, with a copy of the check taken to the Health Visitor.

Meals and snacks are freshly prepared on site by the Head Cook, and the nursery's dietary policy provides for medical and vegetarian diets and individual adjustments. Cookery and shared meals make food part of children's experience as well as their care routine.

School transition starts once a child's destination is known. Reception teachers are invited to meet their incoming children, and transition checks are shared with them. The work centres on continuity of information and familiarisation, alongside practical skills such as dressing and managing coats and shoes.

Sessions and Attendance

Oak House opens from 8am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, at Oak House, Brampton Abbotts, Ross-On-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 7JD. Attendance can be term-time or year-round, with families selecting days and session patterns through a registration form.

Morning and School Day bookings are among the session patterns. Morning-only sessions are available only in the final preschool year, and only alongside at least two other School Days. All children must attend at least two sessions weekly on separate days. This minimum is important for a family seeking only occasional attendance: the booking commitment extends beyond a single weekly session.

The nursery closes on statutory bank holidays, for two inset days annually and for approximately a week at Christmas, with fees not payable during those closures. Additional sessions can be requested through ParentZone or by emailing the office. The contact form and nursery telephone provide the enquiry routes; a registration form sets out the requested attendance pattern.

Funding and Paid Extras

Oak House accepts Early Education Funding [EEF], with eligible children receiving funding from the term after turning 9 months. Paid childcare is also offered. Families receive current prices through the nursery's written quotation, and the fees and funding information explains the attendance and payment terms.

Private fees include meals and snacks, as well as disposable nappies, wipes and creams. Funded attendance has a separate food charge calculated from the sessions attended, and children attending on a fully funded basis can decline the meal provision. The distinction matters when comparing an inclusive private booking with funded hours.

For fully funded attendance, the nursery also requests a recommended voluntary contribution. Outings, events, visiting specialist teachers, clothing and lending-library provision are identified as items that could attract charges, although the nursery currently specifies no charges for those items and reserves the right to introduce them at any time without notice. Families should distinguish those possible extras from the food charge and the voluntary contribution.

Invoices follow a four-weekly cycle, and new parents must sign up to the Direct Debit service. Payments can also be made by cash, Tax-Free Childcare, Workplace Vouchers or bank transfer before outstanding balances are collected by Direct Debit. Fees remain payable for absence through illness or family holidays. Reducing attendance or leaving requires one full calendar month's written notice, with fees payable instead if notice is not given. Settling is free while a parent remains on site; sessions exceeding two hours in the nursery's sole care attract a charge for the whole period.

• The weekly commitment. Attendance requires two sessions on separate days, and final-year preschool morning bookings need two other School Days. Discuss how the proposed pattern fits your week before completing the registration form.
• Funded and private costs differ. Private fees include food and personal-care supplies, while funded attendance carries a separate food charge; a recommended voluntary contribution is requested for fully funded attendance. Ask for a written breakdown for your proposed sessions, including the treatment of nappies, wipes and creams during funded hours.
• Settling charges. Parent-accompanied settling is free, but leaving a child in sole care for more than two hours triggers a charge for the full period. Agree the gradual settling plan and its charging basis before it begins.
• Rest and dietary routines. Separate sleeping spaces and individual dietary adjustments form part of the offer. On a visit, discuss your child's sleep routine and, where relevant, confirm current allergy-management practice with the room team.

Oak House suits families choosing either term-time attendance or year-round care who want substantial outdoor activity, separate spaces for rest and a recognisable progression towards school. Morning bookings and School Days add choice, although the weekly minimum and preschool conditions need to fit the household's timetable.

The strongest case rests on concrete provision: the baby sleeping space, daily Kindergarten Field School, practical cookery and regular communication through iConnect. The December 2022 Outstanding judgement adds a clear inspection reference. For funded families, the decisive practical task is to understand the food charge alongside the attendance commitment, plus the recommended voluntary contribution requested for fully funded attendance.