Wyeside Day Nursery

A working clay oven, monthly visits to Hampton Park Care Home and a baby room with an adjoining sleep room give Wyeside Day Nursery a character that extends well beyond indoor play. Outdoor exploration and contact with the local community are substantial parts of its offer. For babies, that sits alongside attention to familiar routines; for older children, there is more scope to choose activities and take on challenges.

At its 20 November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Wyeside Good, judged safeguarding effective and identified support for children with special educational needs and disabilities as a strength, including collaboration with parents and outside professionals. The judgement called for shorter waits at snacks and lunch, more social mealtimes and further development of learning activities. Both matter to the everyday experience.

At 26 Eign Road in Hereford, the nursery has capacity for 66 children and accepts children from three months to five years. Its rooms include Cosy Cottage for the youngest children and Treehouse for preschool children. Attendance runs across the year, with a term-time option for children using only their free 15 hours.

Rooms and Ages

Cosy Cottage, for children from three months to two years, combines natural play materials and sensory exploration with its own outdoor space and an adjoining sleep room, giving rest a separate place.

Between two and three, children use an indoor sensory den and their own outdoor area for sensory play and child- and adult-led activities. Photographs document discoveries rather than a finished product after every session.

Treehouse, for children aged three to five, has a large room and outdoor areas for challenges children choose with practitioner support; regular outings include the library and sensory park.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through play and exploration, developing language, movement and social relationships before extending into literacy, mathematics and understanding the world. Planning combines children's interests with adult-led experiences.

Hygge shapes comfortable surroundings through soft furnishings, textures, natural light and lamps. Alongside this environmental approach, an open log-cabin style outdoor classroom gives children another place to explore materials.

Melody Dance offers free weekly freestyle dance from age two. Occasional Baby Ballet uses nursery rhymes, larger movements and acting out stories; Yoga Sessions adapt stories, songs and body movements to children's development. Movement takes several forms.

Sign-along combines speech with key-word signs, gestures and facial expression in everyday interaction and small-group songs and stories. Monkey Music offers action songs children join at their own level, adding another route into shared activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

Every activity room connects to the garden, with sand, water and messy play accessible outdoors. The youngest children have the Cottage Garden, separate from older children's bikes and busier play. Waterproof clothing supports outdoor activity in changing weather, so the garden is part of the nursery day rather than a fair-weather addition.

Forest School provides hands-on exploration of the natural world, including using tools and working with natural materials. Children aged two and over have weekly sessions with the nursery's leaders; visiting sessions take place every other week. Forest School participation starts from 18 months. A mud kitchen, fire circle and working clay oven give this provision concrete substance. Activities include making things with natural materials and toasting marshmallows around the fire.

Frequent visits to the River Wye centre on wildlife and seasonal change. Monthly visits to Hampton Park Care Home bring children and residents together for stories, songs, games and activities such as making cards. These are recurring connections with places and people outside nursery, giving children something more specific to talk about than an occasional unnamed outing.

Relationships and Communication

Free settling sessions follow the family's preferred approach. The Admission form, All about me pack and key-person conversations gather information about the child; babies' routines follow home patterns.

Tapestry, a secure online journal, lets families and practitioners exchange observations, photographs and learning information. Daily key-person conversations and termly developmental reviews complement parents' contributions from home.

A monitored sleep room has cots and individual beds, with familiar rocking or patting used where possible. In November 2024, staff checked sleeping children physically as well as visually and respected privacy during nappy changing.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENDCO works with key persons and parents when developmental concerns arise. Individual Educational Plans require parental consent, set small achievable goals and are reviewed at least once a term. Adjustments can include visual aids or smaller groups for activities. These are concrete mechanisms for adapting the day to a child's needs, with outside professionals involved where appropriate.

A sensory and soft play room offers exploration through sound, sight and touch, and also provides a quieter space for children who become overstimulated. Support for families extends to the Wellbeing Station, a blue shed in the playground containing donated food, clothing, nappies and other essentials. St Martins Food share has contributed food deliveries, while nursery families also donate items.

Safeguarding arrangements include designated lead roles, staff training and safer recruitment procedures. Access uses locked external doors and gates, video-phone entry and a fingerprint system for parents accessing the main nursery doors. These are practical arrangements; the dated safeguarding judgement belongs to the inspection, rather than to the security equipment.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Children generally attend throughout the year, including school holidays; only children using solely their free 15 hours may attend term time. Funded hours can also be spread over 51 weeks, offering a different way to organise attendance around the holidays.

The 2026 closure calendar includes Christmas Day and 28 to 31 December, followed by 1 January 2027; Christmas Eve opening ends at 3pm. These dated arrangements matter for families planning work over the festive period. Enquiries and applications use the Let's Talk contact form, with telephone contact on 01432 358070.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible babies from nine months and eligible two-, three- and four-year-olds. The funding arrangements include 15/30 hours for three- and four-year-olds, subject to the relevant criteria, and 15 hours for some eligible two-year-olds. Delivery can follow the 38-week school year or be stretched over 51 weeks; additional attendance is paid privately. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Hot lunches are prepared on site by a chef, with a menu that changes weekly, and are charged separately; families may instead supply a packed lunch and provide tea or a snack for attendance after 4pm, while milk is free and morning and afternoon snacks are provided. The packed-lunch policy excludes products containing nuts because of allergies, so allergy-affected families should confirm current practice.

Parents supply consumables including nappies, wipes and sun cream, with nappies and wipes alternatively supplied for a charge per session. Fees are invoiced ahead for the month, and booked attendance remains payable during absence. A free holiday week is conditional on taking it during Herefordshire Council's summer school holiday period and booking it four weeks ahead.

• Food and the pace of learning. The November 2024 improvements concerned waiting at snacks and lunch, making those meals more social, and missed opportunities to develop activities further. During a visit, ask how food routines and staff interactions now address those points.
• Term-time attendance. The term-time option is restricted to children using only their free 15 hours. Families combining funding with extra paid attendance need to plan for attendance across school holidays.
• Outdoor sessions for younger children. Forest School participation starts from 18 months. Nursery-led weekly sessions are for children aged two and over; visiting sessions take place every other week. Ask how that combination works for your child's age and attendance days.
• Holiday cover. The dated Christmas closures interrupt the usual weekday opening pattern. Families needing care over that period should build those closure days into their plans.

Wyeside suits families seeking either attendance across the year or a term-time pattern using only the free 15 hours. Its strongest practical attractions are the connections between indoor rooms and outdoor spaces, the separate rest provision for babies, and recurring activities with named community partners.

Weekly dance, everyday signing and monthly care-home visits add substance. The November 2024 recommendations temper the assessment, but families valuing outdoor activity and detailed communication have concrete reasons to consider Wyeside.