Sawtry Day Nursery

A garden that supplies the kitchen, songs supported by signing, and preschool tooth brushing give Sawtry Day Nursery a character grounded in everyday habits. Its purpose-built, air-conditioned building sits on the Sawtry Village Academy site in Fen Lane. Play, physical activity and growing independence run through the day, with separate rooms for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, finding exceptional learning and behaviour, highly effective support for children with additional needs and effective safeguarding. The detail behind that judgement matters: children experimented with coloured water, practised handling large building materials safely and had time to finish absorbing activities before routines moved on.

The nursery accepts children from 6 to 59 months and has 40 places in total. Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings serve different family routines, but attendance runs across the year rather than on a term-time-only basis.

Rooms and Ages

The BABY ROOM, for children up to 20 months, combines sensory exploration, supported physical play and singing, with activities accessible indoors and outside. In the TODDLER ROOM, from 20 to 33 months, stories, signing and songs accompany a choice of indoor and outdoor play, while a separate sleeping area allows daytime rest. PRE-SCHOOL, from 33 months onwards, emphasises experimentation, cooperative play and talking about emotions, with practitioners extending children's ideas through questions and indoor and outdoor activities.

Babies practise signing during snacks, including ways to communicate that they want more or have finished. Songs use puppets and props, giving the youngest children something concrete to attend to alongside the words.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning and care: play and everyday experiences develop communication, physical skills, relationships, early literacy and mathematics, alongside creative expression and understanding the world. It is the common foundation for early-years provision. Here, the day gives those areas practical expression through sensory exploration, movement, stories and conversation.

In June 2025, babies explored frozen water and sea-creature toys while staff introduced vocabulary; older children investigated colour mixing and tried out predictions. Adults asked questions and allowed thinking time before responding.

Stories . Songs . Rhymes brings toddlers together for books, musical instruments, signing and action songs. Preschool movement activities include yoga, dancing, parachute play and games with balls or beanbags. After lunch, storytelling may involve puppets or children's own sound effects and movements, so listening can be an active experience.

Outdoor and Community Life

The nursery garden produces fruit and vegetables that children help grow and harvest. That connects outdoor activity with food they encounter during the day, making growing things part of nursery life rather than an occasional display.

In June 2025, physical play progressed from early walking and climbing to bikes, obstacles, hills and construction with substantial pieces of wood. Staff discussed safe handling as children built, and children took turns on the climbing frame. These were opportunities to practise judgement as well as movement: deciding how to carry something and when to wait mattered alongside the physical challenge.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts with information about the individual child. Families complete an online care plan, and the process generally begins around three weeks before the start date. Sessions increase gradually, with the pace shaped by parents' knowledge and the child's experience of spending time away from them. A key person provides continuity as the child becomes familiar with nursery life.

In June 2025, staff gathered detailed information before children started and used repeated brief sessions to help them build relationships. Room changes also received deliberate attention.

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that additional needs were recognised promptly, referrals followed quickly and staff maintained close communication with families and other professionals, including when preparing children for Reception. This describes a practical support process: identifying a need, involving the right people and keeping information moving between them.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Rest has room in the routine. Babies' individual sleep patterns guide staff, while toddlers have a separate area with lowered lighting and quiet lullabies. The distinction is useful for families whose child still needs a daytime nap: sleep is an acknowledged part of care, with different arrangements for different stages.

My Smile is a preschool tooth-brushing programme supported by NHS dentists, with opportunities for children to brush during the nursery day. It gives a familiar health habit a place alongside play and learning. The nursery also has safeguarding officer and SEN lead roles, and staff have first-aid training; these are care arrangements rather than substitutes for the dated safeguarding judgement.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Sawtry Village Academy, Fen Lane, Sawtry, PE28 5TQ. Attendance is Monday to Friday across the year, with 51 weeks of non-funded childcare and closures on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. Hourly bookings and term-time-only childcare are not offered, so the model works best for families who want a recurring session pattern through school holidays as well as term time.

A full day runs from 8am to 5pm. Morning sessions run from 8am to 12.30pm, and afternoons from 12.30pm to 5pm. Funded days, mornings and afternoons use those same times. An early start from 7.45am to 8am and an afternoon extension from 5pm to 5.30pm can be arranged in advance, during registration or settling. Those extensions need to be part of the booking rather than treated as informal flexibility.

Fees are paid in advance for the month, with payment due by the seventh. Family holidays and illness remain chargeable, while days when the nursery is closed do not attract fees. Current prices should form part of the nursery's written quotation, so families can assess their chosen sessions and additions together.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery offers the government's 15 and 30 hours childcare support, stretching funded hours across 50 weeks. For a child eligible for the 30-hour entitlement, its stated pattern is a maximum of 22.5 funded hours a week. Funding does not apply in the week before the August bank holiday or between Christmas and New Year; the August week attracts full fees.

The abc inclusive childcare plan combines food, activities and specified supplies. Non-funded sessions include the plan in their fee; funded entitlement excludes these extras, with inclusive funded sessions carrying an additional charge and opt-out arrangements offered. Families comparing funded and private attendance therefore need to distinguish the childcare entitlement from the package around it.

Meals are prepared by the nursery cook on the premises, and the inclusive plan covers breakfast, snacks, lunch and tea. Wipes and suncream are also included in the plan, but parents supply nappies, nappy cream, baby milk and alternative dietary milk. Food and the plan's consumables are included in the inclusive session fee; funded sessions carry an additional charge for the plan. The fees page sets out the session and package structure.

Sharing the Sawtry Village Academy site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still use the local authority admissions process for a state-school place; nursery preparation and school admission are separate decisions.

• Collection time. Opening information gives both 5.30pm and 6pm as the closing time, while the afternoon extension ends at 5.30pm. Resolve the collection deadline for your intended booking before making work arrangements.
• The funded package. Stretched funding, the non-funded August week and the abc plan all affect the attendance bill. Ask for a written quotation showing your sessions, extras and any opt-out arrangements together.
• Visits follow an offer. Nursery tours are arranged when a place can be offered, rather than as an unrestricted preliminary visit. Use that visit to discuss your child's care plan, settling pace and any dietary needs before deciding.

Sawtry suits families seeking either full days or shorter morning and afternoon sessions across the year. Its appeal lies in concrete daily care: signing for babies, a separate toddler sleeping area, preschool tooth brushing and a garden used for growing food. The June 2025 judgement adds substantial weight to that practical offer.

The trade-offs are equally concrete. This is not an hourly or term-time-only booking model, and funded attendance involves a separate decision about the inclusive package. For families comfortable with those arrangements, the combination of purposeful play and attention to transitions makes a persuasive case.