The Anchor Day Nursery & Pre-School

Woodland, a purpose-designed barn setting and wooden sailing boats give The Anchor its character. At Kings Ripton Lodge near Huntingdon, the countryside is part of the children's play space: there are dens to build, tyre swings to try and outdoor areas connected to the toddler and preschool rooms. This is a nursery for families who want outdoor exploration to sit alongside reading, creative play and quieter time indoors.

The nursery has capacity for 48 children, with its early-years offer covering three months to five years. At its May 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall and judged safeguarding effective, while asking staff to check children's understanding more carefully when introducing new ideas. Later safeguarding compliance findings in June 2024 and September 2025 also matter to the decision, despite the actions taken in response.

Term-time and stretched funded attendance are both offered, alongside privately paid childcare. Their practical differences deserve attention: fixed funded sessions, separately charged food and an unfunded week affect how the arrangement fits a family's working year.

Rooms and Ages

Aurora Room serves the youngest children, within a room band of birth to two years: wood beams and ivy frame uncluttered play areas for gentle exploration, while a dedicated sleep space gives resting babies somewhere quieter than the active play space.

For two- to three-year-olds, Hurly Room combines reading tipis and sensory trays with direct access to its outdoor arena, where water, natural materials and a wooden sailing ship give toddlers several ways to explore and play imaginatively.

Ariel Room, for three- to five-year-olds, brings together tuff trays, natural materials and an adjoining messy room for creative work, with a partly covered outdoor area, a wooden sailing boat and regular forest time extending play beyond the room.

The open layout lets children become familiar with neighbouring spaces before moving rooms, reducing the change of surroundings at that next stage.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes learning and care through play, supporting children's communication, physical development and growing understanding of the world. The Anchor Nature Explorer's Club adds woodland activities based on a Forest School ethos: children lead exploration, work with others and tackle practical challenges outdoors. Activities include supervised tree climbing and natural art.

Den making and sensory exploration give children practical ways to investigate the woodland. An outdoor classroom provides an alternative during extreme weather.

In May 2023, books were a recurring part of the day, including a selected weekly title revisited daily. Staff changed the book selection to follow children's interests. Repetition gave children opportunities to return to vocabulary and ideas, rather than encountering each story only once.

Communication also threaded through activities at that time: babies heard songs and rhymes, while older children talked about colour mixing and tested ideas about textured paint. The weakness was in follow-through. In May 2023, staff sometimes introduced a concept without establishing whether children understood it, or left an explanation short of the detail needed.

Relationships and Communication

Settling sessions form part of enrolment. Families buying private hours also receive an administration package covering two to three settling visits and a manager meeting about their child's routines, interests and needs. That gives parents a defined opportunity to explain the details that matter at home before ordinary attendance begins.

In May 2023, children formed close relationships with their key person, and parents received learning updates and ideas for home. Current communication includes weekly emailed photographs and activity news, plus a secure learning-journey app for parents' comments.

App updates cover eating, naps, observations and photographs; telephone updates allow direct conversation.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The manager holds the SENCo role, and the team includes designated safeguarding lead responsibilities and paediatric first aid cover. These are identifiable arrangements through which families can raise developmental or welfare questions. They do not replace the need to consider the later regulatory findings.

In its June 2024 and September 2025 compliance outcomes, Ofsted recorded safeguarding implementation failures followed by immediate action it accepted in 2024, and further requirements failures followed by corrective action in 2025, including support on timely referrals and staff coaching on behaviour management. The recurrence is material: action in response should be considered alongside the fact that safeguarding-related shortcomings arose again.

Meals are cooked on site, with menus changing weekly; the nursery publishes a no-nut policy and allows home food subject to labelling, cool-bag and nutritional rules. Choosing food from home therefore involves preparation and policy requirements, while the nursery food option is separately charged.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Kings Ripton Lodge, Kings Ripton, Huntingdon, PE28 2NH. Nursery opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with closures on bank holidays and for a week at Christmas. Enquiries can be made through the enquiry form, by telephone on 01487 773162 or by email to theanchor@goldenapples.co.uk.

Funded childcare uses fixed sessions. Starts must be at 8am, 9am or 1pm, and the offered lengths are three, four and a half, five, six, seven and a half, or ten hours. These sessions cannot be joined together. Collecting early is permitted, but the whole booked session is still claimed against funding, so the child's collection time and the funding used need not match.

For older siblings, Admiral's Lounge provides breakfast, after-school and holiday clubs for ages five to fourteen. Breakfast Club opens at 7.30am; After School Club runs from 3pm to 6.30pm on weekdays. The school minibus service is subject to demand, so it should not be treated as an unconditional transport arrangement.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible families can use 15 or 30 funded hours per week during term time, across 38 weeks. Stretched delivery spreads the entitlement over 50 weeks, providing 11.5 or 22.5 hours per week respectively, with funding claims amended accordingly. Under the group-wide funding arrangements, one week at the beginning of the autumn term is unfunded; families receive advance notice and may choose to buy childcare for that week.

Moving between term-time and stretched delivery is possible only at the start of the academic year in September. Additional hours are charged separately. These rules make the annual attendance plan as important as the weekly timetable, especially for parents whose work continues through school holidays.

Food, including snacks, is a separate charge, with an option to provide food from home under the food policy. Parents must supply nappies, wipes, nappy bags, cream and sun cream each day; a replacement charge applies when required items are missing. Optional enrichment is another separate category: families can opt in or out, with their choice fixed for the term and the full EYFS continuing either way.

An enrolment deposit is returned after the child starts. A non-refundable administration charge applies only to families purchasing private hours, including extra hours alongside funding. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation for chosen hours, food and optional extras; the nursery price list provides a starting point.

• Repeated safeguarding findings. The June 2024 and September 2025 outcomes both concern safeguarding-related requirements, with action recorded in response. At a showaround, ask how referral timescales and behaviour-management coaching now translate into daily practice.
• Fixed funding patterns. Sessions cannot be combined, early collection still uses the whole session's funding, and the stretched arrangement leaves an unfunded autumn week. Compare the proposed attendance schedule with your working year before enrolment.
• Food and allergy arrangements. Home food must meet the nursery's preparation and labelling rules, and its policy excludes nuts. Allergy-affected families should confirm current handling arrangements and discuss the proposed menu or packed lunch.
• Room fit. Aurora's sleep space, Hurly's outdoor arena and Ariel's messy room offer different experiences. During a visit, ask how your child's routines and interests would fit the room and how moving between rooms is planned.

The Anchor suits families seeking countryside play with purposeful indoor spaces, whether they need term-time funded attendance or stretched attendance with additional paid hours. Aurora's resting space and the older rooms' outdoor connections give the offer substance; the woodland club adds a clear practical dimension to learning through play.

The woodland setting has appeal, but repeated safeguarding-related findings remain material to the decision. Fixed sessions and separate charges also shape its practical fit.