The Little Green Frog Day Nursery

Raindrops and Sunbeams give The Little Green Frog Day Nursery a clear progression from early movement and first words to imaginative play and independent problem-solving. This Otley nursery combines care for babies with preschool education, using children's interests to shape the resources they explore. Play supplies the starting point.

At its 27 March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children made good progress, including those receiving targeted support for special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That dated assessment carries useful detail beneath the grade, alongside improvement points about lunchtime independence and how staff training was targeted.

The nursery has capacity for 58 children aged one month to five years. Its address is Ashfield Primary School, Weston Lane, Otley, LS21 2DF. Families can book full days, mornings or afternoons, with an early-start option; the differences between those arrangements matter as much as the overall opening window.

Rooms and Ages

Raindrops Room covers ages 0–30 months, with space for exploring textures and colours and resources supporting movement, emerging language and playing alongside other children. Sunbeams Room serves children aged 30–60 months, using sand, water, role play and creative resources that change with children's interests to encourage imagination and problem-solving.

Each room has an early years teacher leading its work.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play and interaction support their communication, physical development and growing independence. Here, changing resources and child-led themes give that work a concrete form. In Sunbeams, water and sand sit alongside imaginative and creative play.

In March 2023, children experimented with powder paint colours, while adults helped them approach tyre climbing with an understanding of risk.

The physical arrangements mattered too. In March 2023, low furniture helped babies practise walking, and a calmer area gave them somewhere to concentrate or try developing skills. Older children sometimes stood for craft work to strengthen the muscles needed for later writing. These activities provided practical preparation for writing.

Outdoor and Community Life

Nature and real-world experiences form part of the nursery's approach to play. In March 2023, children took outings to nearby places and learnt about community roles, including farmers and the police. That brought learning beyond the nursery rooms and helped children connect their experiences with the people around them.

Relationships and Communication

The key-worker system uses the name care bears for the adults providing individual care. In Raindrops, that arrangement sits alongside attention to each child's interests and developing abilities.

Families are encouraged to share information about their child's development, and a family barbeque provides another opportunity to participate in nursery life. In March 2023, settling sessions could be adapted, and a parent communication app was being introduced.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENDCo role forms part of the team. In March 2023, staff had time to review children's development and worked with other professionals to plan additional help where needed.

Everyday care also offered opportunities to respect children's choices. In March 2023, adults asked before changing clothing or nappies, and children practised handwashing before food. Staff helped children explain when a friend's behaviour upset them, giving them language for feelings and disagreements. These examples concern both personal care and learning to live alongside others.

There were limits to the independence work. In March 2023, children could help themselves to fruit at snack time, but lunch offered fewer opportunities to do things for themselves; staff development also needed closer matching to individual gaps in knowledge. Leaders had additionally missed a required notification about a significant event, although other procedures were followed and children's safety was unaffected.

At its 29 August 2025 regulatory visit, Ofsted found that staffing did not always meet children's needs during busy periods and required action to ensure safe supervision, including at pick-up times. On 9 September 2025, the provider responded with revised staffing arrangements and procedures shared with staff and parents, explaining how implementation would be overseen. This is the latest published position.

The team includes a chef, and meals follow a six-week menu plan. Food, drinks and snacks are covered by a separately identified consumables and extras charge, with a different choice for families accessing funded hours explained below.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am–6pm, Monday to Friday. The full-day booking runs from 8am to 6pm, mornings from 8am to 1pm and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm; early drop-off starts at 7.30am and carries an additional charge.

The minimum attendance request is two days a week. Places run across 52 weeks, with closures on Christmas day, Boxing day, New Year’s Day and two team training days, which are announced at least a month ahead. This makes the nursery relevant to families planning care across the year, as well as those using a term-time funded arrangement.

Fees cover the booked place rather than actual attendance. Monthly invoices follow the child's booking pattern for the coming month and can change with that month's pattern; payment is due in advance, by the 27th of the preceding month. The daily components remain chargeable during absence or nursery closure. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page sets out the charge structure.

Funding and Paid Extras

The Free Early Years Entitlement (FEEE) offer includes 30 hours for eligible working parents with children from nine months, 15 hours for qualifying two-year-olds receiving additional support, and 15 hours for all three- and four-year-olds. Eligible working families can combine the preschool entitlement with working-parent funding to access 30 hours. Eligibility conditions remain part of each entitlement.

For families accessing 30 funded hours, the attendance choices are two days a week across 52 weeks or three days a week across 38 weeks. Additional private days can be booked on top.

Meals, snacks and drinks are charged through the consumables and extras element, as are personal-care supplies and sun cream. During FEEE hours that charge is voluntary: families declining it provide food and consumables themselves, and children receive an alternative activity during charged trips or visits. Funding therefore needs to be considered alongside the family's chosen food, supplies and enrichment arrangements.

Enquiries can be made by telephone or through the contact form. The nursery's address places it at Ashfield Primary School; attending the nursery does not guarantee a Reception place, and families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• The shape of the week. The two-day minimum request and the separate early-start charge affect how mornings, afternoons and full days fit together. At a viewing, discuss how your intended pattern works with settling sessions and room routines.
• Independence and staff development. In March 2023, lunchtime self-help and individually targeted staff training needed further work. Ask how children now participate in meals and how room leaders identify development needs within their teams.
• Funded extras. Food and consumables charges are voluntary during FEEE hours, with home-provided supplies and alternative enrichment activities for families declining them.

The Little Green Frog suits families seeking either full-day care or morning and afternoon sessions, with funded attendance arranged across the year or during term time. Raindrops and Sunbeams provide a clear age progression, and the strongest detail lies in purposeful play: movement for younger children, changing materials for preschool children and opportunities to explore ideas.

The March 2023 Good judgement is useful, but the practical decision also rests on the two-day attendance request and the separation of childcare from extras. For parents who value learning through play and want a choice of session lengths, this is a nursery worth considering with those terms firmly in view.