Madresfield Early Years Centre

A working dairy farm, woodland activity sites and a purpose-built baby lodge give Madresfield Early Years Centre a character that reaches well beyond its playrooms. At Hayswood Farm in Madresfield, near Malvern, outdoor exploration and physical activity are substantial parts of the offer. Converted farm buildings sit alongside a gymnasium and cookery spaces. There is plenty here for children who learn by moving, making and investigating.

At its November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the centre Good and found safeguarding effective, with children making good developmental progress and effective support involving parents and outside agencies for children with special educational needs or disabilities. The same assessment identified two practical improvements: greater challenge in adult-directed learning and better teaching about hand hygiene. Those matter alongside the appealing surroundings.

The centre has 188 places in total and accepts children aged two months to five years. Term-time attendance and holiday care sit alongside shorter and longer days, with a separate part-time department for children from two years old.

Rooms and Ages

Hayswood Lodge has a stated maximum of 18 babies and toddlers, with open-plan daytime space for sensory and physical exploration and the Ocean sleep room within the building. That cap belongs to the baby department, rather than the whole centre. Feed and sleep routines are discussed with parents, so the move into childcare can retain familiar parts of a baby's day.

Ducklings, Goslings and Cygnets accommodate toddlers from 18 months to three years, combining play with books and art materials, access to gardens and playgrounds, and rooms equipped for changing, toileting and sleep. Their day also includes animal care, feeding birds and grooming miniature ponies. Farm life becomes something children take part in, rather than simply a view beyond the window.

Rainbow's End serves children approaching three and older, combining play chosen by children with activities organised by adults, smaller family groups for part of the session, and access to cookery, gardening, pet care and physical activities. These different forms of participation give children opportunities both to pursue an interest and to join something planned for them.

Barn Owl rooms serve children approaching four and older, with early reading, writing and number work alongside speaking and listening, music, cookery and outdoor learning. Butterflies, based in the Jubilee Barn, provides term-time part-time care from two years until primary school, with learning adjusted to shorter attendance and continuity within the department. This offers an alternative to moving through the centre's separate age-stage departments.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care: children develop communication, physical skills and early literacy and number understanding through play and planned experiences. Farm activities and organised movement sessions add concrete experiences alongside that framework. They give children things to talk about, practical tasks to attempt and opportunities to use their bodies.

Movement Hall sessions use imaginative and musical prompts for actions such as climbing, rolling and balancing. Weekly group clubs include Baby Gym and Clamber Club, within a programme intended to build coordination and confidence. The indoor provision is useful here: physical activity has a substantial space of its own, rather than depending entirely on outdoor conditions.

In November 2024, staff used rhymes, singing and conversation to encourage language, while familiar stories invited children to contribute phrases they recognised. Story sacks travelled between home and nursery, allowing families to continue the same story experiences. However, some activities directed by adults needed more stretch. The useful distinction is between offering an activity and adjusting it so that a child already confident with the task has something further to attempt.

Outdoor and Community Life

Woodland School is the centre's Forest School model, providing learning and practical activities in woodland surroundings. Daily activities take place across three woodland sites, with den building, outdoor cooking, campfire singing and a zip wire among the experiences. This is a substantial outdoor programme, with facilities and activity areas designed for preschool children.

The farm grounds also include marked nature walks, animal paddocks and an adventure playground. Toddlers can work with real animals, while older nursery children combine gardening and cooking with outdoor excursions. Participation in the latter activities follows individual attendance patterns, so daily or weekly provision should not be read as a promise that every child does every activity each week.

Parents can join seasonal celebrations including Harvest Festival and Chinese New Year. An events calendar is prepared each term, giving families time to plan participation. These occasions add shared experiences across the year, alongside the centre's everyday farm and woodland activities.

Relationships and Communication

Baby care starts with detailed discussion of home routines, including feeding and sleep. Transitions from Hayswood Lodge into toddler care are also discussed with parents. That makes the move between departments a conversation about the individual child, rather than simply an age-based change of room.

In November 2024, new children had a gradual introduction to nursery, and staff used their knowledge of individual children to help establish familiar relationships. Families received updates through an app and through conversations with staff. These were practical ways to connect the child's nursery day with home, including information that parents could discuss directly rather than only read on a screen.

Butterflies provides another kind of continuity: children can remain in the department from two years until starting primary school without changes of staff or departmental transitions. Its communication with parents accompanies a curriculum adjusted to part-time attendance. For families considering shorter nursery attendance, that arrangement deserves attention alongside the larger centre's facilities.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In November 2024, children had suitable places to sleep and were checked during rest periods. Current arrangements in the baby and toddler departments also use live sleep cameras as an additional supervision aid; recordings are neither made nor stored, and physical checks remain part of the process. The cameras supplement personal supervision.

The centre can apply for Special Needs Funding with parental permission and the appropriate paperwork. This is a specific support mechanism, rather than a promise that every application will qualify. Families already receiving specialist support can use the joining discussion to explain existing arrangements and the child's day-to-day needs.

Farmhouse meals are cooked on site and served by cooking staff, who can discuss individual dietary requirements. Food provision therefore has a direct connection with the kitchen team, useful when a child's eating needs require detailed discussion.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Hayswood Farm, Madresfield, Malvern, Worcestershire WR13 5AA, with a car park on site. General enquiries can be made on 01684 574378; administration is handled during office opening hours of 8am to 3pm, Monday to Friday.

The main centre opens from 8am to 6pm on weekdays across 50 weeks of the year. Paid attendance includes a short day from 9am to 3pm and a longer day from 9am to 6pm, with additional hours charged separately. Funded booking combinations also include days running from 8am to 6pm. Annual closures comprise a week at Easter and a week at Christmas, when charges do not apply.

Bookings are made by term, and departmental arrangements offer holiday attendance on a pay-as-you-go basis without retainers. Butterflies opens from 8am to 3pm during term time. Its opening window is separate from the length of a child's booking.

The terms require Baby Care, Toddler and Nursery children to attend at least two short days each week, and Barn Owl children at least three. Some departmental descriptions give different minimum requirements; the booking point below is therefore material before committing to an attendance pattern.

A completed registration form and a non-refundable administration charge are required to book. Fees are invoiced monthly in advance. Withdrawal or a reduction in sessions requires a month's written notice, received before the first of the month; charges also continue during illness, family holidays and emergency closures.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with the main funding arrangements describing 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements stretched to weekly allocations of 11.25 and 22.5 hours. Butterflies offers funded-only term-time attendance without additional charges, subject to its stated conditions, including priority for children with the greatest need. These are different attendance routes, rather than interchangeable promises about a funded place.

For attendance without funding, meals, consumables and enrichment are included in the fee. For the main funded offer, meals and activity consumables are charged separately through voluntary additions, alongside additional services; families declining these charges must supply the resources needed for participation. Choosing those additions commits the charges for the term, and hours beyond the funded allocation are paid privately.

The structure includes food, materials for activities such as gardening and cooking, and additional experiences. Certain coach journeys and admission tickets can carry separate charges. Current prices belong in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding arrangements provide the attendance and charge structure.

• Challenge and hygiene. November 2024 improvement points covered extending adult-directed learning and teaching the reasons for good hand hygiene. Ask how both now work in the rooms your child would use.
• Minimum attendance. Barn Owl departmental information gives a two-session minimum while the terms require three short days; Butterflies has conflicting minimum requirements of two three-hour sessions or two five-hour sessions weekly. These requirements conflict, so agree the applicable minimum in writing before booking.
• Funded extras. Voluntary additions in the main funded offer involve resources for participation, while Butterflies offers a funded-only route without additional charges. Discuss the department, resources and term-long charging choices together when reviewing a quotation.
• Rest and room transitions. Hayswood Lodge combines a department cap of 18 with home-based feed and sleep routines. On a visit, discuss how rest supervision and the eventual move to toddler care would work for your baby.

The farm, Woodland School and Movement Hall give Madresfield Early Years Centre a clear identity: practical outdoor experiences and organised physical activity have substantial facilities behind them. Hayswood Lodge adds a defined baby-department cap, while Butterflies offers continuity through a separate part-time route.

It suits families considering either shorter term-time attendance or longer nursery days, especially those who want animal care, woodland activities and movement to feature in their child's week. The November 2024 Good judgement provides the inspection position, with meaningful improvement points attached. The final decision should weigh the chosen department's booking commitment and funded extras as carefully as the grounds.