Tiddlywinks Nursery

Farm footpaths, woodland and a baby group with adjoining sleep facilities give Tiddlywinks Nursery a clear rural character. At Tithe Farm in Fressingfield, outdoor space is part of the everyday offer, while the building separates the youngest children’s care from the downstairs groups. This is a practical distinction for families weighing countryside play alongside babies’ rest and routines.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 16 October 2024 and found safeguarding effective. There is capacity for 54 children, from birth to under five. The enclosed garden, countryside-facing viewing panels and upstairs baby facilities are practical strengths; October 2024 improvement points concerned mealtime hygiene support and quieter children’s participation.

Attendance is charged by the hour, with an additional after-school service for school-age children. That gives the nursery a role beyond the early years, although the different services have their own hours and conditions.

Rooms and Ages

The Caterpillar group accommodates children under two upstairs, beside facilities for preparing food, changing nappies and sleeping. Two sleep rooms contain cots. Keeping those care functions close to the baby group makes rest and feeding part of the room arrangement, rather than a separate journey through the nursery.

Downstairs, children aged two to five join the Dragonfly group or Ladybird group. Toddler beds allow older children to rest too. Low toilets, washbasins and cloakroom fittings put everyday tasks within children’s reach, and each group can use the enclosed garden. The layout therefore supports both age-specific care and shared outdoor experiences.

Children of different ages also spend time together during the day, including opportunities for siblings to see one another. This matters for families with more than one child attending: separate groups do not mean wholly separate days.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the baseline for learning, development and care: children build language, physical skills and social understanding through play, alongside early literacy, mathematics and creative activities. Tiddlywinks combines children’s own play choices with activities led by adults. Learning is revisited so children can practise, and plans can change with their interests or topical events.

Practical resources include construction play, books, role-play and materials for making marks. Sand and water activities sit alongside music and movement, giving children different ways to explore an idea rather than relying on one type of task. The curriculum page explains this balance of play, adult support and repeated practice.

In October 2024, staff helped children develop speech by modelling the pronunciation of grasshopper, which children then used in their play. They also introduced ideas about neighbours through discussion and demonstration. These are concrete examples of language being connected to something children can understand and use.

Participation was less consistent. In October 2024, some children drifted between activities without becoming involved, and staff did not always recognise when encouragement was needed. That finding matters alongside the planned activities: having resources ready and helping every child use them are different tasks.

Outdoor and Community Life

The fenced play area includes panels through which children can look out across the countryside. Farm footpaths and woodland extend the setting beyond the garden, and countryside walks happen regularly. There is no need to turn this into a branded outdoor programme to see its value: children have opportunities to notice and explore the environment around them.

Relationships and communication have concrete mechanisms here. Tapestry is the online learning journal used to record children’s achievements and development; parents can view developmental records through a protected login and contribute to them. This gives families a way to follow learning and add their own observations, alongside conversations with staff.

At the October 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that settling and key-person relationships supported children’s wellbeing, and that small-group work helped children, including those with SEND, make good progress. In October 2024, staff also identified gaps in learning and involved other professionals in supporting development. Responsibility for Special Educational Needs sits within the nursery’s administration structure, giving this work an identified role.

Independence was built through small, repeated tasks in October 2024. Babies recognised their drinking cups by colour; older children’s labels combined a name with visual prompts, which were gradually removed as name recognition developed. Sand timers warned children that an activity was nearing its end. These details show how routines can support both learning and manageable transitions.

Food is prepared in the nursery kitchen, with a three-week menu cycle and provision for special dietary requirements; parents supply breast milk or formula for younger children. Funded attendance over lunchtime carries a separate food charge, and Tea Club is a paid addition.

Mealtime practice needed attention in October 2024. Staff watched children eating snacks but did not consistently sit alongside them to explain hygiene, including why food dropped onto the floor should not be eaten. The improvement requested was about staff deployment and active guidance, rather than the menu itself.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Tithe Farm, Laxfield Road, Fressingfield, Eye, IP21 5PY. Nursery opening hours are 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with closures for bank holidays, a week in August and the period between Christmas and New Year. The hourly charging model means the booked hours determine the bill.

Tea Club runs from 4pm to 5pm and cannot be paid for using government funding. For school-age children, After School Club operates on term-time weekdays from 3.15pm to 6pm, with free transport from Fressingfield Primary School. It uses a designated area, with activities such as cooking, crafts and outdoor games; this transport arrangement is a childcare service, not an admissions relationship.

Holiday Club serves children under eight during school holidays, except between Christmas and New Year. It is restricted to older siblings of current nursery children or children who previously attended and have moved on to school. Those conditions make it useful for established nursery families rather than a general holiday-care offer.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered alongside privately paid hours. The entitlements include up to 30 term-time hours for eligible working families with children aged nine months to four, 15 term-time hours for eligible two-year-olds whose parents receive government support, and 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds. The supported two-year-old entitlement can extend across school holidays by agreement; this flexibility should not be assumed for every funding category.

For funded children aged nine months to five who attend over lunch, the lunchtime charge is separate. Tea Club is also charged separately and sits outside government-funded attendance. Parents provide breast milk or formula for younger children. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, with the charge structure explained on the prices and funding page.

Payment is due in advance at the start of each month following an invoice. Booked attendance remains payable when a child is absent, whatever the reason; holidays are not charged when notified before invoicing. For families with changing work schedules, that distinction between advance holiday notification and missed attendance is consequential.

• Participation and mealtime guidance. The October 2024 improvement points concerned quieter children’s involvement and staff support for hygiene while eating. During a visit, ask how activities now draw in less vocal children and how adults support snack and meal routines.
• Babies upstairs. The Caterpillar group has adjoining care facilities and two cot-equipped sleep rooms. A tour is an opportunity to discuss how your child’s feeding and sleep routines would fit this arrangement.
• Funding and family schedules. Funded lunchtime attendance has a separate charge, Tea Club cannot use government funding, and advance holiday notification affects billing. Request a written quotation for the exact attendance pattern you intend to book.
• Dietary requirements. The nursery accommodates special diets, including allergy-related needs. Families managing allergies should confirm current preparation and serving arrangements before joining.

Tiddlywinks suits families seeking hourly nursery attendance and those using term-time After School Club for an older child. Its rural spaces, baby sleep facilities and Tapestry communication give parents concrete reasons to consider it. The Good judgement in October 2024 sits alongside specific improvements around quieter children and mealtime guidance. The strongest fit is for families who value countryside access and a practical connection between siblings’ childcare arrangements.