Fordingbridge Day Nursery

An old fireplace repurposed as a quiet baby nook gives Fordingbridge Day Nursery a character of its own. This Grade II listed former pub at Burgate combines generous indoor rooms with outdoor access from every room, making the building useful as well as memorable. Babies have somewhere for softer, quieter exploration; older children have space for more active play.

At its 4 March 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found effective safeguarding arrangements, good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and good progress in learning. That judgement belongs to that visit: later compliance action in May 2026 also matters to the choice families make today.

Children are accepted from 3 months to 5 years, with capacity for 74 children in total. The strongest physical selling point is the connection between indoors and outdoors. The educational picture includes practical independence and language development, alongside specific questions about behaviour routines and mealtimes.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, with everyday activities supporting children's communication, development and care. Here, the physical setting gives that play several different forms: quiet exploration for babies, room to investigate indoors, and outdoor space for movement and messy activities.

In March 2025, independence developed from babies feeding themselves to older children taking responsibility for belongings and preschool children practising dressing and toileting. Everyday care gave children opportunities to manage more for themselves.

Language also ran through ordinary play in March 2025. Adults introduced vocabulary while children handled play dough, and songs came with actions for children to join in. Each room used a book of the week, giving stories a recurring place in the day. For a child still finding words, that combination offered different ways to participate: listening, moving, speaking and handling materials.

The branch also uses Family First's group-wide curriculum aims. Confident Communicators emphasises expressing ideas and listening to others, while Growing Independence encourages choices, attempts at unfamiliar tasks and responsibility for personal care. These sit alongside the statutory framework. They describe the intended direction of learning rather than an alternative set of requirements.

Outdoor and Community Life

Every room has direct outdoor access, helping connect indoor and outdoor play. Large play areas accommodate bikes, scooters, sand pits and messy activities.

Children may grow vegetables and make pretend food with mud, combining movement with opportunities to investigate materials. The thatched roof adds character; the usable outdoor space has practical value throughout the nursery day.

In March 2025, children's key persons knew them well and helped them settle into activities. Parents received developmental updates through an online system, and home challenges extended learning beyond nursery, such as looking for objects with a particular shape or colour. This made communication more specific than a general account of whether a child had enjoyed the day.

Practical care included handwashing before food, help with toileting and encouragement to become more independent. These routines connected care with learning. For younger children, the former fireplace's baby nook offers a quieter space with soft textures, alongside the larger areas used for play.

There were weaknesses in March 2025 too. Changes in staffing, especially in preschool, contributed to uneven behaviour management, with behaviour becoming harder to manage between activities. Some children also waited too long for food and lost concentration during meals. Those are meaningful concerns for parents whose children find changes of activity or waiting difficult.

Ofsted's compliance documents dated 18 November 2025 and 19 May 2026 both recorded notifications relating to suitable people. Both recorded unmet requirements and action taken to put matters right. The November outcome covered updated safeguarding policies and local contact details, additional safeguarding and whistleblowing training, checks on staff understanding, and revised staff supervision. Following the 11 May 2026 visit, the later outcome covered revised mealtime supervision, increased online information for parents to support key-person handovers, and changes to SEND support systems. These were dated compliance outcomes, rather than new graded inspections. They make staff suitability, eating supervision, communication and individual support material considerations for families.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7am to 6pm. It operates across the year, closing on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. That opening window gives working families scope to plan around an early start or later collection, while the closure periods still need to fit household arrangements.

The Parent Liaison Team arranges personal tours through the enquiry form. Families can also use a registration form to begin joining.

Getting There

The address is Salisbury Road, Burgate, Fordingbridge, SP6 1LX, with access via the A338. Onsite parking and a buggy store support families travelling by car or bringing a pushchair.

Funding and Paid Extras

In March 2025, the nursery received funding for free early education for children from nine months to four years. Funding and private attendance should be treated as separate parts of a family's childcare arrangement; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Meals are freshly prepared at the nursery each day using seasonal ingredients.

• Mealtimes and handovers. The May 2026 action covered eating supervision, online information for parents and SEND support systems. During a tour, ask how these arrangements work together for your child's daily care and any individual needs.
• Preschool transitions. In March 2025, inconsistent behaviour management affected the changes between activities. Ask how staff now maintain a shared approach when children move from play to another part of the day.
• Attendance and the full quotation. The 7am to 6pm opening window is useful for work planning. Ask which booking patterns fit your week and how funded hours, meals and non-food consumables are treated in the written quotation.

Fordingbridge suits families who value a characterful building with genuinely usable outdoor access, and those seeking care across the working week rather than only during school terms. The baby nook, large play spaces and practical emphasis on independence give the offer substance.

Behaviour routines and mealtimes required attention in March 2025. Later compliance action also matters, including repeated notifications relating to suitable people. Families should weigh the building and outdoor space against how the nursery demonstrates its present care routines and individual support.