Little Gardners Nursery

The Natural Garden gives Little Gardners Nursery its character: outdoor exploration in every season, alongside a purpose-built setting on the grounds of Marchwood Junior School. For children aged nine months to five years, the attraction is tangible. There are gardens to investigate, a mud kitchen for imaginative play and opportunities to grow food.

At the 18 June 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged inclusion, welfare and wellbeing, and behaviour and routines to meet the Expected standard, with safeguarding standards met; achievement, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance were graded Needs attention. That distinction matters. Families should weigh the outdoor offer and care arrangements alongside specific concerns about how effectively activities develop children's learning.

Half-day and full-day bookings serve different attendance needs. The practical flexibility is useful, but the educational findings deserve equal weight in a decision.

Rooms and Ages

The Nursery Room takes children from nine months, with exploration, creativity and early understanding of their surroundings supported by practitioners. The Preschool Room welcomes children from around two and a half, placing emphasis on friendships, social development and preparation for school. These are different stages of the nursery experience, rather than a single programme applied to every age.

Outside, two gardens include a sandpit, outdoor toys and a mud kitchen. The Natural Garden adds opportunities to explore nature and practise movement, including balancing and jumping. For a child who enjoys active play, those physical resources give the outdoor emphasis substance: there are materials to handle and spaces to investigate, rather than simply an outdoor theme.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning and care, encompassing communication, physical development, relationships and learning through play. Alongside it, the nursery uses a Forest School ethos, centred here on exploring its Natural Garden throughout the year and in different weather. Nature is an addition to the learning experience, while the framework remains the foundation.

Growing vegetables and fruit trees connects outdoor exploration with understanding where food comes from. Stories, cooking and gardening provide subjects for conversation; pens, paintbrushes and scissors support smaller movements, while logs and tyres give children larger physical challenges. This creates several ways to participate, from making marks to handling outdoor materials.

Named language approaches include Nursery Narrative, used with small groups to develop speaking and understanding, and Phase One Letters and Sounds, which includes oral blending and segmenting in the term before older children begin school. The nursery also uses Makaton alongside gestures and symbols to support understanding. These concrete methods help parents see what the language offer involves beyond a general promise to encourage communication.

However, at the June 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that activities did not consistently build on children's existing knowledge or match their development, teaching did not reliably extend learning, and leaders' improvement work and staff supervision were insufficiently targeted; targeted support and collaboration with other professionals were positive features of inclusion. The educational weakness was about the use of activities, rather than simply their existence. Children could be interested and involved while missing opportunities to deepen what they understood.

In June 2026, water play involved moving water through pipes into trays, but opportunities to develop mathematical ideas about capacity and volume were missed. Herb planting and building towers also featured in the day. These examples make the concern practical: an appealing resource needs purposeful interaction from adults if it is to move learning forward.

The required actions carried a completion date of 3 August 2026. They addressed curriculum planning, staff understanding of children's next learning steps, and supervision that develops teaching knowledge and skills. These were the June requirements, not evidence of what happened after their deadline.

Relationships and Communication

A key person works with families on the child's routines at home, giving care planning a starting point in the child's existing habits. Twice-yearly parents' evenings provide time to discuss development and the family's experience of nursery, with conversations also possible at mutually convenient times. This gives parents both scheduled discussion and a route for raising matters between meetings.

In June 2026, babies sought comfort from staff as they fell asleep, while older children approached adults for reassurance. Staff used language about feelings and calm responses when children needed help managing emotions. Those observations describe the care experienced at that visit; they should be read alongside the educational concerns from the same month.

The Parent Nursery Association meets regularly with management. Its activities include days out, a Christmas party and summer events. For families who want involvement beyond individual progress conversations, that provides a separate way to participate in nursery life.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENDCo coordinates additional support with the key person and parents. Assessment begins when a child starts and is repeated termly; where needed, the NHS Solent Early Years Developmental Checklist helps identify areas requiring closer attention. Further assessments and referrals to external agencies require parental agreement.

The Graduated Approach follows an assess, plan, do and review cycle. Parents contribute to identifying needs and agreeing outcomes, the key person puts support into practice, and its effect is reviewed together. The useful feature is the connection between a concern, an agreed response and a review, rather than a label alone.

Transition support can include sharing development records, visits with the child and family, and discussion with the receiving setting. For children moving to school who need this support, a Transition Partnership Agreement meeting is intended for the Summer 2 term. This gives the receiving adults information about the child's needs before the move.

Hungry Monsters prepares and delivers hot lunches, with breakfast, tea and twice-daily snacks also offered; the catering arrangements accommodate dietary requirements. The nursery has a policy excluding nuts and peanut butter, with food brought in required to be labelled nut free.

Rest and sleep areas form part of the health arrangements. Medication permissions and administration records use Famly, so the communication system also has a practical role in day-to-day care.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with operation across 51 weeks of the year. Half-day bookings run from 8am to 1pm or from 1pm to 6pm. Full-day choices start at either 8am or 9am, with finishes at 4pm, 5pm or 6pm. The combinations allow a shorter booked day as well as attendance across the full opening window.

Bank holidays and the Christmas period are closures. Withdrawal requires four weeks' written notice, and booked sessions remain chargeable during holidays or sickness. These terms matter when comparing attendance patterns: the booking commitment extends beyond the days a child actually attends.

Enquiries can be made through the application form or by telephone on 02380 868700. A non-refundable administration charge applies to securing a child's booking. Current prices should be obtained in a written quotation.

Getting There

The address is Main Road, Marchwood, Southampton, SO40 4ZH. The nursery sits on the footpath between Marchwood Junior School and Marchwood Village Hall, opposite the play park.

Sharing the junior school's grounds does not guarantee a school place. Families still need to use the relevant school admissions process; nursery attendance should be considered separately from that decision.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including up to 30 hours a week for eligible working parents with children from nine months to school age, expressed over 38 weeks and stretched across 51 weeks. Eligibility must be established, and the nursery verifies the eligibility code before the claim proceeds. Funded entitlement and privately paid attendance are separate parts of the booking calculation.

Hot lunch carries a separate charge, with a healthy packed lunch an alternative subject to the packed lunch policy. Session prices include consumables: nappies, wipes and sun cream are supplied, while families bring formula and bottles for babies. Parents should distinguish the quoted attendance cost from their choice of lunch when considering the overall arrangement.

• Teaching after the action deadline. The June 2026 requirements addressed curriculum planning, next steps and staff supervision, with a 3 August 2026 completion date. At a visit, ask for concrete examples of how activities now develop a child's existing knowledge and how staff receive support to improve their teaching.
• Outdoor routines for your child's stage. The Natural Garden is used throughout the year, and families bring seasonal outdoor clothing. Discuss how a child of your child's age participates, including how outdoor exploration fits around rest and care routines.
• Dietary requirements. Hot lunches come from Hungry Monsters and the nursery operates a nut-exclusion policy. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food-handling arrangements and how their child's requirements are communicated.

Little Gardners suits families seeking outdoor exploration alongside either half-day attendance or one of several full-day patterns. Its Natural Garden, growing activities and parent communication arrangements give that choice clear practical substance.

The educational reservations are substantial. The June 2026 findings concerned the planning and delivery of learning, not a minor administrative detail. Families should make progress on those specific requirements central to their decision, alongside the fit of the rooms, care routines and attendance pattern for their child.