Ringwood Day Nursery

A separate sleep room for babies, a water wall for toddlers and science experiments for preschool children give Ringwood Day Nursery a recognisable character. Care routines and hands-on exploration sit alongside each other here. The nursery takes children from 3 months to 5 years and has capacity for 78 children in total, with different spaces for babies, toddlers and those preparing for school.

At its November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, with effective safeguarding and good progress for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There were also improvements to make in toddler teaching and the organisation of mealtimes. Those findings matter alongside the attractive outdoor spaces and detailed communication with families.

Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance are offered, alongside term-time arrangements. This gives families more than one way to use the nursery, although minimum attendance requirements differ between contracts.

Rooms and Ages

Cherry Room, for children aged 3 months to 2 years, combines sensory materials and objects to explore with a light-filled, self-contained space, a dedicated outdoor area and a separate sleep room, allowing play and rest to take place in different settings.

Pear Room, for children aged 2 to 3 years, occupies two bright rooms opening directly outside, with sensory play, open-ended natural materials and quiet corners supporting exploration as well as pauses during a busy toddler day.

Oak Room, for children aged 3 to 5 years, brings together play-based literacy, mathematics and science, with movement between its indoor rooms, garden and playground and practical opportunities to cook, garden and manage personal routines.

These are stages with different emphases. Babies follow individual feeding and sleeping patterns, while older children take more responsibility for their choices. In preschool, storage labels use photographs to help children choose resources independently, and a self-registration activity introduces recognition of their own names. Children can also add comments and observations to their learning journals, giving them a part in recording what they have done.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and development through play, including language, physical skills, relationships and early mathematical understanding. Ringwood builds its daily activities around children's interests, using observation and assessment to decide what experiences and resources come next. The framework is the starting point; the practical detail is what makes the day easier to picture.

Cookery club gives preschool children opportunities to bake with the chef. Science club involves experiments, with the eldest children using goggles and lab coats. Both turn ideas into things children can handle and try, rather than keeping learning solely in conversation or worksheets. Regular meetings with the oldest children also gather their ideas about activities, equipment and menus, giving them a say in ordinary nursery decisions.

In November 2024, babies chose books independently and explored their pages and pictures, while preschool children encountered written words around their rooms and practised connecting sounds with letters. The same visit identified a less consistent picture in the toddler room: some planned activities did not achieve their intended learning sufficiently well. The question for parents is therefore about how activities are delivered, as well as which activities are offered.

Outdoor and Community Life

The toddler garden contains a mud kitchen, water wall and construction area, with a road track and a large sand pit adding different ways to play. A tarmacked playground accommodates wheeled toys, and a wooden climbing frame provides climbing opportunities. These are useful contrasts: children can investigate materials, practise movement or build something together.

Babies have their own outdoor play space as well as access to the wider garden and playground. The facilities also include an all-weather area and a soft outdoor surface for the youngest children. Outdoor provision therefore extends beyond a single shared lawn and gives different ages spaces suited to their stage.

Family involvement includes an annual Egg hunt and a Christmas Fair. For preschool children, community connections include visits to nearby schools and visits into nursery by local professionals. These experiences introduce people and places beyond the nursery rooms, while the family events create occasions for parents to participate in nursery life.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is planned around the relationship with a key person. The nursery recommends at least two settling-in sessions, each lasting an hour and provided free of charge, with more arranged where needed. Staff use this time to discuss care needs, interests and medical or dietary requirements. An optional home visit is also offered for children joining Cherry Room or Pear Room, providing another way to connect familiar routines with nursery life.

In Cherry Room, feeding, nappy changes and settling to sleep are treated as individual time with the child's key person. The aim is to keep routines close to those used at home. Cots and bedding are supplied in the separate sleep room, and the nursery's sleep arrangements include physical checks every 10 minutes alongside video monitoring. That is a concrete arrangement for parents weighing how their baby will rest during the day.

Blossom, the parent app, carries daily diary information including meals, sleep and nappy changes for the younger rooms. Online Learning Journeys record development, while daily handovers and regular parent evenings with the key person provide opportunities for discussion. The two forms of communication serve different purposes: the diary explains the day, and the learning record follows development over time.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In November 2024, staff used picture symbols and objects to help children needing additional communication support, and responded to babies' gestures and expressions while talking through their play. The current team structure includes a SENDCo role, alongside a Designated Safeguarding Lead. These give families identifiable responsibilities to discuss when a child needs additional support.

The nursery has controlled entry, supervised visitors and procedures for collection by an unfamiliar adult. Its safeguarding policy is available to parents. These are practical arrangements; the dated safeguarding judgement above is the assessment of their effectiveness.

Meals are cooked on the premises by the chef, using a four-week menu cycle and some produce grown by the children. Dietary and religious requirements are discussed individually, and allergen information accompanies the menu.

Sessions and Attendance

Full-day sessions run from 7.45am to 6pm, mornings from 7.45am to 12.45pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays; the earlier period is covered by a separately charged early-start arrangement. Distinguishing the opening time from the ordinary session start matters when planning work and travel.

Standard attendance requires at least two sessions each week, and permanent alternate-week, alternate-day or intermittent bookings are excluded. Term-time attendance requires three full days a week or the equivalent. Its holiday breaks follow Hampshire term dates, with no attendance or charge during the specified Easter, summer and Christmas breaks. The nursery otherwise operates across the year, closing for English bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year.

The Education Grant Only Contract has a different attendance requirement: three sessions weekly for children receiving 15 hours of funding, or six for those receiving 30 hours. Funded attendance and private attendance therefore need to be considered as separate booking arrangements, rather than assuming one minimum applies to every family.

Getting There

The address is 8 Broadshard Lane, Ringwood, BH24 1RR, on a quiet street accessible from the A31 and A338. Off-road parking is provided, which is useful for families bringing younger children and their belongings.

Enquiries can be made through the online form, by telephone or by email. The team discusses childcare requirements and arranges viewings through this route.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 30 hours for eligible working families from the term after their child turns 9 months, 15 hours from the term after a child's third birthday, and up to 15 hours for eligible families from the term after their child turns 2. Funding can be taken over 38 term-time weeks or stretched over 51 weeks, with fewer funded hours each week under the stretched arrangement. Additional hours outside a child's funded allocation are charged privately.

Private session fees include meals and refreshments; meals during funded-only sessions are charged separately. Food packages differ by session, while parents provide younger babies' milk and weaning foods. Non-food consumables, including sun cream, a sun hat, water bottle and all-in-one, are charged separately, and funded attendance also carries a consumables charge.

Fees are paid in advance, and a holding deposit is required. The sessions and fees terms describe it as non-refundable and credited against the final invoice. The contract requires six weeks' notice to end attendance or change the number of sessions. Families receive current prices in the nursery's written quotation; the sessions and fees page explains the attendance and charge structure.

• Toddler teaching and waiting times. In November 2024, some toddler activities missed their intended learning, and handwashing arrangements left children waiting unnecessarily for food. During a viewing, ask how staff now plan toddler activities and organise the lead-up to meals.
• Different contract minimums. Standard attendance starts at two sessions weekly, term-time attendance at three full days or equivalent, and funded-only contracts have their own session requirements. Match the proposed contract to the days your family actually needs.
• Baby feeding and allergy arrangements. Younger babies' milk and weaning foods are supplied by parents, while the funding terms exclude food and drinks from home because of serious allergies. These instructions conflict for baby feeding, so agree the current arrangement for your child before starting.
• The deposit and final bill. The sessions and fees terms call the deposit non-refundable and credit it to the final invoice; six weeks' notice is required to end attendance. Read the written quotation and contract together before committing, including how funded-session food and consumables enter the bill.

Ringwood suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with a separate term-time option for those able to meet its higher minimum. Babies have individual routines and a separate place to sleep; older children have practical cooking and science activities, direct outdoor access and opportunities to influence their day.

The November 2024 toddler findings deserve attention, rather than being lost behind the overall Good judgement. For families whose attendance pattern fits the contract, the strongest reasons to consider Ringwood are the clearly differentiated age spaces, substantial outdoor provision and detailed communication about care and learning.