St Michael's Nursery

Woodland, vegetable growing and a wooden boat called HMS St. Michael's give this Barnstaple nursery an unusually tangible outdoor character. Mature gardens and a large lawn sit alongside its wooded learning space, while younger babies have a bedroom for quiet rest. Outdoor exploration and somewhere to slow down both have a place here.

St Michael's Nursery takes children from three months to four years at Bickington Road, Sticklepath. At its October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and found safeguarding effective. The strongest practical attractions are the outdoor spaces, cooking experiences and provision for quieter activities, rather than the grade alone.

Four age groups organise the nursery day: Ladybirds, Butterflies, Dragonflies and Kindergarten. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays, across 50 weeks of the year. For parents, the combination means a nursery with substantial outdoor opportunities and an operating calendar extending beyond school terms.

Rooms and Ages

Ladybirds gives babies space for early vocal play and exploration, with a separate bedroom allowing rest away from the activity of the play space. Butterflies occupies first-floor playrooms where toddlers can choose between painting, imaginative play, physical activity and quieter experiences, then use the garden and mud kitchen.

For children aged two to three, Dragonflies has wooden garden rooms beneath apple trees, direct outdoor access and its own bathroom, bringing messy play, stories and early self-care into the same daily setting. Kindergarten, for three- and four-year-olds, combines early reading sounds, number activities and mark making with outdoor movement and exploration.

The youngest groups also have treasure baskets, soft play and light-based sensory resources. These are concrete alternatives to a day built entirely around adult-directed activities: children can investigate materials, move, listen and make choices. The older groups have space for creative work as well as shared meals, and Kindergarten children have their own peg and tray to support everyday independence.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning through play, adult-led activities and individual attention across seven areas of learning. In Kindergarten, this takes the form of phonics, early writing marks, number work and finding out about the wider world. Preparation for school sits within play and practical experience.

Hedgehogs Bakery adds a weekly cookery experience for Dragonflies and Kindergarten. In February 2025, children made heart-shaped pizzas, chose toppings and used cutters and utensils to prepare ingredients. The value is in the task itself: children make decisions, handle tools and see their work become something they can eat.

Green Fingers is the gardening club, following plants from spring sowing through to harvest. Weekly cookery sessions provide another route into practical learning, while Story Bears visits regularly with stories, poems, music and puppetry. These experiences put language, listening and shared participation into activities with a clear purpose.

Physical play has named additions too. Ferdinand Collective visits on Tuesday afternoons for football activities, including warm-ups, balancing, running and team games. TARKA TENNIS offers weekly term-time lessons for three- and four-year-olds, covering tennis, football and general sports at its courts or in the nursery garden during summer; these additional classes carry charges and depend on group sizes.

During their final term, school leavers take part in Life Skills, a programme intended to broaden practical knowledge and understanding. Its place alongside cooking, gardening and everyday self-care gives parents a useful way to think about school preparation: more than practising letters and numbers, it includes doing things for oneself.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School adds child-led learning in a separate wooded area on site and runs throughout the year. Children can build dens, climb, try woodwork and cook around a campfire with staff supporting appropriate risks. This is an addition to the EYFS learning framework, with real materials and outdoor tasks giving children something concrete to investigate.

The grounds also contain a vegetable patch, a wild flower area and a bug hotel. HMS St. Michael's brings imaginative boat play into the woodland, while the mud kitchen gives children another place to mix, make and experiment. Wellington boots and waterproof clothing are essential for Dragonflies: outdoor play includes muddy puddles, not just dry-weather garden time.

Beyond the grounds, birdwatching takes children towards the Taw Estuary via the Tarka Trail. Outings also include beaches, farms, libraries and theatres, extending the subjects children encounter at nursery into the surrounding community.

Environmental participation has its own structure. The Eco-Heroes committee brings staff and children together, with families invited to contribute. Recycling and composting fruit peelings sit alongside growing produce, so environmental ideas connect to the nursery's own everyday routines.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is tailored to each child, with parents welcome to remain during the first visits. That gives families time to develop familiarity with staff before leaving their child, rather than treating separation as a fixed step everyone must take at the same pace. The baby-room approach similarly encourages parents to take time to become comfortable before returning to work.

Communication includes newsletters and chatter updates. In October 2022, parents received information about children's development and advice for supporting learning at home. At that time, children learning English alongside another language could borrow books in both languages to share with their families, connecting nursery reading with home life.

Moving towards school includes working with parents on their choices and welcoming teachers to meet children. The annual Primary Schools Open Evening gives families an opportunity to speak with school representatives. It is information and transition support: attending nursery does not guarantee a school place, and families still use the local authority process for state schools or the school's own process for independent schools.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND made good progress through targeted coordinator support and timely external referrals, with a speech and language therapist providing assessments and specialist sessions. Those findings belong to that period; the current team includes a SENDCO role, and all staff have paediatric first aid.

Quieter spaces have substance here. In November 2023, Hedgehogs offered games, puzzles, stories and small-group opportunities to practise communication and listening. The Hygge Hut is a wooden retreat for stories, music, crafts, games and puppet shows, drawing on Hygge's emphasis on being present and enjoying a sense of cosiness. These give children different ways to participate when a busy group activity is not what they need.

In February 2025, Kindergarten's emotional-support activities included calming jars, puppets, breathing exercises and a Tell Me Tree for quiet reflection. The approach gives children concrete ways to explore feelings rather than relying only on verbal reminders. Staff worked alongside the SENDCo on strategies for children finding emotions difficult to regulate.

The catering team prepares home-cooked food, using local produce where possible. Baby weaning stages and dietary requirements are catered for, linking meals to children's stage of development as well as their individual needs.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at Bickington Road, Sticklepath, Barnstaple, EX31 2DB. It opens Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm for 50 weeks each year, closing for Bank Holidays and Christmas. The Christmas closure matters for families whose working calendar continues through the festive period.

There is also school-age wraparound care for children attending Holywell School, Tawstock. Breakfast provision begins from the 8am opening, with nursery transport taking children to school; after-school care runs from 3.15pm to 6pm and includes minibus collection. These are separate services from the early-years nursery day.

Breakfast bookings can be regular or occasional. After-school sessions can be arranged in advance, with occasional bookings accepted by 1pm that day, subject to availability. The nursery office handles registration forms and enquiries by telephone or email.

Getting There

On-site parking is provided for parents. For families travelling by car, that is a practical advantage alongside the main-road location.

Funding and Paid Extras

Early Years Entitlement Funding is offered from the term after a child's third birthday, with up to fifteen funded hours each week during term time or up to 11 weekly hours when stretched across the year. The distinction matters when matching funded childcare to a year-round working pattern.

Additional activity classes carry separate charges and depend on group sizes. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page provides the route to its charging information.

• Teaching consistency. In October 2022, less-experienced staff did not use teaching strategies consistently, and professional development lacked reliable improvement targets. Ask how staff coaching and individual development targets work now.
• The baby-to-toddler move. Ladybirds and Butterflies have conflicting age boundaries across their descriptions. During a visit, establish which group your child would join and how their move between groups would be planned.
• The full childcare bill. Funded entitlement can be taken term-time or stretched, while additional classes have separate charges. Request a written quotation showing your attendance pattern and how meals, snacks and non-food consumables are treated during funded and private hours.
• Dietary needs. Meals accommodate weaning stages and dietary requirements. Families managing an allergy should confirm current preparation, serving and communication arrangements before joining.

St Michael's suits families who want outdoor exploration woven through nursery life, with practical cooking, gardening and quiet spaces alongside early language and number activities. Its wooded grounds, Hedgehogs Bakery and Hygge Hut give that description substance. Parents seeking Holywell School breakfast care or after-school collection also have two useful wraparound options.

The October 2022 teaching and staff-development concerns deserve a direct conversation, especially because the quality of a child's experience depends on everyday adult interaction. For families comfortable with muddy outdoor play and the annual closure pattern, the setting offers a recognisable combination of practical learning, space to explore and support for moving on to school.