Coneygarth Farm Day Nursery

A working farm gives Coneygarth Farm Day Nursery its character: animals, growing vegetables and converted farm buildings make the setting recognisable well beyond its name. In Haxey, near Doncaster, care for children from birth to five sits alongside opportunities to learn about the living things around them. The farm is part of the learning, rather than simply the backdrop.

At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. There was also a practical point to improve: some daily routines, including mealtimes, left children unsettled. That matters alongside the appeal of the outdoor spaces. A child's experience depends on the organisation of ordinary moments as well as the activities on offer.

Four named rooms shape the nursery experience, with babies in The Milking Parlour and preschool children in The Granary. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings sit alongside different funded attendance arrangements, giving families more than one way to use the setting.

Rooms and Ages

The Milking Parlour centres babies' days on gentle play and familiar routines, while The Workshop emphasises movement, exploration and growing independence for toddlers. The Old Barn uses imaginative play and making to develop early skills, and The Granary brings preschool children together around friendships, confidence and preparation for school.

Those names reflect the farm setting. The baby space occupies a former milking parlour, while a converted barn provides the main nursery accommodation. The physical setting gives children a connection with the farm even before an outdoor activity begins; this is childcare within adapted farm buildings, rather than a conventional nursery with occasional animal visits.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through play and planned activities, covering children's communication, physical development, relationships and early learning. It is the common framework for early years care; Coneygarth's addition is the opportunity to connect that learning with farm life and outdoor exploration.

Children can take farm walks, feed lambs and collect hens' eggs. Cows, sheep, tortoises and guinea pigs offer other things to observe or interact with. These experiences give staff concrete starting points for conversation: what an animal eats, how it moves and what care it needs. They also make understanding the world something children can explore directly.

Planning combines activities led by adults with choices made by children. Staff observe interests and development, then use those observations to shape further play. That allows a child's curiosity to influence what happens next, rather than every child following an identical sequence of activities.

In September 2025, children listened closely to familiar stories and joined in with remembered parts, with books accessible for them to choose independently. This gave reading a place in both shared activity and children's own choices. The balance is useful: being read to and selecting a book involve different kinds of participation.

Outdoor and Community Life

A sensory garden, bug hotel and vegetable garden give the preschool outdoor space several purposes. Children tend the vegetables, while a log cabin serves as an outdoor classroom and a small nursery wood adds another setting for exploration. Free-flow play between indoors and outdoors lets activity extend beyond the room itself.

The farm can also be observed from a viewing area and through a webcam. These bring another way to follow animal life into the nursery day, alongside walks and hands-on experiences. For a child absorbed by the animals, the connection need not depend entirely on being outside.

In September 2025, babies went on regular local walks using a baby bus; older children visited village shops, a library and a nearby care home. The outings introduced people and places beyond the farm. During the same month, children explored greetings in Spanish and Romanian and tasted food associated with different countries, linking everyday conversation and meals with cultural differences.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a primary key person and a secondary key person. These roles connect staff with the child and family, giving parents two identified relationships within the team. Staff record children's interests and development and use them when planning activities, so the key-person arrangement links personal care with learning.

In September 2025, staff gathered information about home routines and interests when families joined. Children built close relationships with their key person and other practitioners. Understanding what is familiar at home helped staff plan the child's early experiences at nursery, rather than treating joining as an administrative step alone.

Everyday independence received attention too. In September 2025, younger children practised pouring drinks and locating their shoes, while older children managed personal care and talked about handwashing. Staff also helped children work through disagreements over toys by finding solutions together. These small tasks give children opportunities to participate in their own care and relationships.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff worked with families and other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), using additional funding to address individual care and learning needs. This is a concrete account of support through collaboration and targeted resources, rather than a general promise about inclusion.

Separate sleep rooms give rest its own space. Food is cooked on the premises using local produce, with vegetables grown by children used when possible. The connection between growing and eating adds another practical use for the vegetable garden.

The September 2025 concern about routines deserves attention here. Staff explained what would happen next, but mealtimes were not consistently organised well enough to keep children settled. Predictability and organisation need to work together; knowing the next activity is less helpful if the change into it is difficult.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Coneygarth Farm Day Nursery, Turbary Road, Haxey, Doncaster, DN9 2JH. Opening hours run from 7.45am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with year-round operation except bank holidays and Christmas. Opening hours give the outer limits of the day; the booking options have their own times.

Contract A offers mornings from 9am to 1pm, afternoons from 1pm to 5pm and full days from 9am to 5pm. Additional hours can be purchased, including time outside the core day. This can suit a family using a shorter session as well as one needing a full day with extra hours around it.

Contract B is for purely funded attendance during term time, and additional hours cannot be purchased under that contract. That restriction is central to choosing between the contracts: the funded term-time arrangement and the option to extend a day are different propositions.

Joining starts with a registration-of-interest form. The nursery contacts families about registration and contracts once a place has become available and been confirmed. The enquiry telephone number is 01427 753173.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered from nine months, and the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds is 15 hours a week regardless of parents' working status. Eligibility for working-parent funding has its own conditions; participation in the scheme does not establish a particular family's entitlement.

Under Contract A, funded hours are spread across the year; Contract B provides term-time-only funded attendance. Contract A also carries a care-package charge for each morning or afternoon session. Families choosing between them need to compare the attendance arrangement and the accompanying charges together.

Contract A fees include breakfast when needed, a homemade hot dinner, light tea and snacks; under Contract B, lunch and snacks or tea and snacks can be bought separately, or families can send a packed meal. This gives funded-only families a different food arrangement from Contract A families, rather than one meal policy applying to every booking.

Payments are due monthly in advance. The nursery accepts Tax-Free Childcare, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees and funding page sets out the contract structure.

• Mealtime organisation. In September 2025, some routines unsettled children, and improving their organisation was the required next step. During a visit, ask how meals and changes between activities now work in your child's room.
• Two different funding arrangements. Contract A combines stretched funding with the option to buy extra hours and a care-package charge; Contract B is purely funded, term-time attendance with no extra hours. Compare the written contract against your actual weekly pattern before choosing.
• Baby routines. The Milking Parlour uses gentle play and familiar routines, and separate sleep rooms are part of the provision. A visit is an opportunity to discuss how your baby's home feeding and sleep pattern would fit the nursery day.
• Everyday supplies. When discussing the care-package charge, ask what it covers and how non-food consumables are handled. Resolve that alongside the meal choice so the practical arrangements are clear.

Coneygarth suits families who want farm experiences woven into early learning: animal care, vegetable growing and outdoor exploration give children concrete things to investigate. The converted buildings and named rooms give the offer a clear identity, while primary and secondary key persons provide an identifiable structure for family relationships.

It can serve families seeking morning or afternoon sessions, full-day bookings with purchased extra hours, or purely funded term-time attendance. The choice of contract matters as much as the opening window. The September 2025 Good judgement gives a clear inspection position, balanced by the need to examine how daily routines now support settled mealtimes.