The Little Lane Nursery, Easton on the Hill

Buddleia Grove gives this nursery its strongest character: an on-site Forest School area for outdoor exploration and learning about nature, with a yurt, growing and digging spaces, and resident chickens. Outdoor learning has a permanent home here. Babies have their own covered outdoor space, while older children can move between their rooms and the garden, making the grounds part of the nursery day rather than simply somewhere for a break.

The Little Lane Nursery, Easton on the Hill occupies New Road, PE9 3NN, with care offered from six weeks to five years. Ofsted rated it Good at its inspection on 29 June 2021. Its physical layout separates the stages of childhood: the baby room occupies part of the former Easton on the Hill Primary School, toddlers use a Norwegian-style log cabin, and preschool children have a purpose-built pod.

For new starters, attendance centres on full-day sessions, with separately booked early and late extensions. The setting operates across the year rather than offering term-time-only places.

Rooms and Ages

Seedlings Room has a published maximum of 12 babies, with spaces for eating and messy play, a separate sleeping area fitted with full-sized cots, and its own covered artificial lawn. Separating sleep from the main activity space matters for babies whose naps fall at different points in the day. Air conditioning is another practical feature of the room.

Saplings Room accommodates up to 16 toddlers aged two and above in the Norwegian-style log cabin, where an open layout and direct access to a covered terrace allow children to choose between indoor and outdoor activity.

Woodland Room accommodates up to 20 preschool children in their final year before school, with garden access, a G-Touch interactive screen for exploring topics and educational games, and regular use of the on-site Forest School area. Photographs sent by families also become material for shared discussion. This gives experiences beyond nursery a place in the children's conversations and learning.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the common framework for learning through play, developing communication, movement and relationships alongside early literacy, mathematics and understanding the world. It is the foundation for the nursery day, rather than an extra programme.

Buddleia Grove adds a concrete outdoor setting to that framework. Its digging and planting areas give children materials they can handle and changes they can observe. The chickens live in an Omlet coop, bringing animal care into the grounds.

Outdoor and Community Life

The playground has painted roads for wheeled play, with two grassed areas and a sandpit elsewhere in the grounds. A construction shed and water pump station offer further ways to build, move materials and experiment outdoors. The variety matters more than a general promise of garden time: different spaces support active movement, investigation and quieter activity.

A wrap-around grassed garden serves the wider nursery, while the babies' artificial lawn is dedicated to their room. Buddleia Grove connects directly to the site, so the outdoor learning area forms part of the setting's own grounds. A Bell Tent is used during summer, adding another sheltered space to the outdoor arrangements.

A key person is assigned from the start, with care shaped around the child's learning and behavioural needs. That gives families a consistent relationship through which to share routines and concerns.

Sleeping babies are monitored in Seedlings' separate cot area, keeping rest apart from eating and messy play.

The deputy manager also holds the designated SENCo role. This provides a named responsibility within the staff structure for special educational needs, rather than leaving families to work out who coordinates that support.

Food and everyday supplies are part of the standard private fee: meals, snacks and drinks are included, as are formula milk, nappies, wipes, nappy cream and sunscreen. Funded attendance has a different charge structure, with these items covered by a separate, voluntary Additional Service Charge. The distinction matters when comparing the cost of private and funded attendance.

Sessions and Attendance

The All Day Session runs from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. An early start from 7.30am and collection up to 6.30pm can be added for a separate charge, with advance booking required. These extensions are useful for working days that begin before the standard session or finish after it.

New children starting from 1 February 2026 cannot book half-day sessions. Existing families may retain an established half-day pattern, subject to change, but switching their booking brings them onto full days. This is an important distinction for families comparing older arrangements with the offer for a new starter.

The nursery opens for 51 weeks each year and closes on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year, with a 3pm finish on Christmas Eve. Fees are spread across the year, including closures. Term-time-only attendance is not offered, so the commitment extends beyond the school calendar.

Getting There

The address is New Road, Easton on the Hill, Stamford, PE9 3NN. Free parking is provided outside the nursery. The Easton contact route includes an enquiry form and telephone number, 01780 752220.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal 15-hour funding and the 30-hour working parents entitlement are offered, subject to eligibility. Funding is stretched across 51 weeks; children first accessing it in January or April have a different allocation until the following September. Additional private hours are charged separately, so the funded entitlement and the total attendance bill need to be considered separately.

The voluntary Additional Service Charge covers meals and snacks, the care package, daily Famly updates about the child's day, subsidised Forest School sessions and celebration days. Forest School means outdoor learning through exploration; the charge includes the session subsidy, while transport, where needed, costs extra. Families can opt out under the Unable or Unwilling to Pay Policy and supply their child's food and care items instead.

For funded families opting out of the Additional Service Charge, parents provide meals: these must be cold, with snack and tea delivered between noon and 1pm because nursery fridges cannot accommodate lunchboxes. A separate Non-Funded Week Charge applies when the full funding allocation starts in September; any unpaid balance is added to the final invoice if a child leaves before it has been fully repaid.

A registration charge and deposit apply, with the deposit returned on leaving subject to the notice and account conditions. Withdrawal requires one full calendar month's notice emailed to easton@littlelanenursery.com, including before attendance starts once a place is accepted. Emails sent after 6pm or at weekends count as received on the next working day; verbal, Famly, text and social media notice is not accepted. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding information explains the charge structure.

• The attendance commitment. New starters use full days, with early and late extensions booked separately; term-time-only places are not offered. At a tour, discuss how your intended weekly pattern fits these arrangements.
• Opting out of extras. Supplying food involves cold meals and a separate delivery of afternoon food between noon and 1pm. The nursery's general food policy restricts outside food, while the funded-charge opt-out policy permits it under conditions; allergy-affected families should confirm how the agreed arrangement works in practice.
• Minimum booking terms. The funding guidance specifies two days each week, while the contract specifies two sessions, defining a session as an AM or PM. Obtain the minimum attendance requirement in writing before accepting a place.
• Later regulatory record. Ofsted's records list a concern dated 3 February 2022; its outcome is not published, so families may want to ask the nursery about it.

This setting suits families seeking all-year attendance through standard full days or extended days with an earlier start and later collection. Buddleia Grove, the separate baby sleeping area and the toddler cabin give it a recognisable character, with different spaces for different stages of childhood.

The decision also turns on the attendance and funding terms. Full days for new starters, closure-period charges and the practical demands of supplying food deserve as much attention as the garden and rooms. For families whose routine fits that commitment, the combination of dedicated baby facilities and outdoor space offers clear practical appeal.