Old MacDonald's Day Nursery and Preschool

Boogie Beats dance sessions, Big Lunch Afternoons for families and a coffee room in the office give Old MacDonald's Day Nursery and Preschool a clear community character. Children have regular outings, while parents have opportunities to spend time together within the setting. The appeal extends beyond the childcare timetable.

At its April 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and recognised support tailored to children's individual learning needs. The improvement priorities were specific: reduce preschool noise and make better use of everyday routines to develop older children's mathematics. Both matter to the experience of an ordinary nursery day.

At 9 Orchard Street in Weston-super-Mare, the nursery has 46 places in total and accepts children aged two to five. Term-time and stretched attendance options sit alongside privately paid hours, giving families different ways to organise care.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, conversation and everyday tasks help children practise new skills. Here, dance, creative activities and community outings add concrete experiences to that foundation.

Boogie Beats combines dance with rhythm and movement, giving children opportunities to express themselves physically and practise coordination. Themed Arts and Crafts introduces a different theme each week, including seasons, nature and cultural celebrations. That gives creative activities a changing subject rather than a fixed sequence of identical tasks.

In April 2025, older children explored what happened when water was mixed into porridge, while younger children made marks in shaving foam and suggested adding glitter. These were practical experiments with texture and change. Children's ideas could alter the activity rather than simply follow an adult's instructions.

Another April 2025 example involved children filling a flexible tube with water, proposing a funnel and then taking turns blowing the water out. The activity brought cooperation and problem-solving into the same piece of play. Everyday objects became materials for testing an idea.

Staff also responded to patterns in children's play. In April 2025, children inclined to throw toys were given beanbags to aim at a container. That redirected the action into a purposeful activity and provided practice in coordinating hands and eyes.

Outdoor and Community Life

Regular outings bring the surrounding community into children's experience. Parents receive advance information about off-site visits, and consent is required before children go. The practical benefit is that families can understand and agree to activities beyond the nursery building.

Big Lunch Afternoons bring families together within the setting. The office also contains a coffee room where parents can talk and share experiences. These are tangible opportunities for adult contact alongside children's activities, useful for families who value knowing other parents as well as the staff caring for their child.

Relationships and Communication

A child's key person gives parents a daily account covering activities, food, drinks and sleep. This makes the handover useful for planning the rest of the day: what a child has eaten or how long they have slept can matter as much as the activity they enjoyed.

ParentZone provides access to daily activities, developmental progress and milestones. The nursery also uses iConnect for photographs and videos under its consent arrangements, with viewing restricted to parents. These channels provide different ways to follow a child's experience between conversations with staff.

In April 2025, staff worked with parents on children's personal independence and healthy habits, including reaching out sensitively to families who were harder to involve. Children practised drinking from cups, fastening shoes and helping with snack preparation. Small daily tasks were part of learning to do more for themselves.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The registration process asks about allergies, medical conditions, disabilities, home language and other professionals involved with a child. Families are asked to explain medical and SEND needs during the application process so that care can be adapted. This puts relevant information into the joining arrangements rather than leaving it to an informal conversation later.

In April 2025, staff used visual prompts with younger children and children learning English or with SEND, allowed thinking time before answers and reinforced language through stories and songs. There were nine staff members at that visit; this is an inspection-time staffing figure rather than a daily group size.

Food and snacks include dishes drawing on different countries, and the nursery publishes a nut-free policy that also asks parents to avoid nut-containing creams before attendance. Food is included in private fees, while funded sessions carry a separate consumables charge covering food and other supplies.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, following the change introduced in September 2025. The nursery opens for 51 weeks each year. Its enquiry form offers term-time-only or stretched attendance and asks families to select at least two preferred days.

For 15 hours funding, the patterns are two days from 8am to 3.30pm or two days from 9am to 4.30pm. For preschool children using 30 hours funding, the alternatives are five days from 9am to 3pm or three days from 8am to 6pm. The latter needs attention alongside the changed opening hours.

Additional session patterns start at 8am and finish at 1pm, 2pm, 4pm or 6pm, or start at 9am and finish at 3pm, 4pm, 5pm or 6pm. An online enquiry form includes a show-around date, and existing parents can submit requests for extra sessions or additional hours.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery offers 15 hours funding and 30 hours funding, with both term-time and stretched options. Private hours are also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page sets out the funding patterns and included items.

Private fees include food, wipes, nappies, art materials and sun cream. Funded sessions have a separate consumables charge covering food, nappies, wipes, sun cream and art supplies. Parents supply nappy cream when needed. A registration charge also applies, so comparing the whole arrangement matters more than considering childcare hours alone.

• The closing time and booking pattern. Opening hours changed to a 5pm finish in September 2025, but session schedules and general terms also give 6pm finishes. Resolve this conflict when agreeing the written booking, especially for the three-day funded pattern.
• Preschool noise and everyday mathematics. In April 2025, noise sometimes interfered with children's ability to listen or contribute, and routines did not consistently extend older children's mathematical learning. On a visit, ask how staff manage sound and build number work into daily tasks.
• Allergies and supplies. The nut-free policy extends to creams applied before attendance, and families provide nappy cream. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice, including the products used during the day.
• The complete charge structure. Private fees include supplies that attract a separate charge during funded sessions, and there is a registration charge. The total cost therefore depends on the balance of funded and private hours, as well as the attendance pattern.

Old MacDonald's suits families seeking term-time attendance or stretched care, with two-day funded patterns as well as five-day and three-day preschool options. Boogie Beats, Big Lunch Afternoons and the parent coffee room give the offer a recognisable character, while daily handovers and digital updates make children's experiences accessible to families.

The April 2025 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, with concrete improvement priorities rather than an unqualified endorsement. The timetable conflict matters most for families needing care after 5pm. For parents who value community contact, creative activities and information about the nursery day, there is a clear basis for considering this setting.