Stationhouse Nursery

An old police station and police house give Stationhouse Nursery its character; six separate gardens give children room to explore outdoors. This Portishead setting combines an unusual home with everyday objects, natural materials and specialist outdoor experiences. The practical attraction is clear: outdoor exploration sits alongside play indoors, rather than being confined to occasional outings.

Stationhouse has capacity for 76 children and accepts ages from 3 months to 5 years. At its 20 October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Outstanding across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership, as well as overall. That judgement is dated, but the detail behind it is useful: children investigated materials, practised language and tackled problems through ordinary activities.

Full days, mornings and afternoons are offered, with an additional early-start option. The attendance rules and funded-hours extras deserve as much attention as the gardens when deciding whether this nursery fits family life.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play and supporting children's development. Here, children's interests help shape activities, while everyday objects and materials from nature supply opportunities to investigate. That gives families a concrete picture of the approach: learning can begin with something a child handles, notices or wonders about.

Principles from The Curiosity Approach contribute to this use of real objects and natural materials. The emphasis is on children exploring and developing their own ideas. Reading and relationships also form part of the curriculum's aims, alongside curiosity and independence.

In October 2022, toddlers prepared fruit for smoothies, working through the challenge of cutting strawberries and blueberries. Older children discussed bread-making, recalling yeast and investigating what happened to dough when its bowl moved. These were practical activities with several purposes: handling tools, remembering a sequence and putting observations into words.

Another October 2022 example began with play dough and a pipette that fell into a bottle. Children proposed ways to retrieve it, tested their ideas and moved into mixing colours. The useful detail is the progression: a small mishap became a problem to solve, rather than an adult simply fixing it. Language practice also happened through conversations with babies and help with toddlers' pronunciation.

Outdoor and Community Life

Six separate gardens support movement between indoor and outdoor play throughout the year. Specialist tennis adds a sporting element, while forest school provides outdoor learning experiences. Beach school is another specialist experience offered here. Together, these broaden the settings in which children can play and explore.

In October 2022, community outings included the harbour, shops and beach. Those destinations connected nursery learning with familiar parts of children's surroundings. They also give a more useful picture of community activity than a general promise of local links: children encountered places beyond the nursery itself.

The key person role runs through the nursery experience, beginning with relationships for the youngest children and continuing as they grow. Parent partnerships are part of that arrangement. For families, the value is a familiar relationship through which knowledge of a child's interests and needs can develop.

At the October 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that safeguarding was effective, the key-person arrangements helped babies settle, room changes involved parents, and support enabled children with SEND and children learning English as an additional language to participate in nursery life. These findings bring the care picture together: emotional security, inclusion and protection were considered alongside learning.

In October 2022, staff helped children recognise emotions from an early age; preschool children could discuss their feelings and the effect of their behaviour on others. Room transitions were handled with parents involved. This matters because moving within a nursery is itself a change for a child, even when the building remains familiar.

Meals are cooked on the premises each day with seasonal ingredients. That places food preparation within the nursery's daily operation, alongside its emphasis on helping children develop confidence with food.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Station Road, Portishead, Bristol, BS20 7BZ. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6pm; the nursery operates for 51 weeks, closing for public holidays and a week at Christmas. Onsite parking supports collection and drop-off.

A full day runs from 8am to 6pm, a morning from 8am to 1.30pm, and an afternoon from 1.30pm to 6pm. An early start covers 7.30am to 8am. A full-week pattern is also offered, Monday to Friday, with the same 8am to 6pm day.

The minimum weekly booking is either two full days or four morning or afternoon sessions, and it must include Monday or Friday. This is a substantial planning condition for families arranging care around work: the session choice is flexible, but the weekly pattern has a definite minimum.

An enquiry form and tour booking route are offered. Permanent session changes and cancellations require one calendar month's notice, so reducing attendance needs advance planning as well as increasing it.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements for 38 weeks, alongside 2 Help funding. The standard arrangement stretches entitlement over the nursery's operating weeks: 570 annual hours become 11.17 hours weekly, while 1,140 annual hours become 22.35 hours weekly. This spreads the allocation through the year rather than concentrating it into term time.

Funded hours can be used alone or combined with paid hours, within the 8am to 6pm window across day, morning or afternoon sessions, subject to availability. Additional attendance outside the funded allocation is charged. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Private-session fees are inclusive of food and consumables; during funded hours, food, consumables and enrichment are charged separately through the optional Essentials Package. Its consumables include wipes, nappies, nappy bags, cream and suncream. Families can opt out by contacting the manager before term starts, although suitable alternatives or arrangements for disposing of consumables may then be required under nursery policy.

A registration charge and a deposit apply, both waived for fully funded places; the deposit is credited against the final invoice. Fees are paid monthly in advance. Bank-holiday closures remain chargeable, and sickness or holidays do not attract session exchanges, credits or refunds.

• The weekly commitment. Two full days or four morning or afternoon sessions must include Monday or Friday. Compare that rule with the days your family actually needs before choosing a pattern.
• Funded-hours extras. The optional Essentials Package adds separate food, consumables and enrichment charges during funded attendance. Discuss the opt-out arrangements and any alternatives you would need to supply before the term begins.
• Outdoor experiences by age. Gardens, tennis, forest school and beach school form part of the offer. At a tour, ask what beach school involves and how these experiences are organised for your child's age.
• Starting with a baby. Children can join from 3 months, and the key person relationship begins with the youngest children. Ask how settling, sleep and the baby's daily routine would be organised together.

Stationhouse suits families who value outdoor exploration, practical learning and a key person relationship, whether they need full days or morning and afternoon sessions. Its police buildings and six gardens make the setting recognisable; the October 2022 examples add substance to the learning picture.

The decision turns on fit as well as character. The minimum booking pattern, Monday-or-Friday condition and separate funded-hours extras all affect the arrangement a family buys. For those whose timetable works with those terms, this is a nursery with a clear emphasis on curiosity, everyday materials and experiences beyond the playroom.