Hermitage Nursery School

Forest School for older children and meals shared in a central dining space give Hermitage Nursery School a recognisable character: outdoor exploration sits alongside the everyday business of eating, talking and learning together. This Whitwick nursery has capacity for 80 children, with a current age range of two months to five years.

At its March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Hermitage Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefited from targeted plans developed with families and professionals. That judgement needs to be read alongside repeated regulatory findings in December 2025 and August 2026, when failures to meet requirements were identified and corrective action was recorded.

Full days, mornings and afternoons give families different ways to organise attendance. The practical attraction is that shorter sessions sit alongside year-round care, with funded hours stretched across the nursery year.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care, bringing learning through play together with everyday routines. At Hermitage, Forest School adds time outdoors with a teacher for older children, giving nature a defined place in their nursery experience rather than leaving it solely to general outdoor play.

Cookery sessions involve handling ingredients and learning where food comes from, including opportunities to explore growing ingredients. This gives children a practical connection between making something and eating it. Yoga and community trips also form part of the additional activity offer; they sit alongside the core framework rather than replacing it.

In March 2023, babies explored movable objects chosen in response to their interests. Staff arranged resources so that babies could investigate and carry things between different parts of the play space. That example matters because the activity began with what the children were already trying to do, rather than requiring them to follow a fixed task.

For older children that March, dough disco involved pressing, stretching and squeezing dough, providing practice with the hand movements later needed for writing. Stories also became material for imaginative play: children used figures to act out The Gruffalo and experimented with character voices. Books were something to handle, discuss and recreate.

Outdoor and Community Life

In March 2023, the mud kitchen gave children opportunities to mix materials, scoop and pour, while outdoor games involved inviting friends to join and sharing equipment. These are concrete examples of physical exploration and social practice happening together.

Rainbows and Young Minds are Hermitage's chosen charities. Fundraising plans include sponsored challenges, bake sales and dress-up days throughout the year. For families who enjoy taking part, this provides a connection with the nursery beyond their child's booked sessions, with occasional costume participation part of the activity mix.

Relationships and Communication

In March 2023, staff adapted experiences to children's interests and stages of development. Mealtimes included conversation, using cutlery and serving food, with toothbrushing afterwards. Care routines therefore also created opportunities to practise independence, coordination and social skills.

The improvement priorities from March 2023 were specific. Staff needed greater consistency when helping children manage behaviour, and preschool group activities needed better organisation so that children gained more from them. For parents, the useful distinction is between an appealing activity and the staff practice that makes it work: how a group is introduced, how children participate and how adults respond when play becomes difficult.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Current support arrangements include working with speech and language therapists, health visitors and the area SENCo, alongside parents and carers. These are identifiable routes for discussing a child's needs and coordinating support, including preparation for the move to school.

Later safety findings materially qualify the older inspection position. In its outcomes dated 3 December 2025 and 4 August 2026, Ofsted recorded failures to meet requirements with corrective action taken, including safeguarding training and discussions in 2025, followed by revised risk assessments, stronger supervision and toileting procedures, staff training and physical access controls in 2026.

The August 2026 changes included a retractable gate intended to stop children leaving a room through the toilets, and locking adjoining doors when rooms were unused. These were concrete responses to identified problems. They should remain part of a family's assessment of care, even though corrective action was recorded.

An on-site chef prepares meals, using local ingredients where possible, and menus accommodate dietary requirements. Children share meals in a central space, making eating a communal part of the nursery day.

Sessions and Attendance

Hermitage is at 147-149 Hermitage Road, Whitwick, Leicestershire, LE67 5EL. Full days run from 7.30am to 6pm, mornings from 7.30am to 1pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

Attendance operates across the year, with funding spread over 51 weeks. Christmas week and two annual team training days are scheduled closures. An enquiry form provides a direct route to begin the joining process, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

The 15 Hours and 30 Hours funding offers are provided for eligible children aged nine months and above. Stretching them across 51 weeks gives up to 11.18 or 22.35 funded hours weekly, respectively. Eligibility and the nursery's delivery pattern are separate matters: the headline entitlement does not mean that every booked hour is funded.

Up to 10 funded hours can be applied per day. For the larger stretched entitlement, the first 20 hours can cover parts of two full-day sessions, with the remaining 2.35 hours used in another full or half day. A full day includes an additional 30 minutes charged privately.

Private fees include meals, snacks, milk and infant formula, together with nappies, wipes, nappy cream and sun cream. Funded sessions carry separate charges for food and health and hygiene consumables; activity charges apply only to children over two, with no activity charge for under-twos. These charges are proportionate for half-day or partly funded sessions. The funding arrangement therefore needs to be considered alongside the extras when comparing the total cost of attendance.

A non-refundable registration charge and a deposit apply, with the deposit credited against the first invoice. Fees remain payable during illness and other absences, so occasional missed sessions do not reduce the bill.

• Repeated safety findings. The December 2025 and August 2026 outcomes both identified failures to meet requirements and recorded corrective action. During a visit, ask how the revised supervision, toileting and safeguarding procedures now work in daily practice.
• Preschool group teaching. March 2023 improvement priorities concerned activity organisation and consistent behaviour support. Ask how practitioners involve children in group sessions and respond when a child needs help making choices.
• Funding and extras. Funded sessions attract separate food and consumables charges, with activity charges only for children over two and no activity charge for under-twos, while full days extend beyond the daily funding limit. Obtain a written quotation for the particular combination of mornings, afternoons or full days you intend to book.
• Starting care and dietary needs. Ask how settling sessions and the key-person relationship will be arranged for your child, and confirm current food procedures if allergies affect your family.

Hermitage suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full days, with an interest in outdoor learning, practical cookery and shared mealtimes. Its support links and charity activities add substance to that offer. The Good judgement dates from March 2023; repeated later safety findings make the implementation of corrective action a central consideration in choosing this nursery.