Chestnut Nursery School, St Giles

A former auction house and chapel gives Chestnut Nursery School, St Giles an unusual home in central Norwich. Inside the Grade 2 listed building, four learning spaces support a day shaped around children's interests, with natural resources, outdoor play and food prepared by a resident chef. The emphasis is on children exploring and doing things for themselves.

The nursery accepts children from 3 months to 59 months and has 74 places in total. At its October 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall and judged safeguarding effective. The strongest practical attractions are interest-led planning, a key-person approach and a choice of full-day, morning and afternoon attendance.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, play, conversation and everyday routines provide opportunities to build skills. Key persons observe children and use their interests to shape weekly plans. That gives a child's current fascination a place in the following week's activities, rather than treating planning as a fixed sequence detached from the children taking part.

Four differentiated spaces organise the learning environment. Natural resources and play initiated by children are part of the approach, while Free-flow Outdoor Play gives outdoor activity a place alongside indoor exploration. For parents, the useful distinction is between activities adults introduce and opportunities children can choose and develop themselves.

In October 2024, resources were positioned so children could select them independently. Babies practised rising to their feet using soft-play equipment, while toddlers explored a ball pool. These were practical opportunities to build physical confidence through play, with staff responding to children's efforts.

Conversation also grew from practical tasks. In October 2024, pumpkin decorating prompted children to explain how they had mixed colours, revisiting what they already knew rather than simply completing a craft. There was a clear improvement point, however: staff sometimes moved on too quickly after asking a question, or asked questions that gave children too little room to develop an answer. Longer pauses and more open questions were needed to extend speech and language further.

Outdoor and Community Life

Growing and food exploration connect the nursery day with the world beyond toys. In October 2024, children used ingredients they had grown from seed, linking plant growth with the food they could handle and use. This gives an everyday subject a concrete starting point: children can investigate where something comes from before encountering it at mealtimes.

A December 2025 account of Thanksgiving activities provided another example. Children explored vegetables and their seeds, compared the outside with the cut interior, and tasted cooked vegetables. Discussion about gratitude and different celebrations accompanied the practical work. This was a past activity, but it illustrates how one subject brought together sensory exploration, conversation and learning about other people's traditions.

Relationships and Communication

Key persons provide continuity between observation, planning and relationships with families. In October 2024, staff got to know children and their families before attendance began, helping the settling process start before the first nursery day. Parents also received assessments of their children's development, giving them information they could use to support learning at home.

Parent Zone carries communications and financial information, and families need an email address to use it. Monthly invoices distinguish funded entitlement from additional charges. This makes the administrative side of the relationship important too: parents need to be comfortable receiving nursery information digitally, alongside conversations with staff.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities made progress, with learning gaps identified promptly and support put in place. The deputy manager also holds the site's SENDCo role and has paediatric and mental health first-aid training. These are concrete support arrangements, rather than a general promise that every child's needs will be identical.

Daily yoga featured in October 2024, with breathing and gentle movement used to help children manage their feelings. Independence was also practised through ordinary routines: children organised their belongings and served their own food using utensils. These small responsibilities gave children repeated opportunities to do things for themselves and prepare for the practical demands of school.

A resident chef cooks each day with locally sourced ingredients. Paid session fees include the meals assigned to that session, while lunches and teas during funded attendance are separately charged when families opt in, with a packed-meal alternative; children using disadvantaged funded places are not required to pay for meals.

Sessions and Attendance

Full Day attendance runs from 8am to 6pm. Morning Session attendance is from 8am to 1pm, and Afternoon Session attendance from 1pm to 6pm. Full-day and half-day patterns are offered, so families can choose between a complete nursery day and a shorter morning or afternoon arrangement.

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates for 51 weeks, excluding bank holidays and inset days. Sessions cannot be swapped, which matters for families whose work rota changes: a regular booked pattern needs to fit the household's usual week.

Private booking terms require a month's written notice to end attendance or change sessions; funded childcare terms specify four weeks' written notice to end the contract. Fees remain payable during nursery closures and when a child is absent through illness or holiday. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01603 629009 or by email to StGiles@chestnut-nursery.com.

Getting There

The address is 38A St. Giles Street, Norwich, NR2 1LL. Norwich Station is the nearest station, and bus routes include 1, 2, 5 and 11, giving families public-transport options to consider alongside their wider daily journey.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes provision for children aged 9–23 months, disadvantaged two-year-olds, working-parent two-year-olds, universal funding for three- and four-year-olds, and extended funding for eligible three- and four-year-olds. Additional attendance beyond an entitlement is privately charged. Funding eligibility and the cost of extra attendance therefore need to be considered separately.

Funded-only attendance carries neither a deposit nor a registration charge. A deposit applies when families contract for private hours beyond their entitlement, with repayment subject to the contract and outstanding fees being settled. Additional trips and services are optional, with charges agreed beforehand; a family choosing a charged trip pays its attendance cost.

Fees are collected monthly in advance by direct debit, and Tax-Free Childcare payments are accepted. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, while the St Giles fees page explains the distinction between funded attendance and paid extras.

• Conversation during play. The October 2024 improvement point concerned giving children more time and scope to answer questions. During a visit, ask how staff now use pauses and open questions in everyday activities.
• A regular attendance pattern. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions offer different lengths of care, but booked sessions cannot be swapped. This suits a predictable week better than a changing rota.
• The funded meal choice. Lunch and tea can be purchased during funded attendance or replaced with suitable packed meals, while disadvantaged funded places have a different payment position. The choice affects both the bill and what families prepare at home.
• Care for the youngest children. The nursery accepts babies from 3 months. During a visit, ask how sleep, feeding and the number of children sharing their learning space will work for your baby, including arrangements for non-food consumables.

St Giles suits families seeking either full-day attendance or shorter morning and afternoon sessions in central Norwich. Interest-led planning, practical exploration and a resident chef give the offer substance, while the October 2024 findings provide a balanced picture of care and learning. Speech and language teaching remains the useful point to explore, rather than letting the overall Good grade answer every question. Families with a stable weekly routine are also better placed to work with the rule against swapping sessions.