Wind In The Willows Portsmouth

Garden-grown vegetables, a kitchen used for baking and rooms that open onto outdoor play give Wind In The Willows Portsmouth a practical, hands-on character. Based on Hester Road in Southsea, it combines room-based care with shared spaces for exploring, cooking and imaginative play. The garden is part of the learning day, rather than simply somewhere to burn off energy.

At its June 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, recognising a curriculum planned around individual children and their progress. Two improvement priorities temper that positive assessment: hygiene around naps and consistent support for children with communication difficulties. Both deserve attention when choosing care.

There are 88 places in total. The nursery offers childcare from 3 months to 5 years, with full-time places continuing after term-time-only places ended in September 2026.

Rooms and Ages

Separate rooms and age-related areas occupy a single floor. That arrangement allows staff to share knowledge across the setting, while children retain spaces designed around their stage of development. Room layouts and resources change with children's interests, so the environment can respond to what they are exploring.

Toads Room combines child-chosen activities with picture-based self-registration, a physical play gym and areas for construction, books and role play, gradually introducing routines before the move to the two-year room.

Moles Room gives two-year-olds a light space with garden access, free play and activities planned by keyworkers, alongside a sensory room that becomes a sleep room for afternoon naps.

Badgers Room serves children from 3 years until school, bringing mathematics and mark-making into activities and offering access to the garden, Cosy-Room and Role-Play Room, with tablets, a computer and self-service drinking water supporting everyday independence.

Bunnies Room has areas for construction, loose parts, role play, and music and movement, giving children different ways to build, imagine and express themselves.

These spaces make the room progression tangible: younger children practise choosing and recognising their picture, while preschool children take more responsibility for drinks, coats and shoes. The practical details matter as much as the room names. Independence is rehearsed through ordinary tasks rather than reserved for a school-preparation activity.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for learning, development and care: here, activities are planned around children's interests and next steps, with a monthly topic helping organise play. It is the shared early-years foundation, rather than a special programme unique to this nursery.

STEM adds an explicit emphasis on science, technology, engineering and maths. Experiments, water play, wooden loose parts and playdough bring those ideas into everyday activity, giving children materials with which to test possibilities and solve practical problems. The nursery also follows the curiosity approach, linking it to collaboration, questioning and children's confidence in expressing themselves. These additions sit alongside the EYFS.

In June 2023, babies explored sand through touch, toddlers played with dinosaurs in mud, and older children built houses together using open-ended materials. Water and flower petals became potion-making materials, with children considering how much liquid to add. Those examples give a concrete picture of exploratory play at that time, across different stages of development.

Outdoor and Community Life

Grass and patio areas surround the building, and almost all rooms have direct garden access. Children grow fruit, vegetables and flowers; produce from the garden is used in cooking. A mud kitchen, bug hunting, sand and water play give outdoor activity several purposes, from sensory exploration to noticing living things.

Bikes, scooters and slides support movement, while annual sports days bring a recurring shared event. Active8 is among the outside agencies brought in for visits supporting physical activity. The nursery uses outdoor space in different weather, so the garden is woven into its routines.

Community activity extends to places including Bransbury Park, Milton Common, Langstone Harbour and Beddow Library. Those local resources broaden what children can explore beyond the nursery grounds. A further connection reaches overseas: the setting is twinned with Mansa-Colley Bojang School in The Gambia, and children discuss other communities and families through that relationship. Families contribute supplies, making the link something they can participate in.

Relationships and Communication

Settling sessions take place before children start, and families receive a parent handbook. Room changes have their own preparation: parents receive a transition pack and a letter explaining settling dates and the new key person. This gives families a concrete account of the change rather than leaving them to piece it together.

Regular parents' evenings sit alongside a monthly newsletter, a notice board and contact by phone or email. A suggestion box is emptied weekly, with surveys providing another route for feedback. In Moles Room, next steps are shared each half term, helping parents connect activities at nursery with support at home.

School preparation includes mock school days, visits involving schools and teachers, and Home Library, through which children take a reading book home each week to share with their family. That combines practical familiarity with a repeatable home activity. It gives transition work substance beyond practising coats and shoes.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO lead role is part of the staff structure, and staff undertake continuing training, including safeguarding; all staff have first-aid training. These are arrangements for care and professional development, rather than a separate assurance about outcomes.

At the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted recognised the SENCO's work with families and agencies to assess needs and set learning targets, but required more consistent implementation of communication-support strategies and better nap hygiene after children crossed clean bedding in outdoor shoes. For a child needing language support, the important issue is how an agreed strategy reaches every practitioner involved in their day.

In June 2023, children practised stretching and breathing at the start of the day and talked about feelings with staff support. Older babies used cutlery, toddlers disposed of used tissues, and older children practised handwashing. These observations show how wellbeing and self-care were approached at that point; they also sit alongside the specific nap-time concern rather than cancelling it out.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Hester Road, Southsea, PO4 8HB. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 7:15am to 6pm. Full-time places are offered, but term-time-only places ended from September 2026. Families needing care throughout the school holidays should distinguish the opening window from the attendance arrangement they book.

Bank holidays and a week at Christmas are closure periods, and bank holidays are not charged. Enquiries go by email to info@windinthewillowspreschool.co.uk with the child's date of birth, requested days and hours, and intended start date. Booking involves a form, a deposit and a registration fee.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding is accepted for 9-month-old, 2 and 3 year entitlements, including 15 and 30 hours. Private childcare is also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the fees page explaining the charge structure.

Snack and meal costs have several parts: morning and afternoon snacks, milk and water are included in the price, breakfast is included in some sessions, and hot meals prepared in the nursery's kitchen cost extra. A monthly snack-and-wipe donation is added to invoices, so wipes also have a separate invoice contribution.

A sibling discount applies unless one child is fully funded. Childcare vouchers are accepted. Families comparing quotations need to consider the attendance pattern and invoice additions together, rather than treating funded hours and the total childcare bill as the same thing.

For onward schooling, the nursery describes close working links with Milton Park, Meon, Wimborne and Moorings Way to support transition. Attendance does not guarantee a school place; families still use the local authority admissions process.

• Nap hygiene and language support. The June 2023 priorities concerned clean bedding and consistent communication strategies. At a visit, ask how both are handled now, including how staff share an individual child's agreed support.
• Care across the year. Term-time-only places ended in September 2026, while bank holidays and a Christmas week remain closures. This is a consequential fit question for families organising care around school terms.
• The complete invoice. Hot meals cost extra, breakfast depends on the session, and a snack-and-wipe donation is added monthly. The written quotation should be considered alongside the deposit, registration fee and any applicable sibling discount.

Hands-on learning is the strongest reason to consider Wind In The Willows Portsmouth: garden produce connects growing with cooking, STEM brings experiments into play, and room routines give children practical responsibilities. It suits families seeking full-time childcare across the year who value outdoor activity, child-chosen play and concrete preparation for school.

The Good judgement provides a positive dated assessment, with specific care and communication priorities that should remain part of the decision. The end of term-time-only places is equally important to the fit: the learning offer and the family's attendance needs must work together.