Dickory Docks Educational Day Nursery

Picture symbols, familiar stories and small-group connection sessions give Dickory Docks Educational Day Nursery its character. In Tilehurst, Reading, its Symbols and Visuals Award recognises work with visual communication: children can use pictures to understand routines, choose activities and express feelings. This is a practical addition to the nursery day, with resources that make instructions visible as well as spoken.

At its 26 June 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall. That judgement sits alongside specific points for improvement, including calmer mealtimes, more consistent encouragement to drink water and sharper support for staff development. Those details matter more than the grade alone.

Children are accepted from 3 months to 5 years, with colour-named rooms for babies, toddlers and preschool children. The youngest room has a maximum of 19 babies, a useful starting point for families weighing the scale of baby care. Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance are offered; funded attendance can follow term-time or year-round arrangements.

Rooms and Ages

Red Room accommodates babies from 3 months upwards, with a maximum of 19; its sensory activities include exploring natural materials, while designated sleeping and eating areas, a milk kitchen and a nappy-changing area organise the practical parts of baby care. These are concrete features to weigh alongside the room's size. A baby's day involves feeding and rest as well as play.

Orange Room and Green Room serve toddlers aged 1 to 3 years, with activities centred on independence, language and physical development, plus a designated sleeping area and facilities for nappy changing and toilet training. Yellow Room and Blue Room take preschool children aged 3 to 5 years, with learning spanning social development, communication, movement, literacy, mathematics, creative expression and understanding the world. The room names give families a clear way to discuss their child's next stage.

Movement between rooms takes account of developmental assessment and discussions with parents. That makes the conversation about a move important: readiness involves the child's current needs and experiences, rather than simply a room label.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care, including language, physical skills, relationships and early literacy and mathematics. At Dickory Docks, core stories help organise activities, with children also choosing their own play. Adults join that play to extend learning while allowing children time to stay absorbed in an activity.

Development Matters is used alongside the EYFS to support planning for children's development. Goals are adjusted to individual needs and experiences, and parents can contribute new interests and ideas. The practical implication is that something a child enjoys at home can become part of nursery learning, rather than remaining separate from it. The curriculum page explains this combination of planned experiences and children's choices.

In June 2023, babies joined familiar songs and stories, while toddlers explored bubbles with repeated words and singing from staff. These examples show how ordinary play can carry language learning. However, staff sometimes missed opportunities to pursue the intended learning fully, and the recommendations included more precise professional development. The important question is how consistently an activity's purpose reaches the child.

Outdoor space gives children room to explore beyond their playrooms. Outings include theatre and library visits, with parents encouraged to join; these extend experiences beyond the nursery itself. Celebrations also draw on festivals and traditions from different cultures, alongside everyday teaching about friendship, fairness and respect.

Relationships and Communication

A key person and familiar adults are central to settling and learning. Settling sessions are free, usually last an hour and normally take place during the week before a child's start date. Comfort toys and dummies can come from home. For families making the first move into childcare, that creates an opportunity for familiar objects and relationships to bridge the change.

Tapestry is the online learning journal: staff share photographs, video and written observations, and parents can contribute their own material. It is used to plan what a child might learn next, rather than simply providing a gallery. Daily spoken feedback, consultations and key-person progress reports add opportunities to discuss development and concerns.

When children move on to school, transition reports describe their progress, and parents sign before a report is sent. This gives families a role in the information shared with the next setting. It is preparation and communication, rather than an admissions advantage.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The Symbols and Visuals Award follows staff training from the Brighter Futures SEND Team, with visual timetables, choice boards and routine pictures used around the nursery. Now-and-next boards show the immediate activity and what follows; emotion symbols give children another way to communicate feelings. These arrangements are relevant to children with SEND, children developing spoken language and those learning English as an additional language.

Let's Connect provides a more contained part of the day: up to six children spend around ten minutes with one adult, using a repeated sequence of greeting, shared play, sensory experiences and farewell. Communication boards are part of these sessions, and the group and adult remain consistent between sessions. Familiarity is built into the arrangement.

At the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and recognised good SEND support, including individual education plans, work on education, health and care plans, picture-based communication and familiar toys to help with routine changes. A special educational needs co-ordinator role also forms part of the team structure.

There were important care qualifications in June 2023. Toddler and preschool lunches could become noisy, with brief moments when children's need for comfort was missed; toddlers also needed more encouragement to use the drinking water provided. These were practical weaknesses in routines, and the improvement actions addressed both calmness and hydration.

Staff development remains relevant to that picture. Ongoing professional training and support for further childcare qualifications form part of the nursery's employment arrangements. Fresh meals are cooked on the premises each day, and the nursery has allergy-management plans; families managing allergies should discuss their child's requirements and current practice at a visit.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens on weekdays from 8am to 6pm, closing for bank holidays and one week over Christmas. A Full Day runs from 8am to 6pm, a Morning Session from 8am to 1pm and an Afternoon Session from 1pm to 6pm. A Full Time Place covers Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Ad-hoc extra hours are also offered, for occasional additional attendance rather than regular use.

Grant-funded attendance includes term-time and full-year arrangements, with a qualification for children using 15-hour funding noted below. Children without a grant attend full time. Attendance selections matter: an offer is based on the chosen pattern and may be withdrawn if sessions change. Families therefore need a pattern they can sustain, rather than treating the initial selection as provisional.

Getting There

The address is Cockney Hill, Tilehurst, Reading, RG30 4EX. Free parking is provided on site, and bus routes 2 and 17 stop nearby on Tilehurst Road; Reading West Station is another transport option.

In June 2023, the nursery was located in the grounds of King's Academy Prospect School. Attendance at the nursery does not guarantee a Reception place: families still use the local authority admissions process for a state-school application.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 30 hours for eligible babies aged 9 to 23 months, 15-hour and 30-hour options for eligible two-year-olds, and universal 15 hours or eligible 30 hours for three- and four-year-olds. The fees terms specify 38 weeks for the 15-hour grant and either 38 weeks or funding stretched across 51 weeks for the 30-hour grant. Stretching spreads the entitlement across more weeks, reducing the weekly funded hours.

Meals are included in private session prices. For funded attendance, meals are charged separately, with the alternative of bringing packed meals to be served without a charge. Private session pricing and funded pricing cannot be combined within the same week, so the funding calculation and any additional attendance need to be considered together.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. A deposit and registration charge may be required after the registration form is processed; the fees page explains the charging structure. A place offer remains open for seven days, and the waiting list carries no charge.

• Baby-room scale. Red Room has a maximum of 19 babies. At a viewing with your child, ask how feeding, sleep and play are organised within that room, and how your child's familiar routine would be accommodated.
• Calmness and drinking. The June 2023 recommendations addressed noisy mealtimes, missed reassurance and encouragement to drink water. Ask how those routines work now, alongside the staff-development work recommended at that time.
• Funding and attendance. The attendance form allows children with any grant to choose 38 or 51 weeks, while the fees terms restrict 15-hour funding to 38 weeks. Families using 15-hour funding should ask which arrangement applies. Non-funded children attend full time, and an offer may be withdrawn if the selected sessions change.
• Food and everyday supplies. Funded meals carry a separate charge unless families bring packed food. At the visit, discuss allergy arrangements and which everyday supplies you will need to bring.

Dickory Docks suits families seeking morning sessions, afternoon sessions or full-day attendance, subject to its attendance conditions and the funding qualification above. Its clearest appeal is the detail of its communication arrangements: visual routines, Let's Connect groups and a two-way Tapestry journal give parents concrete practices to consider.

The baby-room maximum and the June 2023 concerns about mealtimes, hydration and staff development deserve equal attention. For families comfortable with the attendance conditions, the decision turns on how the room organisation and daily routines fit their child.