Forbury Gardens Day Nursery

A flint former school building, walks to Reading Library and weekly music with Wiggle Waggle give Forbury Gardens Day Nursery a recognisable town-centre character. Beside Forbury Gardens, it combines outings into the surrounding community with practical care arrangements such as a separate sleep room for younger babies. There are 95 places in total, for children from 3 months to 5 years.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with a curriculum responsive to children's interests and relationships that helped children feel secure. There were also two clear improvement priorities: staff needed greater confidence when teaching unfamiliar age groups, and children needed better support while waiting for meals. Staff cover and mealtime organisation deserve attention alongside the building, activities and care arrangements.

Full-time and part-time attendance sit alongside a term-time funded-only option.

Rooms and Ages

The nursery occupies a flint building dating from 1911, formerly St. James School. Babies, toddlers and older children can attend the same setting.

Swans children help prepare the table and serve food to their friends, making mealtimes an opportunity to practise useful tasks and consideration for others. Each room displays its activity plan and daily routine, helping parents understand their child's day.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the foundation: children develop communication, relationships and physical skills through play, alongside early reading, mathematics, creativity and understanding their surroundings. These are the shared areas of early-years learning. Here, the curriculum translates them into experiences such as enjoying books, making marks, exploring materials and using mathematical ideas in play.

Wiggle Waggle adds a weekly music-and-movement session involving singing, dramatic play, action songs and rhythm, with instruments, lights and pictures among the resources. Weekly French lessons come through La Jolie Ronde, while In2Sports provides weekly sports sessions. Music, language and physical activity therefore have named places in the routine, rather than being left as a general promise of enrichment.

In September 2024, children's requests could shape an activity: a wish to paint led staff to make space and explore colour mixing. Songs, stories and simple signs supported communication, while words introduced during dough play gave older children language for what their hands were doing.

Outdoor and Community Life

Community walks take children to Forbury Gardens and Reading Library. Shopping for ingredients connects an outing with later cooking, and theatre visits and farm trips extend experiences beyond the nursery.

In September 2024, children had opportunities for outdoor play each day, including time in the garden. They also visited a museum and parks, contributed food to church and foodbank collections for harvest festival, and heard stories in their home languages from visitors from the nearby university. These examples connected learning with local places, generosity and the languages of children's families. Older children joined in headcounts before leaving the garden, adding responsibility to an everyday routine.

Relationships and Communication

A key person takes particular responsibility for a child's care and the relationship with their family. The nursery also operates a key buddy system. Familiar home routines are maintained, and daily observations are recorded in a personal progress portfolio shared with parents.

Settling involves several short visits before the start date, usually three over the preceding week or two, with admission forms covering the child's routines and requirements. These visits help children become familiar with staff and give practitioners details of their care routines.

In September 2024, communication with families included daily conversations and an online system. Staff comforted babies and helped younger children through changes in routine, including the move back indoors after outdoor play.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Sleep is arranged around individual needs and discussed with parents. Babies below approximately 12 months have cots and a separate sleep room; older children use mats when they need a daytime sleep, with quiet time also accommodated. Bedding is supplied.

The SEND Policy sets out how additional needs and disabilities are monitored and accompanies a place offer. A Positive Behaviour Management policy also gives staff and parents guidance on responding to challenging behaviour.

Staff receive core training in child protection and emergency paediatric first aid, and a defibrillator is kept at the nursery. In September 2024, adults used praise and strategies to help children manage their reactions, including helping older children consider the effect of their behaviour on others.

Food is cooked with fresh ingredients in the nursery's large kitchen, and meals include breakfast, snacks, lunch with two courses, tea and fruit. The nursery's policy excludes nuts, identifies allergens on menus and offers alternatives for individual allergies; under the group's arrangements, food is supplied by the nursery, with separate charges during longer funded attendance and no associated charges for funded-only term-time sessions.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Abbots Walk, Reading, RG1 3HW. Opening hours run from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with closures for public and bank holidays and between Christmas Day and New Year. Whole-day attendance can be full-time or part-time; childcare is not sold by the hour.

The fully funded option provides 15 hours weekly during term time, over 38 weeks, through five morning sessions from 8:45am to 11:45am or five afternoon sessions from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. It carries no associated charges and requires no deposit.

Enquiries can be made by telephone or message, and enrolment uses an online form or the form in the welcome pack. The waiting list is free. Priority may go to an immediate start, families seeking attendance for more than one child, or full-time requests, so the list does not operate solely by the date a family first enquires.

Getting There

Forbury Gardens is next door, placing the nursery in central Reading. The nursery is a five-minute walk from both the train station and the town centre.

Funding and Paid Extras

Alongside the term-time option, the group's working-families funding arrangements stretch entitlement across the year, with private hours charged when attendance exceeds funded hours. Eligibility codes must be supplied and reconfirmed every three months.

Food and non-food consumables are charged separately for funded hours within the longer attendance arrangements; the fully funded term-time sessions carry no associated charges. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation covering the chosen attendance pattern and its charges; the funding and fees information separates funded care from paid additions.

For other places, a non-refundable registration charge and a deposit accompany the offer. The deposit is returned on leaving only when the account is settled and one month's written notice has been given; both payments are retained if the child never starts. These conditions deserve attention before accepting an offer, especially where a family's start date depends on changing work arrangements.

• Cover between age groups. In September 2024, some staff were less confident adapting teaching when working in another age group's room. During a visit, ask how cover is organised and how staff prepare for the youngest children's needs.
• Waiting at mealtimes. In September 2024, staff deployment left some children restless while food was being served. Ask how mealtimes now run and what support children receive during the wait.
• The funded attendance pattern. The charge-free option uses five morning or five afternoon sessions during term time. Compare that pattern with your working week, and distinguish it from stretched funding within longer days.
• Allergies and settling. Menus identify allergens and settling uses short preliminary visits. Use those visits to confirm current allergy practice and discuss how feeding, sleep and familiar routines will be handled for your child.

Forbury Gardens suits families wanting either regular full-time or part-time whole-day attendance, as well as those whose week fits its shorter term-time funded sessions. The former flint school, nearby community destinations, Wiggle Waggle and separate baby sleep room give parents concrete reasons to consider it. Its September 2024 Good judgement provides a useful inspection anchor, balanced by specific questions about staff cover and mealtime organisation. The strongest fit is for families who value town-centre outings and structured care arrangements, and who can match the funding pattern to the attendance they actually need.