The Wigwam Day Nursery

Coracles for baby naps, treasure baskets for exploration and a converted house rather than a purpose-built setting give The Wigwam Day Nursery its character. At 22 Fatherson Road in Reading, the emphasis is on children choosing their play, keeping familiar routines and developing independence through everyday tasks. The small details matter: accessible resources let babies make choices, while preschool children can move between indoor activities and the garden.

At its 3 April 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found that children made good progress and judged safeguarding arrangements effective. There were also two clear areas for improvement: making adult-led activities more responsive to the children taking part, and explaining the reasons behind healthy habits more consistently.

The nursery caters for children aged 3 to 60 months. Full-time and part-time attendance use the standard day, with an earlier start offered at an additional charge.

Rooms and Ages

Tiny Turtles, the baby room labelled for ages 0-2 years, combines natural light and comfortable corners with sensory exploration, accessible baskets, an indoor gym with steps and a slide, and opportunities for outdoor movement. Choosing an object, reaching for a book or attempting a climb gives the youngest children something active to do rather than simply something to watch.

Dancing Deers, for ages 3-5 years, develops early number work, literacy and mark-making through play, with children able to choose resources and move freely between the room and outdoor learning space. Preparation for school sits alongside time to explore and talk through ideas. The balance is practical: children encounter skills they will use later while retaining choice over much of their play.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS is the shared framework for early-years learning and care. Play and conversation develop communication, movement and relationships alongside literacy, mathematics and creative expression. Children choose some activities; practitioners lead others and use observations to plan learning.

In the converted house, breakfast takes place in Tiny Turtles or Dancing Deers before children return to their base room to choose activities. Key groups use age-group spaces and the garden, with space for construction and longer creative projects. Hygge describes comfort and shared enjoyment here, expressed through these family-style arrangements.

Treasure Basket play gives babies natural, recycled and household objects in a wicker basket to explore. In April 2024, toddlers shaped play-dough with tools and preschool children carefully cut snack fruit. Younger children linked words with actions; older children discussed home experiences.

Outdoor and Community Life

In April 2024, children balanced on low planks and used large climbing equipment outdoors. Community outings included library trips by bus for songs and book choices, plus frequent care-home visits to hear residents' stories.

Holi, the Indian festival of colours, was another April 2024 theme. Younger children explored coloured paint; preschool children used books and video to compare celebrations with family traditions. Sensory play and discussion made the theme accessible at different ages.

Relationships and Communication

Tiny Turtles follows home routines and offers individual settling, including a key-person home visit. That introduces a familiar carer before nursery care begins. For sleep, babies have coracles and stacking cots, with two cots accessible independently; coracles allow rest when children need it.

Learning Diaries track development through observations, photographs or video and periodic summaries. Parents share home interests and experiences with the key person, connecting nursery assessment with family life. Observations happen through ordinary play and interaction.

Summaries also cover changes of group and the move to school. Between 24 and 36 months, the key person completes a written development check using observations and contributions from parents and other professionals. These records give families concrete examples to discuss.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that shared staff training in strategies for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities had a positive effect on children's development. That is a dated finding about practice, rather than a promise that one arrangement will suit every child.

In April 2024, children practised small acts of self-care: older babies attempted their shoes, toddlers poured water and preschool children worked out ways to put coats on. Staff also used reminders about gentle behaviour and recognised individual effort. These were ordinary routines with a useful purpose, giving children repeated chances to do something for themselves and manage play alongside others.

For the move to school, Dancing Deers uses school visits, uniforms in role play and picture books about the new surroundings. These activities make unfamiliar settings more recognisable. They support preparation for the change rather than determining where a child will attend.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 22 Fatherson Road, Reading, RG1 4PL. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, closing on bank holidays and for a week at Christmas, so those closures need to fit the family's wider childcare arrangements.

The standard booked day runs from 8am to 6pm, for either full-time or part-time attendance, with a minimum commitment of two days each week. A 7.30am start costs extra. The distinction between opening time and the standard day matters when planning an early work start.

Additional attendance can be requested and depends on whether the nursery can accommodate it. Missed attendance cannot be exchanged for a different day or session. Fees are paid monthly in advance, and leaving requires a month's written notice or payment instead. These terms make the weekly pattern a financial commitment as well as a timetable choice.

Funding and Paid Extras

Working Parent Funding, 2-Year-Old Funding and Universal Funding are accepted. Universal Free Entitlement and Extended Entitlement are stretched across 52 weeks rather than confined to term time; the Extended Entitlement arrangement for Dancing Deers has no minimum attendance requirement. Funding remains subject to eligibility and the nursery's stated conditions, so acceptance of an entitlement does not guarantee a funded place.

A child must attend by the local authority's term headcount date for the funding claim, and funding cannot be guaranteed for a later start. Unused funded hours cannot be moved forward or refunded. This makes the starting date relevant to the funding plan, not just to settling arrangements.

Meals are included in fees. Formula, sun cream, wipes and nappies fall within a separately charged consumables package; the weekly cost examples after funding include meals and consumables in their totals.

A non-refundable registration charge applies to a nursery place, and a sibling discount applies while both children attend. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees and attendance terms set out the charge structure and booking conditions together.

• Quieter children in group activities. In April 2024, confident preschool children sometimes dominated responses, leaving others disengaged. On a visit, ask how adult-led activities now draw in children who need longer to answer.
• Understanding healthy habits. The April 2024 improvement point concerned explaining why healthy routines benefit the body, rather than simply encouraging them. Ask for an example of how that explanation is woven into snack time or outdoor play.
• Baby routines and rest. Tiny Turtles combines home routines, a key-person home visit and coracles or cots for sleep. Discuss how your baby's settling and nap arrangements would work in that room.
• A fixed weekly commitment. The standard booking requires two days a week, missed sessions cannot be swapped, and an early start costs extra. Compare the proposed attendance and funding calculation with your working week before committing.

Wigwam suits families considering either full-time attendance or a part-time weekly pattern who value play-based learning, a converted-house setting and practical attention to baby routines. Tiny Turtles' sleep equipment and home-visit option give the youngest children's care a clear shape; Dancing Deers combines freely chosen play with preparation for school.

The April 2024 Good judgement provides the quality baseline, qualified by improvement points concerning adult-led group organisation and explanations of healthy habits. The attendance terms are equally important to the decision: this is a nursery with a fixed weekly commitment, an optional earlier start and funding arrangements that need to align with the child's starting date.