Tall Trees Day Nursery

A bear that children in Hawthorn Class can take home for a week, babies exploring materials in Marlowe Class, and a garden growing herbs and vegetables give Tall Trees Day Nursery a recognisable character. Practical experiences connect nursery learning with life beyond the rooms.

At its 21 August 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, while identifying uneven staff knowledge about children's learning and insufficient support for children to solve disagreements independently. Those qualifications matter alongside the grade. This is a positive inspection position with clear teaching priorities, rather than an unqualified endorsement of every interaction.

The West Road setting in Reigate has capacity for 36 children, and its nursery offer welcomes children from 10 months to five years. Families can book mornings, afternoons or standard days, with paid extensions at either end of the day.

Rooms and Ages

Marlowe Class accepts babies from 10 months, combining resources children choose themselves with material exploration, movement, messy play, garden time and outdoor walks, so physical exploration extends beyond the classroom.

Willow Class emphasises social development and language through stories, songs and movement, with art and materials that children can mould or manipulate. Hawthorn Class has a structured room arrangement, with painting, drawing, cutting and sticking supporting the small hand movements needed before writing. These are different emphases within play-based learning, rather than formal lessons replacing play as children grow.

Hawthorn Class also has a bear mascot that children can take away for a week, giving families a shared activity and a familiar link with nursery.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS connects children's play with development in language, movement, relationships, early literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. It is the common early-years framework; Tall Trees adds visiting activities and its own planning around children's interests. Individual observations, progress trackers and assessments help staff decide what to offer next, keeping the child's development alongside the room's shared activities.

The group-wide enrichment offer includes weekly Baking, Phonics Lessons, Spanish / French and Sing and Sign sessions, plus a weekly PE lesson from Playball. Sing and Sign combines songs with gestures so babies can express needs before spoken language develops. Playball introduces sport through activities involving movement and social interaction. These additions are included in fees, making them part of the nursery offer rather than a separate activity bill.

Other named programmes give that offer more substance. Kidslingo uses stories, games, songs and actions for French and Spanish; Phonics with Robot Reg introduces early sound-and-letter learning through energetic classes. Kicks Dance Classes centre on movement, rhythm and social skills, while Soccer Tots provides an introductory football experience involving kicking, running and chasing a ball. The weekly timetable statement applies to the activities expressly identified as weekly, rather than automatically to every named provider.

In August 2024, children searched sawdust for letters and connected their sounds with words they knew. Another activity changed direction when children became interested in boats: paper boats and a water tray became a way to explore how blowing affected movement. These examples show the difference between simply putting out resources and using children's interests to develop a specific idea.

Outdoor and Community Life

The group-wide environmental work gives gardening a recurring place in nursery life. Through the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, children have opportunities to grow plants; each class plants something new each term, and herbs and vegetables grow in the garden. The ECO Schools Programme supports children taking part in environmental change, with preschool ECO Warriors helping care for their surroundings. Pet fish add another living thing to care for.

Relationships and Communication

Settling follows a staged sequence rather than starting immediately with a normal booked day. Families receive an All About Me Form by email; the first settle lasts one hour with a parent present. A second visit lasts one to three hours with parental attendance optional, followed by settles of two to four hours and three to seven hours. That gives families a concrete picture of the intended progression.

Each child has a key person who follows their development and responds to their feelings and behaviour. The role joins emotional familiarity with observation: parents have someone closely involved in both how their child feels and what they are learning. An open-door policy allows parents to come into the nursery, and home experiences contribute to the relationship between families and staff.

In August 2024, staff used information from parents to understand why individual children were unsettled and responded with comfort. Children also practised serving food and pouring drinks, with help using cutlery where needed. School preparation here included ordinary daily independence, rather than resting solely on letters and numbers.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Home-cooked food is provided, and the nursery's dietary policy covers allergies, intolerances, cultural requirements and preferences. Meals and snacks are included in fees, as are milk, formula, bottles, nappies and wipes, so these everyday supplies sit within the stated fee package.

Toilet training involves working with parents, with accidents handled discreetly and sympathetically. Families supply spare clothes, wellington boots and a sun hat to remain at nursery. This makes preparation for the day quite specific, especially for children learning to manage clothing and toileting independently.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 14 West Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 7JT. Opening hours run from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. The standard day runs from 8am to 6pm; morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, and afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm. Lunch is excluded from the afternoon session.

Paid extensions allow attendance from 7.30am to 6.30pm, with the extra half-hour at either end offered on a pay-as-you-go basis. Families can bring a child later or collect earlier within their booked hours, while the fee continues to cover the booked period. That distinction helps parents compare buying a morning or afternoon session with using only part of a standard day.

Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the home-page contact form. Places are allocated in order of application. Joining requires a completed form, a registration charge and a non-refundable deposit; the deposit is credited against the final invoice subject to two months' notice. These terms deserve attention before committing to a start date.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through the working parents entitlement for eligible children from the term following their child turning nine months, the early education entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, FEET Funding for eligible two-year-olds and 30 hours Extended Funding for those who qualify. The working parents entitlement requires an application. Eligibility conditions remain separate from the nursery's participation in these schemes.

The fee package includes food and the everyday supplies described above, alongside activities and trips. Early and late extensions carry separate charges, and arriving outside the standard hours without being booked for an extension incurs an additional charge. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page sets out the categories to compare.

• Consistency of teaching. The August 2024 priorities concerned less experienced practitioners' understanding of learning and children's ability to resolve disagreements. During a visit, ask how staff now develop both areas in everyday play.
• Settling and dietary needs. A West Road viewing lasts 45 minutes, and settling progresses through four visits of increasing length. Use the viewing to discuss how that sequence fits your child and, where relevant, confirm current allergy arrangements.
• Funded attendance and extras. Funding sits alongside an inclusive fee package and separately charged extensions. Request a written quotation for your intended funded pattern, including how meals and non-food supplies are treated during funded hours.
• Uniform and daily preparation. Children over two must wear a red polo shirt and red jumper, purchased through Ellis Scott Schoolwear. Spare clothing, wellington boots and a sun hat also stay at nursery, so families need to plan for both uniform and outdoor kit.

Tall Trees suits families seeking a standard nursery day, a morning session or an afternoon session, with paid extensions for earlier or later attendance. The strongest reasons to consider West Road are its differentiated room activities, staged settling and the combination of visiting programmes with everyday independence. The inclusive fee package also gives parents useful categories against which to compare a quotation.

The Good judgement from August 2024 carries weight alongside its teaching priorities. Families who value play, practical experiences and a gradual introduction to nursery have concrete reasons to consider West Road.