Blue Windmill Nursery

A garden where babies water herbs and older children build dens gives Blue Windmill Nursery its character. Curiosity Corner provides a covered spot for quieter exploration, while the Gardeners Club brings children into planting and caring for living things. Outdoor learning has substance here: children handle, grow and investigate, rather than simply spend time outside.

On Addison Road in Bilton, Rugby, the nursery has 81 places in total for children aged 1 to 60 months. At its 5 January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and found safeguarding effective, with learning adapted to individual needs, including those of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That judgement is dated; the current offer includes age-based rooms, air-conditioned play and sleep spaces, and a garden that received a Platinum Award in Schools Rugby in Bloom 2026.

Private and funded childcare are offered, including a 9am to 4.30pm session and Fully-Funded sessions. The practical distinction between those options matters as much as the garden: families need an attendance pattern and charge structure that fit their week.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room, for three months to around two years, combines sensory play with low mirrors, a small climbing frame and direct access to a dedicated baby garden, giving children opportunities to explore at floor level and practise moving. Its separate sleep room makes rest a planned part of the environment. Babies under 12 months sleep in the main Baby Room, with practitioners nearby.

Being Twos, the Toddler Room for two- to three-year-olds, supports language and self-care through messy play, music and small-group activities, with low shelves, accessible baskets and areas for construction, role play and books. Choosing materials and putting them away are part of learning independence.

Sunshines and Rainbows serve children aged three and over, with storytelling, early writing, maths and collaborative problem-solving supported by creative materials, quieter reading spaces and outdoor areas. Preparation for school stays practical and playful. Children count during everyday activities, discuss their ideas and make choices about what to explore.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, with practitioners observing children's interests and extending their next steps. Here, that means sensory exploration for babies, active construction and imaginative play for toddlers, and early literacy and maths woven into preschool experiences. The framework is the starting point; gardening and the carefully divided outdoor spaces give its delivery a recognisable shape.

Weekly dance sessions are offered for children over two, and parents can join associated dance activities. Movement also runs through the garden day, from carrying watering jugs to balancing and building. These are different ways to practise coordination, rather than a day organised entirely around seated activities.

In January 2023, babies spent sustained periods handling pulses and lentils, filling containers and emptying them again. Older children experimented with water and chose between different scissors after adults demonstrated how they worked. The detail matters: exploration included tools, choices and repeated attempts, rather than simply an activity laid out for children to complete.

Outdoor and Community Life

Gardeners Club gives children hands-on work with the resident gardener, including tending herbs and flowers, making compost and investigating small creatures. Sessions take place regularly, and outdoor learning continues across the year. At the Watering Station, babies fill small jugs and water herbs; lowered planters bring mint, thyme and rosemary within reach. Even the youngest children have a useful job.

Curiosity Corner offers books, baskets, herbs and natural objects beneath cover, with a bench for sitting together. For more active exploration, the Den Workshop supports building together, the Balance Beams invite coordination practice, and the Weather Station provides somewhere to observe changing conditions. The Duck Pond adds care for living animals to the outdoor experience. These spaces give children reasons to return to the garden with different interests.

Community experiences extend beyond the nursery. Children have visited Westlands Care Home to sing nursery rhymes with residents, and babies have explored books at the mobile library. A local park visit included practising road safety along Addison Road. These are examples of outings, rather than a fixed trip timetable: their value lies in using familiar learning in a different setting.

Relationships and Communication

Starting nursery includes two Stay and Play sessions before the official start, with a parent able to remain nearby while the child becomes familiar with the surroundings. An All About Me form gathers information about comfort items, health, allergies and sleep routines. This gives staff something more useful than an age and start date: a picture of how an individual child is cared for at home.

Daily conversations at handover allow parents to pass on changes and hear about the day. A Parent Partnership Lead organises opportunities to take part, including a playdough workshop where families made dough and explored ways to support children's learning at home. Mother's Day and Father's Day occasions bring families together through breakfasts or picnics. These offer a practical view of nursery life beyond a progress update.

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted identified limited opportunities for parents to contribute developmental information and recommended more meaningful involvement in children's learning. The current settling forms, handovers and shared activities are relevant mechanisms, but families should judge how well those work for their own child.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Rest arrangements distinguish younger babies from older children. Each baby has individual bedding, and home sleep patterns are followed where possible; older children can rest within their room or use the separate Sensory Room. Sleep checks are recorded. All playrooms and sleep areas have air conditioning, and hot-weather routines include moving activities indoors and using shaded areas when conditions allow.

Practitioners adjust lighting, pace and physical closeness for babies with sensory sensitivities, paying attention to individual responses. Stresses to Smiles training informs calming routines using rhythm, movement, relaxation and connection. This describes how staff approach wellbeing; it does not substitute for a discussion about a child's particular support needs.

Collection passwords, supervised visitors and a designated safeguarding lead role form part of the nursery's arrangements, and staff receive safeguarding and paediatric first-aid training. Families have concrete procedures to understand, alongside the dated safeguarding judgement.

Food is prepared in the nursery kitchen, with garden produce used in meals, and staff work with families on individual weaning plans. The allergy policy includes agreed care plans, dish-level allergen information and separate serving procedures where needed, so allergy-affected families should discuss their child's arrangements before starting.

Sessions and Attendance

Blue Windmill Nursery is on Addison Road, Bilton, Rugby, CV22 7DJ. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with childcare across 51 weeks and closures for bank holidays and Christmas week. Those opening hours are separate from the named 9am to 4.30pm session. Fully-Funded sessions are also offered, subject to availability.

The All-Inclusive Package combines additional hours, food and activities after government funding has been deducted. Private childcare has a separate fee calculator. Enquiries can be made by telephone or through the contact form, and showrounds can be booked online. Expectant parents are welcome to book a visit, making it possible to consider childcare before a baby is born.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible children, with funding stretched across the nursery's 51 weeks of operation. The funding guide covers working-family support from nine months, the entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, and support for some two-year-olds depending on family circumstances. Eligibility conditions remain important: funding is not a promise that every family receives the same support or attendance arrangement.

For funded attendance using the All-Inclusive Package, food and activities are included in the package fee alongside additional hours. Keep that package separate from the Fully-Funded session option when comparing costs. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the funding and fees guide explains the stretched arrangement.

Moving on to school involves a transfer profile detailing progress and achievements, shared with parents to support the next setting's planning. The nursery operates within the grounds of St Oswald's C of E Academy. Attending the nursery does not guarantee a Reception place; families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Your attendance package. The 9am to 4.30pm session, Fully-Funded sessions and All-Inclusive Package have different practical implications. During a showround, ask which attendance option fits your week.
• Contributing to learning. The January 2023 improvement point concerned parents sharing developmental information. Ask how your observations from home influence planning now, alongside the All About Me form and daily handovers.
• Rest and individual care. Babies under 12 months sleep in the main Baby Room, while other rest spaces include a separate sleep room and Sensory Room. Discuss your child's sleep routine and, where relevant, allergy care plan during the visit.
• School applications. Sharing grounds with St Oswald's C of E Academy does not secure a Reception place. Treat the nursery decision and the local authority school application as separate decisions.

Blue Windmill suits families who want outdoor exploration to be part of ordinary nursery life, with practical gardening for babies and building, planting and investigation for older children. The covered quiet space and air-conditioned rooms also give the day alternatives to active garden play.

It serves families considering a 9am to 4.30pm session as well as those seeking Fully-Funded sessions, subject to availability, and accommodates private attendance. The Good judgement from January 2023 provides a dated quality assessment; meaningful parent involvement remains the point to examine closely. The strongest reason to choose it is concrete: a garden used for learning, supported by room environments that change with children's age and independence.