Edwalton Day Nursery, Nottingham

Vegetables grown by the children and served by the nursery chef give Edwalton a practical connection between outdoor play and food. Daily garden access adds another clear part of its character: time outside belongs to the nursery day, rather than being reserved for occasional outings.

At its 7 April 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Edwalton Good overall and found safeguarding effective. The judgement came with specific improvements concerning privacy during personal care, information sharing between staff and the delivery of planned learning activities. Those points deserve attention alongside the garden and enrichment offer.

Edwalton Day Nursery, Nottingham accepts children aged 2 to 60 months. Its address is 227 Melton Road, Edwalton, Nottingham NG12 4DB, and its weekday opening hours run from 7.30am to 6.30pm.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care; here, play and everyday activities give children opportunities to practise physical skills, communication and independence. It is the foundation of the day, rather than an extra programme.

In April 2025, babies spent time on their tummies to develop strength, while textured books encouraged them to explore through touch. Older children discussed books with staff and could identify their different parts. These examples show how the same broad activity, sharing a book, can work differently for a baby and a more confident child.

Language also connected nursery life with home. In April 2025, children learning English alongside another language heard songs in their home languages. Older children answered questions that encouraged them to think, while everyday conversations gave them opportunities to explain what they knew.

Friday Baby Yoga offers a yoga activity for ages 6 weeks to 2 years. Wednesday Tiny Talk includes baby signing for ages 6 weeks to 12 months, giving families a concrete example of the communication activities offered here. Neither needs an inflated promise about outcomes to be useful: the activities themselves help parents understand the character of the offer.

Outdoor and Community Life

Every child has daily garden access. Planting vegetables and later tasting the harvest connects an outdoor task with something children can recognise on their plates. The nursery chef serves their produce, so the growing activity has a clear continuation beyond the garden.

Woodland was also part of children's experience in April 2025. Staff discussed how to stay safe and care for the surroundings, and older children understood why they should avoid nettles and leave tree bark alone. Outdoor learning involved both exploration and responsibility.

Relationships and Communication

In April 2025, key persons knew their children and used observations to decide what they needed to learn next. Conversations and parent meetings covered daily experiences and learning plans, while workshops included support with weaning. This gave families several ways to connect care at home with care at nursery.

The weakness was communication within the staff team. Information held by a child's key person did not consistently reach other practitioners, including those supporting play and lunch. For parents, the relevant issue is continuity: understanding a child needs to travel with them across the nursery day, rather than depend on one familiar adult being present.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2025 inspection, Ofsted found children with SEND well supported through reviewed plans, visiting professionals, additional equipment and individual staff support, but also identified incomplete sharing of learning information, inconsistent privacy during toileting or changing, and planned activities that did not always achieve their intended learning purpose.

Everyday independence had practical expression in April 2025. Younger children helped serve food and pour drinks, and snuffle stations combined tissues with mirrors so children could attend to their noses. These were small opportunities to take responsibility for personal care. Privacy still needed improvement when children used the potty or received help changing clothes.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. Edwalton operates across 52 weeks of the year, with public holidays and staff training days excluded. Families planning work cover need to account for those closures as well as the daily opening window.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0115 945 2741 or by email to edwalton.nursery@childbase.com. A callback enquiry form provides another contact route.

Funding and Paid Extras

In April 2025, the nursery provided funded early education from nine months upwards. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. For families using funding, the useful decision is how the proposed attendance pattern and any additional charges fit their budget, rather than considering the funded hours alone.

• Privacy during personal care. In April 2025, children did not consistently have privacy when using the potty or changing clothes. During a visit, ask how those routines now protect each child's dignity.
• Continuity between practitioners. The April 2025 findings identified gaps in sharing children's learning needs and in carrying out planned activities. Ask how other staff receive key-person information and how activity planning translates into practice.
• Your attendance quotation. The nursery opens across the year, excluding public holidays and training days, and provided funded education in April 2025. Ask for a written breakdown covering your chosen sessions, funded hours, meals and non-food consumables.

Edwalton suits families who value daily outdoor access, practical independence and activities for younger children such as Baby Yoga and Tiny Talk. Vegetable growing gives the day a tangible link between play and food, while the April 2025 examples of books, home-language songs and woodland exploration add substance to its learning offer.

The Good judgement provides a useful starting point, but the personal-care and staff-communication concerns should influence a family's decision. A visit that explores those specific routines will be more useful than one centred only on activities and opening hours.