Pear Tree Day Nursery

Six babies, a dedicated sleep room and a garden that extends beyond covered decking: Pear Tree Day Nursery has a small-scale setting with clearly separated spaces for rest, messy play and outdoor exploration. Its Victorian house in North Camp, Farnborough, gives the nursery its character. The practical appeal is in the layout, especially for families weighing how a baby’s quieter day fits alongside older children’s play.

Pear Tree has capacity for 26 children, from birth to four years old. At its August 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall. That judgement is a dated assessment, while the room arrangements, settling offer and charge structure provide the practical basis for choosing it now.

Full-day care and morning or afternoon half-days serve different attendance needs, with a two-day minimum for the baby-room booking band. The funded-hours offer is stretched across the year, with separate choices about food and consumables.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby room accommodates a maximum of six babies and combines sensory exploration with a separate sleep room, an additional space for water, jelly and foam, and its own garden area. Rest has a room of its own. That separation matters for a child who needs sleep while other babies continue playing, while the messy-play space lets exploratory activities happen beyond the main room.

Downstairs, the Preschool room has capacity for 20 children aged two to five, with role play, reading and messy play alongside direct access to the covered decking. The room’s name therefore includes the toddler stage as well as preschool children. Children can move between indoor play and the sheltered outdoor area, rather than relying entirely on a separately organised garden session.

These are room capacities, not a statement of how many children attend on a particular day. For parents of babies, the six-child maximum is the more useful measure than the nursery’s total capacity: it describes the scale of the youngest children’s immediate surroundings.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care, with play supporting communication, physical skills and growing independence. Pear Tree’s rooms give that learning concrete settings: sensory materials for babies, and reading, imaginative play and messy activities downstairs. The emphasis is on things children can explore and use.

In August 2022, babies handled rice using bowls and spoons, while older children helped themselves to food at meals. Those examples connected early hand control with later self-care. Independence was built through ordinary activities rather than treated as a separate lesson.

During the same month, children invented an aeroplane game on a climbing course, jumping onto a beanbag, and used water for pouring and tipping outdoors. Physical exploration and imagination worked together. However, staff did not consistently make the most of conversations and play to introduce further vocabulary, an important limitation for families placing particular weight on language development.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden includes covered decking, patio and artificial-grass areas, giving outdoor play several different surfaces and a sheltered space. A vegetable patch brings growing produce into the nursery day; digging and imaginative garden play sit alongside it. This is a useful combination for children who enjoy hands-on activity, with outdoor experiences extending beyond running about.

Babies have a dedicated garden space arranged for sensory play, while still being able to interact with older children. It gives the youngest children an outdoor area suited to their stage rather than simply placing them in the older group’s play space.

Relationships and Communication

Free, unlimited settling-in sessions allow familiarity to develop before attendance becomes routine. For families making a first move into childcare, that is a concrete offer: settling can take more than a single introductory session. Online updates include daily diaries, photographs and information about development and achievements, giving parents ways to follow both everyday care and learning.

In August 2022, staff took time over settling and the choice of each child’s key person, worked closely with parents and gave daily feedback. Older children sought help confidently, and babies accepted comfort from staff. Those observations provide a picture of relationships at that time, rather than a promise about every child’s experience today.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the August 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and support for children needing additional help good, with staff monitoring individual needs and working with outside professionals. The practical detail behind that support was the use of professional advice to shape responses to particular children.

In August 2022, children practised washing their hands before eating and spent time outdoors, but staff did not always extend their understanding of healthy eating. The improvement priorities included richer language interactions and more consistent work on healthy lifestyles, including food and drink choices. These points matter alongside the positive judgement: parents should weigh the daily teaching detail, not simply the grade.

Food is prepared at the nursery by a professional chef. Private-care prices include snacks and meals, while food during funded sessions is covered through separately charged package or individual-item options.

Sessions and Attendance

Pear Tree opens Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, and operates across the year for 51 weeks, closing for one week at Christmas. The opening window is separate from the booking choices: full days are offered, with morning and afternoon half-days for toddlers and preschool children.

The baby price band runs from three months to under two years and requires at least two days. That booking condition deserves attention even though the nursery accepts children from birth. It affects how a family can build a regular attendance pattern around work or other care.

The address is 14 Winchester Street, Farnborough, GU14 6AW, in North Camp. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01252 523029 or by email at peartree@naturallearningchildcare.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible 15- and 30-hour entitlements are offered on a stretched, year-round basis. Additional hours are charged privately. Families need a current written quotation from the nursery to understand the total for their chosen attendance and funded-care options.

For private care, meals, snacks and non-food consumables are included, including nappies, wipes and creams. Funded sessions have a separately charged complete-care package or requested individual options covering food, consumables and activities. The distinction matters: inclusion in private-care prices does not make those items included in funded hours.

Opting out of the funded consumable-resources charge means supplying requested resources each month. Opting out of nappies and creams means bringing the required care supplies and taking wet and soiled nappy waste home. The food-from-home arrangement is governed by a Packed Lunch Policy, so package selection also affects what parents organise themselves.

A registration charge includes a settling-in element and a space-holding deposit, with the deposit credited against the first invoice. Fees are calculated over 52 weeks and spread across 12 months, and payment is due at the start of each month; families should distinguish that billing arrangement from the 51-week opening year.

• Baby attendance. The baby price band starts at three months and has a two-day minimum. At a visit, ask how settling sessions and the regular booking would fit your baby’s age and routine.
• Funded-care choices. Package and individual-item options sit alongside arrangements for supplying resources and nappy-care items yourself. Compare the written quotation with what you would need to bring and take home.
• Language and healthy lifestyles. The August 2022 improvement priorities concerned extending vocabulary and teaching healthy habits more consistently. Ask for examples of how conversations, play and food choices now address those priorities.

Pear Tree suits families seeking either full-day attendance or morning and afternoon half-days, with particular appeal for those who value a six-baby room, separate sleeping space and easy access to sheltered outdoor play. Its settling offer and online communication give parents concrete support around starting childcare and following the day.

The Good judgement dates to August 2022 and sits alongside specific teaching improvements. Funding choices also require careful comparison: the all-inclusive private-care arrangement and separately charged funded-session options have different implications for family organisation and costs.