The Orchard Children's Nursery

Fifteen places, a private garden and access to woodland give The Orchard Children's Nursery a small-scale setting with room to explore. Based on Sandy Lane in Cove, Farnborough, it accepts children from six months to five years. Its position within the grounds of Guillemont Junior School adds access to school facilities, while the nursery retains its own outdoor space.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 19 January 2023. The practical appeal is straightforward: a modest whole-setting capacity, learning organised around children's interests and childcare that continues through school holidays. Capacity describes the nursery as a whole, rather than the number of children in any particular group.

Full-day care runs across the year, with bank holidays and the period between Christmas and New Year excluded. The daily fee includes food, nappies and cream for children who need them, which makes those everyday supplies part of the paid-care arrangement.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for learning, development and care: staff plan around children's interests, observe their development and use those observations to decide what comes next. Alongside it, Orchard's bespoke curriculum organises the day around seven elements, including becoming independent, growing, sharing and creativity. Settling, riding and learning about safety complete that structure. These are practical themes rather than a promise of accelerated development.

Adult-guided activities sit alongside play chosen by children. The emphasis on individual interests gives practitioners a starting point for planning, while observation helps them adjust what a child is ready to attempt. The curriculum and approach also connects learning with relationships: parents and key people have a role in helping children become confident communicators.

In January 2023, children chose materials for building models and towers, made drawings and talked about their creations. Books also travelled home with children, connecting nursery reading with family time. These examples give a clear picture of early learning through making, talking and sharing stories, rather than formal lessons.

The same January 2023 findings included a teaching concern. During some activities directed by adults, interactions did not sufficiently account for younger children's abilities, leaving them less involved. Staff practice also needed closer monitoring so that teaching benefited children consistently. For parents of babies and toddlers, how group activities are adjusted to different stages of development is an especially useful point to explore.

Outdoor and Community Life

The private garden and on-site woodland are the main physical features here. Access to both gives outdoor learning more than one setting: the nursery has its own space as well as woodland within the school site. School facilities add another resource to the environment, although the nursery's small overall capacity remains the more useful measure of its scale.

In January 2023, children grew and picked fruit and vegetables, linking food with the work involved in producing it. They practised movement on scooters and pedal bikes, and discussed helmets and safe tool use. Growing, riding and safety therefore had concrete counterparts in the nursery day at that time.

Relationships and Communication

A key-person approach links individual children with practitioners who follow their development. Planning includes observation and assessment, and the nursery works with other agencies when appropriate. This gives families a way to connect their child's interests and development with the activities arranged for them, rather than treating the nursery day as separate from home.

In January 2023, daily conversations covered children's wellbeing, while digital updates included summaries of development. Staff also brought children's family backgrounds and home languages into nursery life. For families, these are useful examples of communication covering both everyday care and the child's wider experience.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, making good progress; staff recognised developmental concerns promptly and worked with professionals to arrange early help. Those are dated findings, rather than a guarantee about an individual child's experience today.

Current safeguarding arrangements include staff training, vetting and recruitment procedures. The approach also includes cooperation with parents and external agencies over children's welfare. These arrangements matter as mechanisms for care and support; the dated inspection judgement is the assessment of their effectiveness.

Preparation for school is part of the planning approach. Continuity, observation and support through that change connect the nursery's work with the next stage, while independence and communication are explicit aims of its curriculum.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. The full-day fee covers that window, and a 5pm collection option is also offered. For families comparing childcare with their working day, the collection time is a concrete constraint to weigh alongside the setting's size and outdoor space.

Attendance continues across the year, including school holidays, with closures on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. Being on a school site therefore does not make this a school-term-only service.

Getting There

The address is Sandy Lane, Cove, Farnborough, GU14 9ES, within the grounds of Guillemont Junior School. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 01252 405 370.

Attendance at the nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still use the local authority admissions process for a state-school application, so the school-site setting should be considered separately from admissions.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, support for eligible two-year-olds and the Working Parent Entitlement. Funding is stretched across the year rather than confined to school terms, making its distribution relevant to families using holiday childcare as well as term-time attendance.

Private childcare is also offered, and payment options include Tax-Free Childcare and most childcare vouchers. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the funding and fee arrangements explain how funding fits the year-round service.

Breakfast, snacks, a hot lunch and a small tea are included in the daily fee. Nappies and cream are included for children who need them.

• Younger children's participation. In January 2023, some adult-guided activities did not engage younger children fully, and monitoring of teaching needed strengthening. On a visit, ask how practitioners now adjust these activities and review their work.
• The school-site setting. A private garden, woodland access and school facilities are part of Orchard's environment. Ask to see how those spaces are used by children of different ages; nursery attendance does not guarantee a school place.
• Year-round funding. Entitlement is stretched across the year, while meals, nappies and cream are included in the daily fee. Ask for a written explanation of how those items are treated during funded hours and how private hours fit your intended booking.

Orchard suits families seeking a small nursery with outdoor resources and childcare through the school holidays. Its full-day arrangement and earlier 5pm collection option serve different finishing times, while food and essential changing supplies are included in the daily fee.

The garden, woodland and practical curriculum themes give parents tangible reasons to consider it. The January 2023 teaching concerns deserve equal attention, especially for families choosing care for a younger child: the useful test is how practitioners adapt shared activities to that child's stage.