Bojangles Day Nursery

Grass hills, a mud kitchen and a separate sensory room give Bojangles Day Nursery a clear identity: outdoor exploration has a substantial place in the day, with another space for quieter sensory play. The purpose-built setting stands on the Walford Campus in Baschurch, within the grounds shared with Walford & North Shropshire College. It has capacity for 35 children and accepts children from three months to five years old. That gives families the option of staying with one nursery from babyhood until school.

At its January 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Bojangles Good overall, with strengths in children's independence and storytelling alongside improvements needed in staff induction and the challenge offered to older children. The age of that judgement matters. It describes practice at that visit, while today's offer includes daily nature-based learning, a key person system and Tapestry, an online journal connecting families with learning and care routines.

Attendance can follow either school terms or the nursery's operating year, with full-day bookings in both cases.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room, for the under-twos, combines sensory exploration, singing and early communication with walkers and soft-play equipment, accessible resources and routines for sleep and feeding. Accessible resources let younger children begin choosing activities for themselves, alongside opportunities for movement with walkers and soft play.

For children aged two to three, the Toddler Room emphasises self-care and early number ideas through filling containers, imaginative play and time on the garden's grass hills and movable climbing materials. Putting on coats and changing shoes are part of this growing independence, rather than tasks reserved entirely for adults.

The Pre-School Room, for ages three to five, brings together storytelling, early phonics, mathematical language and creative play, with outdoor exploration and preparation for school. Story props give children something concrete to use as they retell a tale and discuss its characters.

Shared corridors and outdoor space connect the rooms. Moves between them can therefore happen gradually, with familiar staff involved, rather than presenting children with an entirely separate setting each time they reach the next stage.

Learning and Activities

Bojangles follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the statutory framework for children's learning and care: here, language, movement, early maths and literacy are developed through play, conversation and adult-guided activities. The framework is the common foundation for early-years provision. The nursery's nature-led approach shapes the materials and spaces used to put it into practice.

An outdoor campfire circle provides a place for stories, while an outdoor den gives reading another setting beyond the rooms. Children count pinecones and conkers, compare leaves and measure growing sunflowers. These are concrete ways to encounter quantity, shape and change through things they can handle and observe.

Other activities include following the development of tadpoles, planting seeds and making collages from petals and leaves. Branches and blankets become den-building materials; sticks can be used for marks in mud. The curriculum approach connects these experiences with children's individual interests and planned next steps.

In January 2022, adults sometimes stepped in with answers before older children had enough opportunity to work things out. New practitioners were also not consistently clear about the intended curriculum, affecting how precisely activities were planned and delivered. Those two concerns are closely related: interesting resources need adults who know when to guide and when to allow more thinking time.

Outdoor and Community Life

Children spend two to three hours outside on most days, with play continuing in almost all weather unless conditions are unsafe. The dedicated garden includes grass hills and climbing equipment, and children also use the wider campus grounds for nature walks. This is a substantial part of the routine, rather than an occasional outing.

Activities change with the children's stage. Younger children explore natural materials and use soft-play equipment outdoors; toddlers have walks around the grounds on most days; preschool children investigate insects and plants, pour and measure, and use the mud kitchen. Indoor activities remain part of the preschool day too. Families choosing Bojangles should expect outdoor clothing to be everyday equipment.

Relationships and Communication

A key person takes particular responsibility for each child's relationship with the nursery and family. In the Baby Room, settling is organised around keeping home routines as closely as possible, giving practitioners a starting point for understanding feeding, rest and comfort.

The settling sequence is specific: an hour together with parents, an hour apart, then a full morning apart before regular attendance begins. These stages let children experience increasing periods with staff instead of making their first experience a complete booked day. They also give parents a clear outline of how the introduction proceeds.

Tapestry carries photographs, videos and written observations, alongside a daily care diary covering food and drink, naps and nappy changes. Parents can add their own observations from home and respond to nursery entries. That makes the journal useful for both practical handovers and following a child's interests across home and nursery.

Daily conversations sit alongside the app. Learning observations connect with the EYFS areas, so parents can see the educational purpose behind an activity as well as what their child enjoyed doing.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that safeguarding arrangements were effective and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received good support, including communication assistance from staff trained in sign language. These are dated findings, rather than a fresh assessment of current effectiveness.

The sensory room contains mirrors, a disco ball, soft toys and sensory equipment, providing a separate space for exploration and inclusive play, including for children with additional needs. Sign language training is also part of the current staff offer. These are specific mechanisms families can consider against their child's communication and sensory needs.

A written Progress Check at Age 2 summarises development between two and three, with attention to the prime areas of learning and any support needs. Practitioners discuss it with families and involve health visitors or other professionals where appropriate. This gives a defined point for sharing concerns and agreeing what happens next.

Preparation for school includes sharing children's learning records with their receiving primary school and practising routines similar to Reception. The value is continuity of information and familiarity with a different daily structure.

Sessions and Attendance

All booked sessions run from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Morning-only, afternoon-only and half-day bookings are not offered. Part-time attendance means fewer full days, rather than a shorter daily session, so the distinction matters for families planning work or shared care.

Two full days a week is the usual minimum, with attendance extending to five days. Exceptions can be made where there is a clear reason, such as a single funded day used as a gradual introduction. Regular weekly shifts and alternating fortnightly patterns can be accommodated; drop-in daily bookings cannot.

Term-time attendance follows 38 weeks of Shropshire Council school terms, with no attendance or charge during school holidays. The all-year pattern covers 48 operating weeks. Closures fall in Easter week, the final two weeks of August, the week containing Christmas and Boxing Day, and bank holidays, so families needing continuous cover must plan around these breaks.

Changes to booked days normally require a month's notice, while switching between term-time and all-year attendance usually needs a term's notice where possible. Changes to an individual week generally require at least a week's notice. Flexibility works best with a recognisable pattern and advance planning.

Getting There

The address is Walford Campus, Walford & North Shropshire College, Baschurch, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 2HL. The nursery is off the A528 and has on-site parking, allowing families to combine the campus setting with a direct road approach.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01939 260006, email at info@bojanglesnursery.co.uk or the contact form. An online calendar provides visit bookings.

Funding and Paid Extras

Bojangles accepts the working-parent entitlement of 30 hours weekly from the term after nine months, the universal 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds, and the 15-hour Early Learning entitlement for eligible two-year-olds. Funding can follow school terms or be stretched over the operating year, with additional paid attendance alongside it. Eligibility remains subject to the relevant entitlement's conditions.

Breakfast, snacks, lunch and tea are included in the private daily session fee; on funded-only days, meals attract a separate charge. Children eat the nursery's supplied meals, and its funded-day terms apply the meal charge on every funded-only day rather than offering packed lunches from home.

The funded-day charge also covers sun cream, barrier creams, hand-washing supplies and the use of wet-weather kit. Parents supply nappies and wipes, along with spare clothes and comfort items. There is no registration charge. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page explains the charge structure.

• Full days, even part-time. The standard session is 8am to 6pm, with a usual minimum of two days weekly. Families wanting short sessions should weigh this against their child's routine; those with shifts should discuss their actual weekly or fortnightly pattern during a visit.
• Outdoor life needs preparation. Two to three hours outside on most days makes clothing, spare outfits and comfort in changing weather practical considerations. During a visit, ask how the outdoor routine and the Baby Room's feeding and sleep arrangements would work together for your child.
• Funded attendance has additional costs. Meals and supplied consumables are charged on funded-only days, while parents bring nappies and wipes. Request a written breakdown for your intended attendance so the entitlement and the remaining costs are clear together.
• Teaching improvements deserve a current conversation. In January 2022, new staff needed clearer induction into the curriculum, and older children sometimes received answers too quickly. Ask how staff are now supported to give children more time to investigate, solve problems and persist.

Bojangles suits families who want nature-based play to shape the nursery day and continuity from the Baby Room through preschool. The garden, wider campus grounds and sensory room give that proposition substance, while the settling sequence and Tapestry provide useful structure around care and communication.

It serves two different family rhythms: term-time attendance aligned with school holidays, and attendance across 48 operating weeks, with part-time or five-day bookings within either. Full-day sessions remain the common requirement. The dated Good judgement is a useful starting point, but the questions about staff induction and children's thinking time deserve attention alongside the attractive outdoor offer.