Partou Cherry Trees Day Nursery & Pre-school

Sensory rooms, nursery gyms and a purpose-built setting within Slough Trading Estate give Cherry Trees a clear practical identity. There is space for active play indoors as well as outdoors, with provision spanning babies through to children preparing for school. The nursery has 136 places in total and accepts children aged 3 to 60 months.

At its May 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged inclusion to be a Strong standard and the other evaluated areas to meet the Expected standard, with safeguarding standards met and effective individual support helping children with SEND and those learning English as an additional language. This is a setting whose strongest inspection finding concerns children needing additional help, rather than uniformly strong teaching across every age group.

Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings sit alongside early and late sessions, giving families several ways to organise attendance.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in daily life, that means opportunities to communicate, explore, move and develop independence through play. Alongside it, the group-wide Partou experience gives children choices about which activities to pursue, with practitioners supporting their interests. Choice is the starting point for learning here.

In May 2026, books supplied a concrete thread through the day. Babies watched pictures and pointed, toddlers copied familiar animals' movements and sounds, and older children joined repeated lines from the Gruffalo story. Follow-up play included making food for its characters. Reading areas also allowed children to choose books independently, connecting shared storytelling with their own exploration.

The May 2026 inspection identified uneven teaching, including insufficient challenge for older confident speakers, inconsistent early mathematics for younger children and missed opportunities to extend children's thinking; it also called for more precise staff development and monitoring. These concerns matter because an appealing activity is only the beginning: the adult's questions and explanations determine how much further a child takes it.

Outdoor and Community Life

Sensory rooms and nursery gyms broaden the physical environment beyond the outdoor area. They give families something concrete to weigh alongside the nursery's location and attendance options, especially when choosing a setting for a child who enjoys movement or sensory exploration.

In May 2026, outdoor space was limited, and an indoor soft-play area provided another setting for physical activity. Children practised climbing in the indoor gym, while other movement experiences included catching balls and using slides and ladders. Younger children manipulated play dough with tools and their hands. Together, these experiences combined whole-body movement with practice using smaller hand muscles.

Relationships and Communication

In May 2026, settling sessions were adjusted to individual children rather than treated as a fixed sequence. Staff gathered parents' information about feeding and sleep and used it to keep nursery routines close to those at home. That gives a baby's existing habits a place in the care plan, rather than requiring an immediate change to a wholly different routine.

Moves between rooms included time with both the existing and new key person in the next room, accompanied by the transfer of learning information. The same attention to transitions extended to starting nursery and moving on to school. Familiar adults and shared information were practical parts of the process.

Regular updates about children's development form part of the care fee. In May 2026, individual plans were regularly reviewed and adapted as children achieved their targets, with strategies shared with parents for use at home. For families managing additional needs, this is a useful mechanism for keeping home and nursery working towards the same goals.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

During May 2026, staff used developmental screening, assessments and continued monitoring to identify where additional help was needed. Work with families and outside professionals included staged strategies for managing emotions, while targeted staff training supported provision for children with SEND. These were specific arrangements, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

Food is prepared at the nursery, using seasonal menus that rotate over three to four weeks. Allergy procedures and alternative meals form part of the food arrangements, with dietary needs gathered before a child starts.

In May 2026, staff comforted tired younger children and helped children put feelings into words. Food education needed greater depth, however: explanations about different food groups and their effects on the body were too limited. Wider experience of healthy foods was also a next step, so meals and learning about food deserve separate consideration.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 179 Bedford Avenue, Slough Trading Estate, Slough, SL1 4RA. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.15pm, Monday to Friday.

A full day runs from 8am to 6pm; mornings are 8am to 1pm and afternoons 1pm to 6pm. An early drop off session covers 7.30am to 8am, while the late pick-up session runs from 6pm to 6.15pm. Those extra sessions are separate from the full-day booking, an important distinction when planning work commitments.

The nursery closes on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. Charges run across 52 weeks, including bank holidays, so the billing calendar differs from the days children attend. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01753 532718.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through Slough Local Authority. For eligible families, term-time attendance can use 15 or 30 funded hours a week across 38 weeks; for year-round attendance, funding is stretched over 51 weeks, giving 11.17 or 22.35 hours a week respectively. These arrangements concern how funding is spread, rather than a promise that it covers the whole booking.

Care, meals and snacks, and consumables have separate charges. Food and drinks are charged separately, as are daily care items including nappies, wet wipes and sun cream; those charges also apply during funded sessions. Funding pays towards care, so families need to distinguish the funded allocation from the remaining parts of their invoice.

Joining involves either a non-refundable registration fee or a registration deposit to reserve a place, with eligibility governed by the terms and conditions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Teaching for your child's stage. The May 2026 concerns covered older children's language, younger children's mathematics and staff development. On a visit, ask how practitioners now extend a confident speaker's vocabulary and introduce mathematical language during everyday play.
• Outdoor space and movement. Outdoor space was limited in May 2026, with indoor soft play adding movement opportunities. Ask how your child's group divides active time between indoors and outdoors.
• The complete attendance bill. Early and late sessions sit outside the full-day hours, meals and consumables are separate charges, and billing includes bank holidays. A quotation matched to your chosen sessions will make the full commitment easier to assess.
• Food and dietary needs. Allergy procedures and alternative meals are part of the arrangements, while food education required attention in May 2026. Families affected by allergies should confirm current practice and discuss how new foods are introduced.

Cherry Trees suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, especially those living or working around Slough Trading Estate. Sensory rooms and nursery gyms add practical variety to the environment, and the May 2026 inclusion judgement gives families needing additional support a substantial point in its favour.

The balance is clear: individual support was stronger than the consistency of teaching across the setting. Families should weigh that difference alongside the limited outdoor space and the separate costs attached to food, consumables and extended attendance.