Mells Nursery

Water play becomes a lesson in dams, while a child taking the tiny teacher role gets a turn at contributing to nursery life. These January 2026 examples capture Mells Nursery's character: practical exploration, conversation and opportunities for children to take responsibility. This community preschool serves Mells and the surrounding area, with care and education for children aged two to four and capacity for 22 children.

At its January 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged achievement, behaviour and routines, welfare and wellbeing, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance to be Strong standard, with safeguarding standards met. The practical offer is term-time care, with full-day, morning and afternoon sessions, including shorter patterns that incorporate lunch.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, covering communication, physical development, relationships, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. Children choose some activities themselves, while adults lead others. Planning responds to children's interests, giving staff a way to extend an absorbing game rather than moving immediately to another task.

Letters and Sounds, Phase 1 introduces early literacy, alongside phonics when children are ready. Counting games, measuring and weighing bring mathematics into practical play. These are concrete ways to connect words and numbers with something children can handle or investigate, rather than treating learning as a separate part of the day.

In January 2026, children explored how dams work through discussion and water play, then explained the idea to other people. Painting drew inspiration from impressionist artists. The examples show how a subject could develop through both conversation and making: children had something to test, create and talk about.

During that same month, staff introduced vocabulary during play and routines, checked children's understanding and adjusted their interactions. Everyday counting included working out who was present at the register. Learning therefore reached beyond an organised activity into familiar moments that children could recognise and join.

Outdoor and Community Life

Learning takes place outside as well as indoors, with Wellingtons, rain suits and umbrellas supplied for outdoor use. The equipment gives weather a practical place in planning the day. Outdoor learning belongs alongside indoor play, rather than being described simply as a break from it.

In January 2026, games and outdoor exploration gave children opportunities to practise movement. The tiny teacher role also gave children a meaningful contribution to nursery life. For families who value participation, that is a useful example of responsibility being made accessible to young children.

Relationships and Communication

In January 2026, key people used detailed knowledge of children's preferences and emotional needs to shape their care. The What Makes Me Happy recipe book helped staff understand what made an individual child feel settled. It gave personal preferences a practical use in the nursery day.

In January 2026, home visits helped staff understand children's strengths and needs when they started. Staff also worked with parents on consistent routines between home and nursery. This put the relationship with families into everyday care, including how adults responded when a child needed reassurance or help managing feelings.

Learning Diaries record children's activities and development. Families access their child's diary through a password-protected individual page, and the original diary goes home when the child leaves. That creates a record parents can return to, alongside conversations about what their child is doing and learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that disadvantaged children and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities made strong, sustained progress, supported by targeted teaching and care adapted to individual needs. The detail beneath that judgement matters: support involved identifying a difficulty, adjusting daily practice and reviewing how the child responded.

In January 2026, speech screening informed referrals, staff discussed individual children's needs daily, and practitioners worked with families and external professionals. One-to-one language work and sensory resources were among the approaches used. These examples give families concrete mechanisms to discuss when considering support for their own child.

Daily breathing activities and peer massage were also part of the January 2026 routine, helping children pause before the afternoon. Staff used language about emotions and predictable routines to support children through changes of activity. The emphasis was on small, repeatable actions within the day.

Sessions and Attendance

Mells Nursery operates during school terms. Its full-day session runs from 9am to 3.15pm; the morning session runs from 9am to noon, and morning with lunch continues until 12.45pm. The afternoon session runs from 12.45pm to 3.15pm; afternoon with lunch also ends at 3.15pm. These are genuinely different attendance patterns, rather than a single day with one collection time.

Attendance is capped at two days a week for two-year-olds and three days for children aged three and four. The cap is an important part of the booking model: a full-day session does not mean a family can book a full working week. Applications are added to a waiting list through the application form.

Term dates include half-term breaks and inset closures. Families organising work around nursery attendance need to account for both, as the term-time model does not cover the school holidays.

Getting There

The address is Mells Green, Mells, Frome, Somerset, BA11 3QE. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01373 813978 or by email to office@mellsnursery.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Paid attendance is charged by the hour, with separate rates for two-year-olds and children aged three and four. The fees and session information sets out the attendance choices; families should obtain current prices in a written quotation.

• Weekly attendance limits. Two-year-olds can attend for up to two days a week, while three- and four-year-olds can attend for up to three. Families needing more days should weigh that limit before applying.
• Term-time planning. Half terms and inset days sit alongside the holiday closures. Compare the nursery calendar with the periods for which your family needs care.
• Individual support and settling. In January 2026, the next step was to deepen the impact of support for disadvantaged children, children with SEND and those facing other barriers. At a visit, discuss how the home-visit approach and individual support would work for your child; in-person visits are offered when a place is likely to be offered.

Mells Nursery suits families seeking term-time preschool education through full days, mornings or afternoons, within its age-based weekly attendance limits. Its character comes through in practical learning, outdoor equipment and the personal detail of the What Makes Me Happy recipe book. The January 2026 findings provide a strong basis for considering it, while the shorter week and school-holiday closures remain decisive practical considerations.