Notting Hill Day Nursery

A separate sleep room for babies, balance bikes around Badgworth Barns and children cooking supper for their peers give Notting Hill Day Nursery a recognisable character. Its rural setting between Weare, Wedmore and Axbridge brings the garden and surrounding countryside into the nursery day. Outdoor play and learning to do things independently are recurring themes, from choosing materials to tackling practical tasks.

The nursery has capacity for 52 children and accepts children aged three months to five years. At its March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and found safeguarding effective, with close staff-child relationships supporting children's confidence to explore. That judgement is dated: the practical offer below includes the current rooms, activities and attendance arrangements.

Part-time and full-time care are offered.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room serves children up to two, with a spacious playroom, a separate sleep room and access to the garden for sensory exploration and creative activities. Separating rest from play gives sleep its own space, while practitioners adapt activities to emerging interests and work around routines followed at home. Comfort objects can come from home too.

For children aged two to three, the toddler room emphasises independence through resources with several possible uses, opportunities to choose activities and a mixture of child-chosen and adult-directed experiences. The practical point is that children can decide what to do with equipment, rather than simply follow a prescribed result.

Pre-School starts at three and continues until Reception, combining construction, role play, cooking and music with opportunities to discuss ideas and solve problems together. Preparation for school centres on independence, persistence and social interaction. These are useful everyday skills, rather than a promise about entry to any particular school.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: children build language, physical skills and social understanding through play and planned experiences. Alongside that shared foundation, Notting Hill's curriculum goals emphasise resilience, independence and managing emotions. Children are encouraged to choose resources, return to difficult tasks and explain how they have dealt with setbacks.

Practitioners model tasks, offer clues and ask questions, reducing their help as children become more capable. Revisiting experiences helps children secure their understanding before moving on.

Boogie Beat adds music and movement through singing and dance, with sessions lasting 30 minutes. Baby Cafe gives cooking a social purpose: each week a different room prepares supper for the nursery, followed by a cafe activity at 4pm in which willing children serve their peers. Children can take part in preparing something that others will enjoy, then practise a different responsibility as servers.

Outdoor and Community Life

Bike Club uses nursery balance bikes in the large on-site car park, with parents providing a correctly fitted helmet; children may also bring their own bike. Sports Club includes ball activities and group games that develop movement, balance and coordination. Nursery-run activities such as Bike Club and Baby Cafe change their weekday each term, spreading opportunities across different attendance days.

The large garden includes a mud kitchen, while walks around Badgworth Barns and visits to nearby pigs and horses extend experiences beyond the rooms. Forest School uses the outdoor environment for play-led exploration, decision-making and manageable challenges; programmes have been run on site for the oldest children. Possible experiences include shelter building, sawing and cooking over an open fire, rather than a guaranteed checklist of activities.

In March 2023, outdoor experiences included balancing along planks, cycling, using a tyre swing and experimenting with water and herbal tea bags in the mud kitchen. Woodland walks also gave children opportunities to consider which activities were safe. Those examples show how physical skills, curiosity and judgement could develop together during outdoor play at that time.

Relationships and Communication

Care for babies includes attention to home routines and familiar comfort items. The curriculum describes reciprocal communication with parents, with staff listening as well as sharing information. Tapestry, the nursery's picture-and-update system, gives families a way to see nursery experiences and contribute photographs or accounts of activities at home for children to discuss.

In March 2023, staff gathered information about children's preferences, routines and existing abilities from parents, then used it when planning activities. They also shared activity ideas for families to try at home. The value was continuity: learning did not have to stop at the nursery door, and planning could begin with what a child already knew.

At that time, practical independence included children recognising their drinks from photograph labels, toddlers putting on outdoor clothing and older children managing handwashing and toileting. These were small, repeated responsibilities with a clear purpose: helping children take increasing control of everyday needs before moving on to school.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND arrangements include identifying needs early, making adjustments and developing plans with parents and other agencies. These mechanisms aim to remove barriers to participation while maintaining expectations for learning.

The team includes safeguarding lead and deputy safeguarding lead roles, and its qualifications include Early Years Professional Status and degree-level early-years study. In March 2023, safeguarding practice included checks when recruiting staff, induction, risk assessments before outings and refreshed paediatric first-aid training. These are dated practice observations alongside the inspection judgement above.

A full-time cook prepares meals and snacks freshly on site; meals are included in the price, with breakfast before 9am, a hot lunch and dessert, snack tea, and fruit and milk during sessions. Main meals are eaten in a dining room, snacks may be eaten outdoors, and dietary requirements can be accommodated when communicated to the nursery.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Badgworth Barns, Notting Hill Way, Weare, Axbridge, Somerset, BS26 2JU. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with both part-time and full-time care offered. The nursery operates across the year, closing on bank holidays and for two weeks over Christmas and New Year in line with local school holidays.

That calendar matters as much as the daily opening window. Families using care throughout the year need to plan around the Christmas closure and bank holidays. Contact is through the nursery's enquiry form or by telephone on 01934 733393.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including the 30-hour entitlement for eligible working parents with children aged nine months to four years. This entitlement can be stretched across the year. Additional private hours are charged separately, and there is a voluntary daily contribution towards services outside the funded entitlement. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Meals are included in the nursery's price, while parents supply their chosen nappies and baby wipes. Meals are included in the fee; parents provide nappies and baby wipes. The voluntary contribution relates to services outside funded entitlement and should be considered alongside any additional private hours when planning attendance.

• Pace of group activities. In March 2023, some adult-led activities continued after children became distracted. On a visit, ask how staff now adjust their length and respond when children lose interest.
• Changes between activities. In March 2023, staff deployment during transitions sometimes left children less engaged and contributed to unwanted behaviour. Ask how these periods are organised now, especially when groups prepare to move outdoors.
• Funded attendance costs. Funded entitlement can be stretched, additional hours are charged separately and a daily contribution towards other services is voluntary. Request a written breakdown showing how meals and other services are treated for your intended funded pattern.
• Outdoor participation. Bike Club requires a fitted helmet, and nursery-run activities rotate weekdays each term. That rotation gives children attending on different days opportunities to participate.

Notting Hill suits families seeking either part-time or full-time care in a rural setting, with cooking, movement and outdoor exploration woven into the offer. The separate baby sleep space is a useful practical feature; Baby Cafe and Bike Club make the experience recognisable beyond the usual room labels.

The March 2023 Good judgement provides a dated assessment of quality, alongside clear concerns about lengthy group activities and the organisation of transitions. Those points deserve attention when choosing care. For parents drawn to hands-on learning and growing independence, the rooms, curriculum goals and named activities provide concrete reasons to consider this nursery.