The Brambles Day Nursery

Woodland exploration and a kitchen cooking meals on site give The Brambles Day Nursery in Pen Elm, Taunton, a clear character. Forest School adds child-led exploration of the natural world, including opportunities to tackle appropriate challenges, to a day that also makes space for stories, messy play and rest. Outdoor time is built into the routine rather than reserved for a special outing.

Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding at its June 2021 inspection. The current offer includes garden access for each room, a key person for every child and an online learning profile that parents can contribute to from home.

There are 45 places in total, with the current age range covering birth to five years. Robins, Swifts and Owls organise the day around different stages of development. Families can book a full day, a morning or an afternoon, with term-time funded sessions and stretched funding also offered.

Rooms and Ages

Robins, for children aged 0–2, has a published cap of 12 places, with messy exploration and books supported by a quiet sleep area, a soft reading nook and direct garden access. For parents choosing baby care, that separation of active play and rest is a useful practical detail.

Swifts serves ages 2–3 with 12 places, combining music and messy play with opportunities to climb, run and practise balance, plus access to the garden. Its usual staffing ratio is one adult to four children, better than the statutory minimum of one to five for this age. That is a meaningful staffing difference, although it does not tell families how many children attend together on a particular day.

Owls, for ages 3–4, has 16 places and emphasises preparation for school through EYFS activities and outdoor learning, with garden access. These room caps describe the individual spaces; they are separate from the nursery's whole-setting capacity.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS organises learning across seven areas, bringing language, physical development and relationships together with early reading, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. Here, play supplies the practical starting points: children can choose construction blocks, role play, mark-making materials or musical instruments. Children can explore their interests through play and practical activities.

Forest School adds regular woodland experiences on the nursery's grounds. Children choose and initiate activities, explore natural materials and encounter manageable risks and challenges. Bug hunts, woodland maths and a mud-kitchen give that approach concrete shape.

Swifts and Owls have bi-weekly Forest School. Garden access is daily across the rooms, so the outdoor offer extends beyond those sessions. Creative activity also includes printing, painting, making things from discarded materials and using woodland finds in craft.

Relationships and Communication

A key person takes responsibility for knowing each child, beginning with settling in. The starting process usually involves two or three short visits, with more time allowed when a child needs it. A parent stays for the first visit; a later visit introduces time apart and may include food. Subsequent sessions can build in sleep or outdoor play according to what still needs to become familiar.

Sleep, food and routine preferences are discussed early, giving staff information they can use before the first full session. Moving between rooms is also planned with families, using shared sessions and a familiar key person rather than an abrupt change.

The online learning profile provides photographs and updates, while parents can add their own observations. End-of-day handovers cover what children have made and tried, providing a more immediate account alongside the longer-term development profile.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support for additional needs has a defined structure. A SENCO works with the key person on individual support plans, adapting activities and resources around a child's abilities and interests. With parental consent, the SENCO can involve Early Years Inclusion Officers, Speech and Language Therapists or Health Visitors. Plans are reviewed with parents, making their participation part of the support process.

A starting assessment helps identify where extra help may be needed. Families using another language at home are encouraged to share useful words with the key person, so familiar language can support communication. Adjustable tables and ramped access provide concrete features for families considering physical accessibility.

Rest arrangements include a sleep room for babies and quieter corners for older children. Meals come from The Brambles Kitchen, where food is cooked on site using a four-week menu rotation; some fruit and vegetables are grown in the garden. Dietary requirements are catered for, linking the food provision to the preferences discussed during settling.

Preparation for school includes independence and self-care. When a child moves on, teachers are invited to meet the key person, and transition documents are passed to the school. This is practical preparation and information sharing, helping the next adults understand the child.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 7:45am to 6pm. Full-day bookings run from 7:45am to 6pm, mornings from 7:45am to 12:30pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. A morning includes breakfast, a snack and lunch; the afternoon includes lunch and a snack, while full days cover meals and snacks throughout the session.

Funded-only attendance can use set term-time sessions to accommodate a 15- or 30-hour entitlement. Alternatively, funding can be stretched over 51 weeks. Paid sessions can be combined with funded hours, allowing families to build a week around the attendance they need. The nursery operates across 51 weeks and closes at weekends and on bank holidays.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone or by email. The admissions sequence moves from an enquiry and visit to a place offer, registration paperwork and settling visits. Funding codes or council confirmation are supplied alongside the forms, and relevant care plans can be shared before settling begins.

Getting There

The address is Pen Elm Hill, Pen Elm, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 6PE. On-site parking includes spaces near the gate for collecting and dropping off children; ramped access and adjustable tables are useful features for families considering access needs.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery accepts the universal 15-hour entitlement, working-parent 30-hour funding and two-year-old funding, subject to the relevant eligibility rules. Term-time delivery and the 51-week stretched model offer different ways to use funded hours. Working-parent codes need reconfirming every three months, so continued eligibility is part of the arrangement rather than a one-off application.

Paid session descriptions include meals and snacks, while freshly cooked meals are charged separately alongside funded hours. Parents provide formula and sterile bottles when needed, sun cream and outdoor clothing; the baby-room kit also asks for nappies and wet wipes where a child has sensitive skin. Freshly cooked meals cost extra during funded hours.

Occasional trips and additional resources require prior parental agreement. A late collection charge applies after the booked session ends. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with a fee sheet and worked example provided before families commit; the fees and funding page explains the charge structure.

• Baby-room routines. Robins has a 12-place cap and dedicated quiet space. During a visit, discuss how your child's sleep and feeding routine would fit the room's day.
• Outdoor attendance. Swifts and Owls have bi-weekly Forest School, alongside daily garden access. Ask how sessions fall across your proposed attendance days and what outdoor kit your child will need.
• Funded-session costs. Funded hours carry a separate meal charge, while parents supply specified care items and clothing. Use the worked quotation to assess the complete weekly arrangement; families managing allergies should confirm current food practice at the same time.

The Brambles suits families looking for either full-day attendance or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, with woodland learning woven into ordinary nursery life. Its most useful details are concrete: capped rooms, garden access, gradual settling and a kitchen cooking on site. The enhanced staffing ratio in Swifts adds another reason for parents of two-year-olds to consider it.

The June 2021 Outstanding judgement is a positive inspection reference, while the practical decision rests on how the current rooms, routines and funded-session costs fit your child. For families who value outdoor exploration and a gradual introduction to care, this is a clearly defined offer.