Yew Trees Nursery

Chickens, a poly-tunnel and an 11-acre countryside site give Yew Trees Nursery a recognisable character. At Yew Tree Farm in Tarnock, Axbridge, outdoor learning means collecting eggs, tending plants and harvesting produce, alongside play indoors.

The nursery accepts children from 3 months to 5 years and has capacity for 100 children. It belongs to YMCA Dulverton Group. At its 17 August 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and found safeguarding effective. That judgement is a dated assessment; the current offer includes baby and preschool spaces, a garden and extensive opportunities to play outside.

Full-time and termly contracts cater for different attendance needs, with a minimum booking of two days and six hours on each day.

Rooms and Ages

Yew Trees Baby Room combines sensory exploration indoors and outdoors, including paint, dough, water, sand and food textures. This gives babies different materials to investigate as their skills emerge. Heuristic play, meaning exploration of ordinary household objects rather than manufactured toys, adds cardboard tubes, tins and wooden objects to that experience. The attraction is the open-ended use: an object can be handled and explored rather than having a single prescribed purpose.

Toddlers Room emphasises children making choices in their play. Yew Trees Preschool divides children into Rabbits, Monkeys and Giraffes, allowing activities in smaller groups; its provision includes imaginative play, construction and messy materials, with access to outdoor space.

Underfloor heating and double glazing are practical features of the purpose-built building. Stories, songs and quieter music also have a place in the day. Together, these details show an indoor offer alongside the outdoor emphasis, with opportunities for both activity and rest.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care, with children learning through play and exploration. Here, planning takes account of individual interests and development, while children can choose how long to stay with an activity and which resources to use. The practical value is room to pursue an idea rather than moving through every task at the same pace.

Preschool mornings include projects with children's key families, drawing on interests through activities such as cooking, making portfolios, games and creative work. Role play gives children scope to invent situations, while everyday jobs bring independence into ordinary routines. Helping prepare snacks, putting materials away and managing shoes or coats make school preparation part of daily life.

In August 2021, children's interest in wind led staff to change an activity from drawing to kite-making. Other examples included experimenting with colour combinations and working out how to hold a tablecloth down outside. These illustrate the inspection-era approach: children's questions became opportunities to test an idea, with a practical problem giving the learning a purpose.

Outdoor and Community Life

The vegetable patch and poly-tunnel connect growing with eating: produce is used in cooking activities and for snacks. Children also help care for chickens, ducks and fish, and collect eggs. Gardening and animal care introduce responsibility through manageable jobs, making the grounds part of the nursery day rather than an occasional destination.

Outdoor Learning Opportunities involves exploring natural materials and observing seasonal changes, followed by indoor discussion and creative work. This is an addition to the play-based framework, with outdoor experiences carried back into activities such as making observational paintings of collected objects. It gives children a connection between what they investigate outside and what they make or discuss afterwards.

The youngest children are included in outdoor life through garden equipment and grounds walks using double buggies with rain covers. Preschool children can use bikes, climbing apparatus and a large sandpit, as well as the garden and surrounding fields. Outside play takes different forms for different stages, from supported exploration to more physically demanding play.

Relationships and Communication

Parents contribute to developmental records, and collection-time feedback covers eating, sleep and activities. The Family app provides photographs and updates between those conversations. For families, this combines a summary of the practical day with material that helps them talk about their child's experiences at home.

In August 2021, staff used babies' home routines and care habits to help them settle, and babies responded warmly to their key person. Staff also encouraged children to attempt manageable tasks themselves, including fastening clothing. Those examples connect familiarity and independence: reassurance came from established relationships, while help was used to support the next attempt.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the August 2021 inspection, Ofsted found that information-sharing with families and outside agencies supported individual needs, and that staff used sign language successfully with babies and children with SEND. These are concrete examples of support at that date, rather than a general promise about every child's experience.

The Babies Sleep room gives each child a named drawer for bedding and comfort items, and sleeping children are checked every fifteen minutes with a written check record. That arrangement makes familiar belongings and a defined sleep routine part of baby care.

Two improvement points from August 2021 deserve attention. Some babies became distressed while waiting for food to be prepared for eating, and some practitioners settled older children's disagreements themselves rather than helping children find a solution. The requested changes concerned the organisation of baby lunches and staff support for children's own conflict resolution.

Seasonal menus are shared through the Famly app and displayed at the nursery, with meals and snacks provided. The allergy policy describes separate preparation and labelling for individual children, while explicitly declining to guarantee protection against cross-contamination.

School transition includes encouraging teachers to visit and assigning a team member to liaise with each destination school. This provides a route for communication about the child, alongside everyday practice in dressing, toileting and taking responsibility for belongings.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. Full-time and termly contracts are offered; the minimum contract is two days, with six hours booked per day.

Closures cover English bank holidays and the period from Christmas Day through New Year’s Day, inclusive, with no fees charged for those closed days. Ordinary illness or non-attendance attracts the full fee. That distinction matters when planning holiday cover and allowing for time away through sickness.

Getting There

The address is Yew Tree Nursery, Yew Tree Farm, Tarnock, Axbridge, Somerset BS26 2SA. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01934 750556, by email at info@yewtreesnursery.org or through the contact form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds, including 3 and 4 year-old funding and the extended Early Years Entitlement. 3 and 4 year-old funding starts from the term after the child's third birthday. To claim funding through the nursery, parents provide a birth certificate copy and complete a Declaration Form; the extended entitlement has a separate HMRC application route. Participation in funding does not itself establish a particular family's eligibility.

Meals are charged separately from childcare. Fees are invoiced monthly in arrears and normally paid by Direct Debit, unless another arrangement is agreed; childcare vouchers are also accepted. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the fees page explains the contract and payment structure.

• Minimum attendance. The contract requires two days with six hours per day. This minimum commitment needs to fit the family's attendance plans.
• Baby lunches and independence. The August 2021 improvement points concerned babies waiting for meals and adults resolving older children's disagreements. Ask to see how lunchtime routines and support for children's own solutions work now.
• Food allergies. The allergy policy describes precautions but does not guarantee against cross-contamination. Families affected by allergies should confirm current preparation, labelling and response arrangements before joining.

Yew Trees suits families seeking either full-time or termly attendance who value outdoor play, gardening and animal care. Its countryside grounds have a clear role in learning: children grow food, investigate materials and take on practical jobs. Baby sensory play and preschool projects give that approach different forms as children develop.

The Good judgement dates to August 2021; its improvement points concerned baby lunches and support for older children's conflict resolution. The strongest reason to choose Yew Trees is the connection between its physical setting and children's everyday experiences, provided the minimum booking commitment and separate meal charges fit the family's needs.