Eden House Day Nursery

Farm walks, horses and open-ended play give Eden House Day Nursery a recognisable character. Its setting on a family-run farm in Bassingbourn, near Royston, shapes the offer: children have daily opportunities to explore outdoors, while natural materials and reused furniture bring that interest indoors. This is a nursery where the surroundings contribute directly to the day.

At its July 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. The same visit identified uneven organisation during changes between activities and routines, an important qualification to the positive picture. There is capacity for 90 children in total; children attending at that visit were aged 0 to 4.

Full-day, morning and afternoon sessions are offered, alongside an early extension, although the attendance terms require at least two full days each week. That combination matters when weighing the session choices against a family's actual booking needs.

Rooms and Ages

In July 2025, babies in the Bunnies room settled readily, explored sensory materials and heard staff introduce vocabulary through their play, linking early communication with hands-on discovery.

Elsewhere during that visit, younger children experimented with balls and a ramp, then practised scooping a sticky mixture with spoons. Older children pressed dinosaur footprints into dough and chose books to explore independently. These examples show learning through small, purposeful actions: testing movement, controlling hands and sustaining attention, rather than simply moving through a timetable of activities.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play across seven areas of learning. Eden House builds its own curriculum around children's interests, its environment and the skills it wants children to develop before leaving. Key people use observations to shape support and assess development, so an interest noticed in play can influence what happens next.

Elements of the nursery's curiosity approach add open-ended natural materials that children can explore in different ways. Recycled play materials and items sourced from local scrap stores also make reuse part of the learning environment. Neutral colours and snug spaces provide quieter places alongside exploration. The practical emphasis is on what children can investigate and do with materials.

In July 2025, staff expanded children's vocabulary by describing their actions, repeating unfamiliar words and giving them opportunities to use those words themselves. Activities followed children's interests and events in their lives. However, some changes in the daily routine left children drifting between activities and losing engagement. The organisation around play mattered as much as the activity itself.

Little Wiggles and Kidslingo Spanish are optional activities billed separately. They sit alongside the main nursery offer, so families can consider the additional commitments separately from their attendance pattern.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily walks around the farm accompany opportunities to play in the purpose-built garden. Nature walks also provide time to pause and listen, giving outdoor experiences a quieter dimension as well as room for movement.

In July 2025, children used a field for active play, rode bikes over a small hill and made mixtures in the mud kitchen. These were concrete opportunities to practise balance, movement and imaginative play. The farm setting is therefore more than a backdrop, with current daily walks connecting children to the land around them.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is assigned a key person on starting. That adult learns about the child's interests and plans activities around their development, giving families a consistent relationship through which to share information.

Two settling sessions are free, and parents can attend with their child. Information about interests and preferences, together with comforters and picture books, helps staff build familiarity between home and nursery. This gives settling a practical structure rather than expecting a child to adapt immediately.

Daily feedback comes through the nursery's management system, supplemented by photographs, observations and parent consultations. In July 2025, staff gathered information from families and tried to maintain children's home routines. Communication therefore includes both sharing nursery experiences and learning how care works at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Books, puppets and language about emotions help children recognise feelings; mindful yoga and teeth-brushing activities also feature in the wellbeing offer. Children take part in food preparation and cooking activities, connecting conversations about health with things they can do themselves.

The July 2025 findings included incidents in which dietary and healthcare requirements had not been followed. Management had subsequently revised how allergy information and healthcare plans were shared, and staff understood the need to follow them consistently. This deserves attention from families whose children need individual arrangements, even alongside the positive safeguarding judgement.

Preparation for school was practical at that visit: children recognised their names, managed shoes and coats, and practised using cutlery. These everyday tasks supported independence for the next stage, rather than implying an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Mews, Low Farm, Brook Road, Bassingbourn, Royston, SG8 5NT. Telephone and email enquiries are supported, and applications use a downloadable form uploaded through the application page.

A Full Day Session runs from 8am to 6pm; the Morning Session is 8am to 1pm, and the Afternoon Session is 1pm to 6pm. The Extended early session runs from 7.30am to 8am. Opening hours are given as 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, but the charging terms start late-collection fees after 6pm. That discrepancy needs resolving before agreeing collection arrangements.

Attendance requires a minimum of two full-day sessions per week. The nursery operates for 51 weeks, closing for bank holidays and a week at Christmas; term-time-only places are excluded. Fees are collected monthly in advance, and sickness or holidays do not attract refunds. These are consequential terms for families whose childcare needs vary across the year.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered from the term after a child reaches nine months, subject to eligibility. The funding information includes 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements; funded hours are stretched across 50 weeks, and hours beyond the allocation are charged. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charge structure explained on its fees and funding page.

Food and drinks are included during non-funded sessions, as are nappies and wipes; for funded sessions, the nursery requests separate voluntary contributions for food and non-food consumables. Optional activities are invoiced separately, so the funded allocation and the total bill are different considerations.

A deposit is taken when registering: it is fully refundable for funded-only attendance, partly refundable for mixed funded and paid attendance, and non-refundable for entirely paid attendance. The refund position therefore depends on how care is purchased.

• Changes between activities. In July 2025, some routines left children disengaged. On a visit, discuss how transitions now keep children involved, especially around meals and changes of activity.
• Individual health arrangements. Dietary and healthcare incidents prompted revised information-sharing procedures in July 2025. Families managing allergies or healthcare plans should discuss how instructions reach every adult caring for their child.
• Collection time. Opening hours extend to 6.30pm, while sessions end at 6pm and late-collection charges begin after 6pm. Clarify the agreed collection time and charging arrangement before booking.
• Attendance commitment. Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside a two-full-day weekly minimum and year-round attendance. Establish how those shorter sessions fit the minimum before choosing a pattern.

Eden House suits families drawn to daily farm walks, natural play materials and a key-person approach, with choices spanning full days and morning or afternoon sessions. The year-round commitment and two-full-day minimum remain central to that fit. Its July 2025 Good judgement gives a positive inspection position, balanced by specific questions about routine organisation and individual health arrangements. The strongest reason to choose it is the connection between its farm surroundings and children's everyday experiences.