The Wendy House Day Nursery Impington

Wendy Wood, a woodland camp for child-led Forest School exploration, gives this converted-barn nursery its character. A meadow, an outdoor conservation classroom and an allotment extend that emphasis beyond the older children's woodland sessions. Nature is a substantial part of the offer, with places to investigate wildlife, grow ingredients and learn outdoors across the age groups.

At its August 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated The Wendy House Day Nursery Impington Outstanding, finding exceptional progress and effective safeguarding. That judgement belongs to that visit. The current offer combines age-specific rooms with extensive outdoor space at Fieldstead Barn, New Road, Impington, Cambridge CB24 9PJ, accepting children from three months to five years.

The youngest babies have a separate sleeping space; older children have rooms with direct garden access and preparation for the move to school. Attendance is across the year, with full-day bookings and an exception to the usual minimum attendance for children taking funded hours only.

Rooms and Ages

Bluebell Room, for babies aged 3 to 15 months, combines natural play resources with a separate sleep room, giving rest its own space away from active play. Poppy Room, from 15 months to two years, emphasises sensory exploration and increasingly independent play as older babies become more mobile. Daisy Room, for two- to three-year-olds, brings speech, social development and potty training together with direct access to its own garden. Sunflower Room, for three- to four-year-olds, has dedicated activity spaces and its own garden, with experiences adapted to individual development. Elderflower Room, for children aged four and over, emphasises school transition and outdoor investigation, with the aim of following a timetable similar to a Reception class.

The barn has two floors. Ground-floor nursery and reception areas are wheelchair accessible, while the older babies' accommodation is upstairs. Movement between the youngest and older baby spaces takes physical readiness into account, with adult support and a low handrail on the stairs. For families, the layout makes room transitions a practical change as well as an age-stage change.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes learning through play, with activities led both by adults and by children. It is the shared framework for early years provision, rather than an extra unique to this nursery. Here, outdoor exploration gives that learning a concrete setting: children can investigate growing plants, talk about wildlife and use their hands to plant, water and harvest.

Wendy Wood adds the nursery's on-site Forest School approach. Children help determine how sessions develop, with possible activities including supervised tool use, making shelters, gathering wood and taking turns to speak around a fire circle. These are opportunities to make choices and work with others, rather than a fixed sequence of identical activities.

There is an important age boundary. Wendy Wood sessions begin when children join the Sunflower Room, with a minimum age of two years and nine months; younger children can use the rest of the grounds. Outdoor learning therefore starts before formal woodland sessions, but the two experiences are separate.

In August 2022, learning extended from textured books for babies to reference books used by older children investigating animals and conservation. Children also experimented with marks using charcoal from a campfire, while younger children moved toothbrushes across a tray after pretend tooth-cleaning play. Those examples connected reading and early writing with materials children were already interested in. Reading and mark-making were part of that exploration.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Meadow and Conservation Cabin are accessible to every age group, with nature activities continuing in different weather conditions. The cabin is an outdoor classroom for exploring conservation and the natural environment. These spaces matter for babies as well as preschool children: participation in outdoor learning does not depend on reaching the woodland-session age.

The Wendy House Allotment includes a sensory area alongside herbs and vegetables grown through different seasons. Children help care for the plants and can taste what they have grown; produce also goes into meals prepared by the nursery cook. Growing food makes the connection between caring for a plant and eating its harvest tangible.

Community experiences featured in August 2022 too. Children sent gifts to a nearby residential home and examined photographs received in its reply, while older children discussed an air ambulance visit during an online conversation with the sister setting. These were opportunities to respond to other people and explain an experience, rather than simply watch an activity unfold.

Relationships and Communication

Continuity is built into the staffing arrangement: a core of full-time practitioners stays with the same age group during the day. Familiar adults have repeated opportunities to understand children's habits and interests, while parents can develop relationships with the staff caring for their child. The group-wide staff-training arrangements also include a dedicated training room and ongoing training in child protection, special educational needs and equalities.

An email system maintains communication with parents, and the nursery welcomes feedback. Its parent-information resources include potty-training guidance and explanations of learning through play. These give families something practical to use alongside conversations with staff, rather than treating communication as a stream of administrative messages.

In August 2022, children demonstrated consideration through everyday actions, including sharing out food and helping friends reach a water jug. Younger children used emotion cards to talk about how someone might feel and what help they might need. Care for others took practical forms in those August 2022 examples.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Settling arrangements are planned with parents, taking account of the induction period that best suits the child. A SEND coordinator role brings together parents, practitioners and external agencies, alongside appropriate records. These are specific mechanisms for discussing and organising support; the practical question is how they would be used for an individual child.

All staff are paediatric first-aid trained, and the Impington nursery holds Millie’s Mark, an accreditation for paediatric first aid. This is a current training and accreditation claim, separate from the dated safeguarding judgement. Collection by someone other than the usual parent or carer requires prior notification and a password, giving families a defined procedure for changes to collection arrangements.

A full-time cook prepares meals on site each day, using fresh ingredients that include nursery-grown produce. The allergy policy requires medical documentation for diagnosed allergies, intolerances or specific dietary requirements before bespoke meal adaptations can be made, and excludes food prepared away from the nursery.

Sessions and Attendance

Full-day sessions run from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Families can book three days, four days or full-time attendance; half-day sessions are not offered. The usual minimum is three days each week, with an exception for children attending for funded hours only. That exception matters: the standard private booking requirement should not be read as a condition applying to funded-only attendance.

The nursery opens for 51 weeks, closing on bank holidays and for a week over Christmas and New Year. Children are expected to be there by 9am and remain until at least 4pm unless an earlier collection or later start is necessary. This protects the structure of outdoor activities, but also places a clear boundary around routine appointment planning.

Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form, selecting Impington. Places are allocated by application order. Attendance has a minimum duration of three months, and ending a place requires one month's written notice or payment in lieu; permanent attendance changes require one month's written notice and take effect only from the first of the month, with funded attendance changes restricted to term starts.

Getting There

The address is Fieldstead Barn, New Road, Impington, Cambridge CB24 9PJ. The converted barn overlooks the nursery's meadow and woodland, bringing its principal outdoor spaces onto the same site as the rooms.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Universal Funding and the Working Parent Entitlement, subject to eligibility verification. The former provides 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds who do not qualify for the working-parent entitlement; eligible working families can receive 30 hours from nine months. Funding is stretched over the year, and term-time-only places are not offered.

Funded hours can be used on weekdays within the opening window, subject to availability, with a maximum of 10 funded hours in a day. Funded-only allocations are made term by term and can change, while the nursery requires the child's funding to be allocated here rather than shared with another provider. Additional private hours are charged separately. The funding and fees information explains that structure; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Standard fees include meals, snacks, nappies, wipes, associated products and sun cream, together with sun hats, waterproofs and additional activities. For funded attendance, there are no food or consumables top-up or place charges. A booking deposit includes a non-refundable registration component, with that registration charge waived for funded-only applications; other portions are credited against invoices, and cancellation without the required notice can make the deposit non-refundable.

School preparation includes liaison with local primary Reception teachers, meetings, visits and sharing information about children's development. This is transition work, helping the receiving school understand the child.

• Woodland sessions start later than general outdoor play. Wendy Wood begins in the Sunflower Room from two years and nine months. During a visit, discuss how younger children use the Meadow and Conservation Cabin and how the move into woodland sessions is managed.
• The booking commitment is substantial. Private and mixed-funded attendance normally requires three full days each week, with a three-month minimum duration. Funded-only attendance has an exception to the weekly minimum, so distinguish the relevant arrangement when planning childcare.
• Older babies move upstairs. The Poppy accommodation involves a staircase, while ground-floor areas are wheelchair accessible. A visit should include discussion of room transitions and any mobility or access needs affecting your family.
• Dietary adaptations require documentation. The allergy policy requires medical evidence for bespoke meals and excludes externally prepared food. Families affected by allergies should confirm the current catering arrangements for their child's needs.

For families who want outdoor learning to shape the nursery day, the combination of Wendy Wood, the Conservation Cabin and the allotment gives Impington a clear identity. A separate baby sleep space and age-specific rooms add practical substance to that offer, while the Outstanding judgement dates to August 2022.

It suits families choosing three- or four-day attendance as well as full-time care, and those seeking funded-only attendance under its separate rules. The main considerations are the year-round model, the routine collection boundaries and the upstairs older-baby room. Those are concrete choices to weigh against the breadth of outdoor space and the nursery's transition arrangements.