Little Oaks Day Nursery & Pre-School, Kingswood

Two buildings give Little Oaks Kingswood a staged journey from baby care to school preparation: younger children have dedicated spaces, while older preschool children move into The Oaks. Gardens accessible directly from the two-year-olds’ space and a purpose-designed sensory area add practical substance to that arrangement. Different stages have different surroundings.

Little Oaks Day Nursery & Pre-School, Kingswood has capacity for 66 children from birth to five at 16 Oakfield Road, Kingswood, BS15 8NT. At its 3 July 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and reported good progress for children, including those with SEND and additional funding.

Term-time sessions run alongside paid care and additional wraparound hours. The strongest reasons to consider this nursery are its staged preschool spaces, communication support and concrete arrangements for helping children become more independent; the important reservations concern baby-room language and the suitability of group teaching in July 2024.

Rooms and Ages

Babies under two have their own dedicated space. Two-year-olds have three play rooms, their own bathroom for potty training and direct access to the gardens, bringing toileting practice and outdoor play into the same part of the setting.

Younger three-year-olds use the main building’s top floor, where the emphasis is on confidence and independence; The Oaks is the separate school-preparation space where play develops skills for the move into school. This progression gives preschool a physical change of setting as well as a change of emphasis. The Oaks here belongs to the Kingswood nursery.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: play, communication and growing independence belong together in the nursery day. Kingswood builds its activities around children’s interests, using invitations to play and explore to encourage questions and develop existing skills. The practical value is a starting point that relates to what interests each child.

In July 2024, older children explored how butterflies develop and questioned adults about what they were discovering. Babies encountered stories with objects and practised animal sounds. These are useful examples of learning through conversation, rather than a separate lesson disconnected from play.

Group activities also included early letter sounds in July 2024. Their suitability was uneven: some children could not participate fully because the task was beyond their developmental stage. Baby-room speech sometimes moved too quickly and used sentences that were too long to help the youngest children acquire vocabulary. Those two limitations matter more than a broad promise of school readiness.

Outdoor and Community Life

The two-year-olds’ direct garden access makes outdoor activity part of their room arrangement. Kingswood also has a sensory area designed to give children space and resources for becoming calmer with staff support. These are concrete environmental features, with different purposes: one connects indoor and outdoor play, while the other offers somewhere to regulate emotions.

Relationships and Communication

In July 2024, staff gathered information about home routines during induction, helping care at nursery connect with care at home. Children formed close relationships with staff and received encouragement as they learnt to share and take turns. The useful detail is the attention to routines and relationships, rather than expecting every child to settle in the same way.

Independence was practised in small, everyday steps in July 2024. Babies tried finger food, younger children learnt to manage cutlery, and older children worked on dressing and looking after their possessions. These skills make meals and getting ready opportunities to practise doing things for themselves.

Famly is used for agreeing terms during induction and can carry information about chargeable events. That puts the contractual arrangements and event communications in a channel families will use when joining.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

All Kingswood staff are trained in Makaton and use it to support children’s communication. The SEND team works with external agencies, and the sensory area provides a practical option for children who need support to become calm. These are identifiable mechanisms for support, rather than a general assurance about inclusion.

In July 2024, a SENCo helped staff use visual prompts for routines and communication, while advice from other professionals informed individual learning plans. Staff also monitored development and responded to emerging gaps. This gives families concrete examples of how additional needs were addressed at that time.

Current staff development includes opportunities to update early-years knowledge, and all staff have first-aid training. In July 2024, individual and team meetings gave staff opportunities to reflect on their work, alongside further training. Training provision matters here because the teaching improvements concerned how adults communicate and adapt activities.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 16 Oakfield Road, Kingswood, BS15 8NT. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with bank holidays and one week at Christmas closed.

Term-time day sessions run from 9am to 4pm on weekdays. Additional wraparound hours can be added, and holiday sessions can be requested. Paid sessions are invoiced monthly; funded hours may be used within chargeable sessions starting from 8am, with hours beyond the grant charged separately. The 8am funding start is distinct from the nursery’s opening time.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01179673649. A deposit applies when enrolling for additional paid sessions or wraparound care. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible families can use 15 hours per week term time only through the no-additional-charge funded arrangement. A waiting list operates for funded places. Eligibility codes must be supplied and kept current; sessions become chargeable if codes are missing or expire.

For this funded arrangement, families supply snacks and lunch, although they can pay for the nursery to provide lunch. Families also bring non-food consumables, including nappies, wipes, nappy sacks and sun cream. The practical commitment therefore includes preparing food and packing care supplies, not just choosing attendance hours.

Optional events can cost extra, with the Christmas Party given as an example. Children whose families decline the additional charge do not attend that event, and payment is required beforehand for those who take part.

The nursery describes links with Beacon Rise Primary and Courtney. Attendance does not guarantee a school place: families still use the local authority admissions process. In July 2024, staff shared information with Reception teachers to help the move to school, an educational handover rather than an admissions advantage.

• Baby-room conversation. In July 2024, speech was sometimes too fast and sentences too long for babies’ language development. During a visit, ask how practitioners now adjust their pace and wording for the youngest children.
• Group activities. Some group teaching in July 2024 exceeded children’s developmental stage. Ask how an activity such as letter-sound work is adapted so children at different stages can participate.
• Funded-session packing. The no-additional-charge arrangement requires families to supply food and consumables, with a paid lunch option. Missing care supplies can prevent a child attending the session, so this needs to fit the family’s daily routine.

Little Oaks Kingswood suits families seeking term-time day sessions and those adding paid wraparound care. Its separate preschool stages, Makaton-trained staff and sensory area give parents concrete reasons to consider it. The July 2024 Good judgement supports that consideration, while the baby-language and group-teaching concerns make adult interaction the most useful subject to explore on a visit. School links offer continuity of communication, with school admission remaining a separate process.