Jollies House

A wild garden, weekly outdoor learning and a preschool trim trail give Jollies House a clear outdoor character. Set in Bishop Duppas Park in Shepperton, it has capacity for 38 children aged two to five. The appeal is practical: outdoor space is part of the learning day, with sheltered areas helping children continue their play when the weather changes.

At its December 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated Jollies House Good, finding effective safeguarding and prompt identification of children needing additional developmental support, alongside improvement priorities covering behaviour boundaries, outdoor learning and the challenge within activities. That is a dated judgement. The current offer includes weekly visiting sports sessions, outdoor learning with Willow’s Forest School involving tools, whittling and fire activities, and a communication app sharing children’s experiences with families.

Full days and school days provide different attendance options, while morning and afternoon sessions are restricted to extra bookings for existing families. The distinction matters when comparing a regular childcare arrangement with occasional additional hours.

Rooms and Ages

Explorers accommodates children from two until their preschool year, combining an open indoor space with a garden and a covered outdoor area; its emphasis is on communication, cooperation and growing independence. Children are encouraged to express preferences, take responsibility for small jobs and develop friendships through shared play. This makes everyday nursery routines part of the learning, rather than treating learning as something confined to a planned activity.

Adventurers is the preschool room for the year before school, with a garden and bespoke trim trail supporting an emphasis on numbers, phonics and preparation for school. Its approach retains child choice: children can select activities and staff build on what interests them. More sustained attention sits alongside play, rather than replacing it.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and development, with play supporting language, physical skills, relationships and understanding of the world. In Explorers, songs, stories and experiments give children different ways to investigate ideas. In Adventurers, number work includes comparing quantities, sorting and sequencing, while phonics introduces letter sounds and their connection with words.

Pencil control develops through play at the child’s pace. A handover of achievements helps Adventurers practitioners build on learning in Explorers.

Sports4kids visits weekly for tennis, dance, football and rugby, adding organised games to garden play. The nursery funds the visiting activity programme.

ZOOLAB brings animals including rats, snakes and spiders in February. Adventurers also take a coach outing to a local farm or similar destination, extending experiences beyond nursery.

Outdoor and Community Life

Foresters Outdoor Learning adds weekly practical sessions with Willow’s Forest School in the wild garden. Children build dens, handle tools and take part in fire activities, with instruction about positioning around the fire and supervised tool use. Forest School here means learning through outdoor experiences and supported risk-taking. There is no additional fee for these sessions, attendance is optional, and children whose usual booking misses the session day are invited in.

The wider outdoor provision includes a mud garden, water play and a sand pit. A growing patch and composter give children something to tend over time, while the Foresters area contains a fire-pit and bug house. These are useful differences between an outdoor area used mainly for running around and one that also supports investigation, making and caring for living things.

Community participation includes the Shepperton Horticultural societies seed-growing and scarecrow competitions, and Chertsey Fayre, when involvement is possible. Adventurers take part in a Nativity Play at the bowling club, combining performance with a gathering for families. An annual Leavers Picnic includes siblings and grandparents. These events give the preschool year shared milestones beyond the daily routine.

In December 2021, beams, bicycles and children’s obstacle courses supported physical skills outdoors, but other areas of learning needed more attention.

Relationships and Communication

A key person provides families with a direct contact for their child’s care and development. Explorers children have settling sessions before their first regular day, and the key person considers their starting point before planning individual next steps. For parents, that creates a link between settling comfortably and understanding what their child will work on next.

FAMLY combines daily activity updates with photographs, videos, observations and a learning journal, helping families follow experiences and development.

In December 2021, family experiences informed activities, while snack conversations about seeds and growing extended children’s language.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2021 inspection, Ofsted found that the manager worked with other professionals to arrange targeted support for children with special educational needs or disabilities, and that staff monitored development to direct learning towards children’s needs. This gives the dated inclusion judgement concrete substance: identification was linked to professional involvement and planned support.

Independence was visible in daily tasks in December 2021. Children served pasta and prepared fruit using child safety knives with close supervision. Staff also helped children work through disagreements and propose solutions, although messages about boundaries needed greater consistency. The strength and the improvement point belong together.

Meals are prepared by a chef in the nursery’s own kitchen, with breakfast, snacks, tea and hot meals offered; families may choose to send a packed lunch. The nursery offers catering for allergies and intolerances, making the individual food arrangement an important point for families with dietary needs to discuss.

Sessions and Attendance

Jollies House is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm, operating for 50 weeks of the year and closing on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. Full-day care runs from 8am to 6pm; the school-day option is 9am to 3.30pm. A shorter school day therefore changes the regular collection time as well as the total attendance commitment.

Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm, but these are extra sessions for current families, rather than permanent booking patterns. Mixed attendance is possible. The minimum booking requirement is two full days, three school days or 20 hours, so a proposed combination needs to fit that commitment.

Getting There

The address is Bishop Duppas Park, Walton Bridge Road, Shepperton TW17 8NR. Free parking and a no-through road are useful practical features for families making nursery part of their working day.

Families can register interest through the online form, describing their childcare needs, or contact the nursery by email.

Funding and Paid Extras

Private childcare and funded early education are offered: 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds, including FEET funding, and for three- and four-year-olds from the term after their third birthday. Eligible families can access 30 hours. Starting terms follow Surrey’s term dates.

Private fees are invoiced at the beginning of the month for that month’s care. A non-refundable registration charge applies, with no registration charge for FEET places. Fees are reviewed annually, with one month’s notice of adjustments. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the fees page explains the booking and funding structure.

• Regular attendance. Morning and afternoon sessions are extra bookings for existing families, while full days and school days support regular arrangements. On a visit, discuss how your proposed week fits the minimum booking commitment.
• Outdoor clothing. Foresters sessions require waterproof clothing, covered arms and legs, and sturdy footwear. Families should be comfortable preparing children for outdoor activity in changing weather.
• Teaching priorities. In December 2021, activities needed greater challenge, outdoor learning needed broader coverage and behaviour boundaries needed more consistent messages. Ask how those priorities now shape practice in Explorers and Adventurers.
• Food and the quotation. Hot meals are offered and packed lunches are permitted. Ask what the written quotation includes for food and non-food consumables, and, where allergies affect your child, confirm the current catering arrangements.

Jollies House suits families choosing either full days or shorter school days who want outdoor experiences to feature substantially in nursery life. Weekly sessions with Willow’s Forest School and Sports4kids give that character concrete form, while the progression from Explorers to Adventurers connects independence and play with preparation for school.

The December 2021 Good judgement provides a useful foundation, but its improvement priorities deserve attention alongside the gardens and visiting activities. For parents, the strongest combination is the outdoor programme, individual key-person contact and a preschool approach that preserves choice while introducing more sustained learning.