Twizzle Tops Day Nursery The Willows

A Treasure basket for exploring objects and purpose-built rooms shaped around children's development give Twizzle Tops Day Nursery The Willows a recognisable character. Purpose-built rooms organise the day around children's development, while practical independence runs through the activities: exploring objects, learning to manage feelings and taking greater responsibility for everyday tasks.

At its April 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received effective support. The strongest detail lies beneath the grade: children investigated materials, enjoyed books and used outdoor discoveries as starting points for learning. Two improvement priorities temper that positive picture, concerning information for parents and teaching matched to individual needs.

The Broadwater setting has capacity for 37 children, with an age range of 2 to 60 months. Half-day and full-day bookings give families different attendance options.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room combines sensory exploration through messy materials and a Treasure basket with books and pretend play, giving children different ways to investigate objects and begin communicating. Texture, weight and shape make the basket a concrete resource rather than simply another collection of toys.

In the Pre-Toddler Room, dolls, teddies and familiar objects support role-play, alongside opportunities to practise larger movements, hand control and expressing needs. Toddler Room activities bring together early mark-making, picture books and growing independence with dressing, eating and toileting. Pre-School puts shared games, construction and imaginative play alongside developing language, literacy and numeracy, linking learning with cooperation and everyday responsibilities.

These descriptions show a progression in emphasis rather than a single activity menu applied to every child. For a baby, exploration and close relationships lead; for older children, communication, self-care and playing alongside others take greater prominence.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning, development and care: children learn through play, with activities planned around their interests, abilities and needs. It is the foundation of the nursery day. The group-wide addition Twizzle Time is a physical programme covering exercise, healthy eating, awareness of the body and safe equipment use; here it sits within the Toddler Room description.

In April 2025, sensory activities included investigating herbs and citrus fruit, with adults introducing vocabulary connected to the experience. Mixing water into sand gave children a practical problem to solve as they tried to make brick shapes. Puzzles and experiments with balls and tubes provided other opportunities to work things out. These examples connect early language and mathematical ideas to things children can handle and test.

Outdoor and Community Life

During April 2025, children used the local recreational field daily for movement and exploration. Older children ran within an agreed boundary, while younger children practised balancing beanbags and handling balls. The outdoor space extended the day beyond seated activities.

In April 2025, outdoor discoveries became starting points for learning. Blossom blowing from trees prompted discussion about spring, and insect searches led to children drawing what they had noticed. Movement, conversation and drawing were connected by an actual discovery, giving the activity a clear purpose for the child.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person, with conversation at the end of a session and updates through the parent app during the day. Newsletters and parent meetings provide further contact. This gives families several ways to follow nursery life, rather than relying on a single handover conversation.

In April 2025, flexible settling sessions helped staff learn about children's existing experiences and care requirements. Children developed close relationships with their key person. Transition bags were used by families facing changes such as bereavement or a new sibling, offering practical resources around events that can unsettle a young child.

The April 2025 inspection identified two areas requiring improvement: parents needed clearer guidance about children's next learning steps and support at home, while staff development needed to translate more consistently into teaching tailored to each child. Daily updates therefore need to be distinguished from a clear account of what learning comes next. Both matter.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In April 2025, staff, parents and other professionals worked together on support plans for children with additional needs. The mechanism matters: individual planning connected nursery support with the people who knew the child elsewhere.

An emotion station offered a quiet place to pause, with stories and conversation helping children discuss feelings. At that time, daily yoga included breathing exercises, giving children a practical way to practise calming themselves. Snuffle stations also helped children take increasing responsibility for hygiene. These were specific routines and resources supporting everyday independence, rather than relying solely on adults to manage each task.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at 10 Willows Link, Broadwater, Stevenage, SG2 8AR. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Booking choices include Half Day, Full Day and Full Time attendance categories, with private childcare and funded childcare both offered.

Enquiries can be made on 01438 842 447 or through the branch enquiry form. A separate visit-booking form lets families select The Willows and a date and time. The opening window is useful for planning the working day; the attendance categories distinguish shorter bookings from full-day care.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15-hour and 30-hour funding arrangements. On funded attendance, meals and nappies and wipes are charged separately as voluntary optional additional services. These categories matter when comparing the childcare entitlement with the services a family chooses alongside it.

The fees page separates private session rates from those funded-hours extras. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, allowing families to assess their chosen attendance pattern and additional services together.

• Learning beyond daily updates. The April 2025 improvement priorities concerned next-step information for parents and more precisely adapted teaching. At a visit, ask for an example of a child's learning target, how activities change to support it and what parents receive to continue that learning at home.
• Room progression. Baby Room, Pre-Toddler Room, Toddler Room and Pre-School descriptions set out different developmental emphases. Ask how those stages fit the physical room layout and how a move between them is decided for an individual child.
• Funded extras. Meals and nappies and wipes are voluntary, separately charged services on funded attendance. A written quotation should make those choices clear alongside the half-day or full-day pattern being considered.

Twizzle Tops Day Nursery The Willows suits families comparing half-day attendance with full-day care, and parents who value developmental stages, key-person contact and practical learning through play. The Baby Room's Treasure basket and the Toddler Room's Twizzle Time programme give that offer concrete substance.

The April 2025 picture adds useful examples of outdoor exploration, emotional support and independence. Its limitations are equally relevant: parent communication needed clearer learning direction, and teaching needed more consistent adjustment to individual children. Those are the most useful points to explore alongside the nursery's everyday routines.