Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Southam

A woodland garden with a mini beast hotel, a mud kitchen and a vegetable patch gives Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Southam a recognisable outdoor character. These are spaces for digging, investigating and making things, rather than simply letting off steam. Indoors, separate areas for babies, toddlers and preschool children keep experiences matched to different stages of development.

The nursery occupies Old School House in Southam, CV47 1PL, and has 48 places in total for children aged three months to five years. At its 18 December 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged it Good overall and found safeguarding effective, with children making progress and staff working with parents and outside agencies when additional developmental support was needed.

Flexible sessions sit alongside weekday opening hours. The strongest practical attractions are the age-specific rooms, preschool access to the garden and an app that brings daily updates and educational plans together.

Rooms and Ages

Babies, for three months to two years, has age-appropriate resources and activities that encourage walking and larger physical movements in a cosy room. That makes movement part of the youngest children's learning, alongside exploring materials and toys.

Toddlers, for two to three years, emphasises social confidence, physical development and making independent choices. Pre-school, for three to five years, uses the main room with free access to the garden and encourages independence, listening and sharing. The progression is practical: choosing activities comes first, then managing more of the day and playing alongside others.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and development, with play and planned experiences supporting children's communication, physical skills and other areas of learning. Practitioners monitor individual progress and plan enrichment around what each child needs next. Rooms and outdoor areas also respond to children's interests, so resources connect with what catches their attention.

In December 2023, babies investigated the texture and noise of crushed cereal, while older children made cornflour prints and tackled jigsaws independently. These examples show different routes into exploration: hands-on sensory play for younger children and tasks that invite persistence for older ones. Children could choose resources and turn to staff for help.

Songs brought conversation into group activities that month. Adults paused during rhymes so children could supply the missing words, while exchanges with babies included eye contact, babbling and adult responses. Toddlers also used colours to talk about emotions. Everyday routines offered another kind of practice, from drinking from open cups to tidying toys and handling cutlery.

Outdoor and Community Life

The secure garden can be used in different weather conditions and includes planted areas, climbing apparatus and a sand pit. Its woodland section adds the mini beast hotel, mud kitchen and vegetable patch, giving children several reasons to investigate the same outdoor space. Preschool children can move between their main room and garden, connecting indoor choices with outdoor activity.

A Soft Play Area adds another place for physical play. The Calming Woodland Story Room provides a contrasting setting for stories, useful for families who value both movement and quieter experiences within the nursery day.

In December 2023, outdoor play included scooping earth with toy diggers, filling muffin tins for pretend cooking and brushing water onto a blackboard. The equipment was being used for coordination, imaginative play and making marks. Those concrete activities are more informative than a general promise of outdoor learning.

Relationships and Communication

Settling periods are tailored to the individual child. This allows the introduction to nursery to reflect different needs rather than treating every child as ready for the same timetable. Daily communication continues through an app, which covers activities and care updates, including toileting, and gives parents access to their child's educational plan.

Information from home also played a part in planning during December 2023: staff used parents' knowledge when deciding what a new child was ready to learn. However, at the December 2023 inspection, Ofsted identified inconsistent sharing of children's immediate learning needs between staff and communication support programmes that still needed to be put into practice following training. Both points matter because a plan is only useful when the adults working with a child understand and use it.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Seasonal lunches and snacks are served each day, with support for babies' weaning and arrangements to accommodate dietary requirements. Families need to tell the team about dietary needs before their child starts.

If a child becomes unwell or has an accident, the nursery contacts parents to discuss the response and whether collection is needed. These everyday communication arrangements give parents a clear role in care decisions. Staff are undertaking paediatric first aid training; this is a training arrangement rather than a guarantee that every individual has completed it.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and flexible sessions are offered. The nursery opens for 51 weeks of the year, with closures over Christmas and on bank holidays. This suits families arranging childcare across the year, while the Christmas closure needs to be included in their planning.

Getting There

Old School House is in Southam, CV47 1PL. Enquiries use the Southam contact form or the new-parent telephone number, 0800 699 00 44, and visits can be booked.

Funding and Paid Extras

In December 2023, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. That is a dated description of participation, rather than a promise of a particular funded arrangement for a child joining now.

• Learning plans in daily practice. In December 2023, information about individual learning needs did not consistently reach every practitioner, and communication support programmes needed implementation. During a visit, ask how the app-based educational plan now translates into shared goals across the staff working with your child.
• Dietary arrangements. The nursery accommodates dietary requirements and supports weaning. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food-handling practice and how their child's instructions reach everyone involved in meals.
• Your attendance and funding package. Flexible sessions and a 51-week opening year offer useful scope for arranging care. Ask for one written quotation setting out your intended attendance, applicable funded entitlement, and the treatment of meals and non-food consumables.

Southam suits families seeking flexible attendance across the year, age-specific spaces and regular access to outdoor play. The woodland garden and preschool garden access give its physical environment substance, while the app makes educational plans accessible to parents. The December 2023 learning-plan and communication-programme concerns provide a useful test for a visit: how consistently do practitioners turn an individual plan into daily interactions?