Banana Moon Day Nursery Harbury

A natural adventure area outside and a softly lit sleep room inside give Banana Moon Day Nursery Harbury two useful anchors: space for active play and a separate place for babies to rest. This Ivy Lane nursery has 66 places in total and accepts children from three months to five years. Its offer combines outdoor activity, play-led learning and close communication about the small details of a child's day.

At its December 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The strongest practical features include an in-house kitchen, a dedicated sleep room and the Parent App, which shares routines and learning with families. These are useful arrangements for parents balancing nursery care with routines at home.

Full-day and half-day attendance are both supported, with opening hours extending from 7.30am to 6.30pm. The age groups have their own names, but those names should not be read as a promise of four separate physical rooms.

Rooms and Ages

The group-wide Moons structure organises activities by developmental stage. Baby Moons begins at three months and continues until babies move confidently; sensory exploration uses light, textures, toys and interaction with adults. Teenie Moons takes confidently mobile children up to two years, with painting, songs and messy play among its activities. The distinction is about what children are ready to do, rather than simply a birthday.

Mini Moons covers ages two to three, emphasising choosing activities, developing independence and support with toilet training. Full Moons is the preschool stage, from three to five, combining child-chosen play with learning planned around individual interests and progress recorded by a key person. These are age groups and may share rooms. That qualification matters when comparing the younger children's space with the preschool provision.

Harbury's indoor accommodation includes interactive screens, while its outdoor space combines a secure playground with a natural adventure area. The screens introduce digital activities in short periods; the outside areas give children another setting for movement and exploration. Children spend time outdoors daily throughout the year, so outdoor play is part of the ordinary routine rather than an occasional extra.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the foundation for children's learning and care, with play used to develop skills across its areas of learning. Alongside it sits the group-wide Banana Moon Early Learning & Development Programme, which starts planning from children's interests and uses open-ended resources and playful experiences. Its practical emphasis is on adults noticing what engages a child and building the next learning opportunity from that interest.

The programme's principles connect child development, wellbeing, support for parents, teaching and the learning environment. Observation and conversations with families inform planning, giving information from home a place in the nursery day. The curriculum description explains this relationship between the group's programme and the EYFS.

In December 2024, babies explored sensory materials, while older children used pretend play to develop their imagination. Language activities included animated storytelling, singing and introducing words connected with the activity in progress. Physical experiences ranged from handling toys and using scissors to shaping dough; outdoors, children had opportunities to climb, cycle and run. The progression was practical: hands, movement and conversation all contributed to learning.

At the December 2024 inspection, Ofsted identified room noise and inconsistent changes to teaching when children lost attention as areas requiring improvement. The concern was about children hearing adults and sustaining concentration, especially in activities led by staff. This is a useful counterweight to the broad choice of activities: the quality of an experience also depends on how well children can attend to it.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is tailored to the child and family, with parents taking part in introductory sessions and discussing routines and particular needs with staff. For babies, the group-wide approach aims to continue familiar routines from home. That gives settling a concrete purpose: transferring knowledge about a child's care, rather than treating every new starter alike.

In December 2024, children spent time with their key person and turned to familiar staff when they needed comfort. Staff gathered information from families at the start and shared ideas for supporting learning and care at home. These observations give substance to the key-person arrangement: a familiar adult provided reassurance, while communication connected nursery experiences with family life.

The Parent App records sleep, snacks and learning, shares photographs and provides individual learning journals. Parents can respond from home, and access can be extended to named family members. For families using more than one carer, this creates a shared account of routines and development rather than relying entirely on a conversation at collection.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Sleep has its own space. Harbury's dedicated sleep room contains natural wood cots under soft lighting, with individual bedding washed on site. Staff make regular checks, CCTV operates in the room, and established sleep routines guide care. Separating rest from busy play provides a practical basis for maintaining babies' familiar patterns.

Fingerprint access controls entry for registered parents, while other visitors require admission by staff; CCTV also operates throughout the nursery. These are specific arrangements for access and monitoring. Their presence should be considered alongside staff practice and the dated safeguarding judgement, rather than treated as a quality judgement in themselves.

In December 2024, everyday independence included children helping themselves to food, clearing plates and attempting their coats before outdoor play. Staff also used emotions monsters to help children think about feelings and the effect of their actions. These small tasks linked personal care and relationships with learning, giving children opportunities to practise doing things for themselves.

The in-house kitchen prepares fresh food daily, and the meal arrangement includes two hot meals plus snacks, with a separate weaning menu for younger babies. The nursery's dietary policy covers allergies and other requirements, while older children are encouraged to serve their own food.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Ivy Lane, Harbury, Leamington Spa, CV33 9HN. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, with year-round operation and closures for bank holidays and Christmas. Full-day and half-day patterns give families different ways to organise attendance within that opening window.

The recommended weekly pattern is one full day or two half-days; this is a recommendation rather than a compulsory minimum. Fees remain payable when a child is absent because of illness or a family holiday, and payment terms cover 51 weeks, including bank holidays. That distinction matters when planning annual childcare costs: a missed attendance day does not remove its charge.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 01926 612374, and a callback form is also offered. Visits can be arranged before a child starts, with the flexible settling approach then shaped around that family's circumstances.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered. Families obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation, and the fees page provides the route to fees and funding information. The recommendation about attendance should be kept separate from the funded arrangement agreed for an individual child.

• Attention during activities. In December 2024, room noise and the response to distracted children needed improvement. During a visit, ask how staff now manage sound and adjust an activity when children lose interest.
• Age groups and shared space. The Moons names describe developmental groups and can share physical rooms. Ask to see the space your child would use, including how younger children rest while others play.
• The complete childcare quotation. Funded care sits alongside full-day and half-day attendance, while absence charges continue. Request a written breakdown of the funded pattern, additional hours, food and non-food consumables, and discuss current dietary arrangements if your child has allergies.

Banana Moon Day Nursery Harbury suits families seeking either full-day attendance or shorter half-day patterns, with daily outdoor play, a separate sleep space and detailed app communication. The natural adventure area, in-house cooking and individual learning journals give practical substance to that offer. The December 2024 Good judgement provides the quality benchmark; noise and sustained attention remain the specific points to explore when deciding whether the nursery's day will suit your child.