Clopton Nursery Trust

Den building, wildlife exploration and French lessons give Clopton Nursery Trust a character that extends well beyond its school-site address. Its Forest School area brings regular outdoor sessions into nursery life, while La Jolie Ronde provides separately charged French classes for children aged three to five. The practical appeal is choice: outdoor discovery and language learning sit alongside play shaped by children's interests.

At its 28 September 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding overall. That is a dated judgement, rather than a description of every aspect of today's provision. The current nursery age range is two to five, with capacity for 96 children in total, and the setting occupies the Thomas Jolyffe School Site on Clopton Road in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Morning and afternoon nursery sessions are sold separately, with a lunch session between them. Holiday care and school-age clubs have their own booking arrangements.

Rooms and Ages

Cubs Room serves children aged two to three; Bears Room serves those aged three to four. These named stages give families a clear starting point for understanding the nursery's organisation.

Child-chosen and adult-led activities take place indoors and outside. Individual and group experiences encourage children to finish tasks and learn to cooperate.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the shared early-years framework, covering children's communication, physical and social development alongside areas such as mathematics, literacy and creative expression. Here, children encounter those areas through play, with both adult-led experiences and activities they initiate themselves.

Planning in the moment builds on children's existing interests. Practitioners observe their play and decide when to join in or let it continue independently, extending learning while children are engaged.

In September 2023, children used leaves, conkers and sticks gathered during an autumn walk to make a shared painting. Another example involved moving toy figures through rice, with adults joining the children's language and actions to develop the play. These were small, concrete experiences, linking conversation, handling materials and making decisions.

French Classes add a structured language course through La Jolie Ronde for three- to five-year-olds, with an additional charge. Sports Classes also serve that age group and involve visiting sports games. They add another way to participate in physical activity alongside the nursery's everyday play.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School means regular outdoor learning through activities including building dens, making nests and exploring local wildlife. Clopton has access to an equipped area shared with the school, so outdoor experiences have a specific setting and purpose.

In September 2023, the outdoor learning space included a hill, a log circle and a fire pit. Children practised recognising boundaries around the equipment and explaining the rules to others. The physical setting offered opportunities for movement as well as learning how to judge risk.

Holiday Club adds cooking, crafts, dance and sport, with access to indoor equipment and an enclosed outdoor play area. It serves children aged two to twelve, including children who do not attend Thomas Jolyffe School. Its wider age range belongs to holiday care, rather than the nursery rooms.

Relationships and Communication

A key person is allocated before a child begins, helping with settling and planning care and learning with parents. Families have a main contact for routines, development and concerns.

Settling is gradual: a parent or close carer stays for much of each session during the first week, sometimes longer. Separation increases as the child becomes comfortable, so families need time for the transition.

Parents receive spoken updates and can arrange progress discussions. They can also access and contribute to developmental records containing observations, photographs, work samples and reports, connecting nursery learning with home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that safeguarding was effective and that children, including those with SEND, made very strong progress, supported by prompt intervention and work with outside agencies. Those findings provide a substantial inspection-time basis for considering care and support.

A SENCO coordinates SEND provision through assessment, planning, support and review, with parents involved throughout. Referral routes include education, health and care assessment, giving families a process for reviewing and adjusting support.

Children do not need to be toilet trained to participate. Key persons follow individual changing schedules, adjusting them when necessary, and work with parents on toilet learning. That removes a practical barrier for a two-year-old still developing this skill.

Millie's Mark recognises the nursery's whole-team paediatric first-aid training and continued attention to that learning. The award describes training arrangements; it is separate from an inspection judgement about safeguarding. Staff absence arrangements also provide for bank or agency cover when needed.

Lunch can be bought from the catering service, Class Catering, or brought from home, while morning and afternoon snacks are included. The allergy terms require an individual risk assessment and explicitly acknowledge that cross-contamination cannot be ruled out.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning nursery sessions run from 8.45am to 11.45am, and afternoons from 12.20pm to 3.20pm. The separate lunch slot is 11.45am to 12.15pm, allowing attendance around shorter sessions.

Breakfast Club runs from 7.30am to 8.45am. After School Club allows collection up until 6pm. These school-age clubs include escorted movement between classrooms and the club, so the school-day connection is part of the service.

For nursery-age children, Holiday Club School Day runs from 9am to 3pm; school-age holiday care also has a full-day option from 8am to 5.30pm. Holiday Club operates during school holidays and half terms, apart from the Christmas-to-New-Year week. Children bring packed lunches for holiday care.

Reducing nursery attendance or leaving requires a month's written notice; illness and family holidays attract no refund. Club cancellations require at least 24 hours' notice to avoid a charge.

Getting There

The address is Thomas Jolyffe School Site, Clopton Road, Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire CV37 6TE. Session and booking enquiries go to bookings@cloptonnursery.org.uk.

Sharing a school site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still need to use the local authority admissions process. The nursery's transition arrangements include seeking parental consent to pass developmental summaries to the next school or provider, helping information about a child's learning travel with them.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through the working-parent entitlement, the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, and the support scheme for eligible two-year-olds. The respective offers are up to 30 hours for eligible working families, 15 hours under the universal scheme and 15 hours under the two-year-old support scheme. Eligibility conditions apply; the working-parent scheme's wider age coverage does not change this nursery's accepted ages.

Funded hours can be applied across chosen sessions. Eligible families using the 30-hour schemes can choose term-time delivery over 38 weeks or stretched delivery over 51 weeks. This is a useful distinction for families balancing a school-term routine against care through the year.

Private sessions are also offered. Snacks are included, lunch is charged separately with a packed-lunch alternative, and French Classes carry an additional charge; the registration charge applies only to non-funded hours. Obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation, with the nursery fees and meal arrangements providing the charge structure.

• Settling time. The first-week arrangements expect a parent or close carer to stay for much of each session, potentially longer. At a visit, discuss how that gradual separation would work alongside your employment and your child's previous experience of care.
• Collection times. After School Club has a 6pm endpoint in its session information, while the opening-hours information and latest collection option on the club rate table end at 5.30pm. Confirm the collection time for your intended booking before arranging your working day.
• Allergy planning. The terms acknowledge possible cross-contamination and require an individual risk assessment. Families managing an allergy should confirm current practice for both catering-service lunches and food brought from home.
• Changing attendance. Nursery hours need a month's written notice to reduce or end, while club cancellations use a 24-hour rule. Match the appropriate terms to each part of your booking, especially if your work pattern changes frequently.

Clopton suits families seeking morning or afternoon nursery sessions, with holiday care and school-age clubs offering additional ways to organise family life. Regular Forest School sessions and separately charged French learning give parents concrete reasons to consider it beyond the school-site convenience.

The Outstanding judgement from September 2023 is a strong starting point, supported by detailed findings about children's learning and support. The choice still turns on practical fit: the gradual settling expectation, separate session blocks and different nursery and club cancellation terms deserve as much attention as the enrichment offer.