Freshfields Nursery School

A Georgian manor, gardens extending over an acre and an on-site mini farm give Freshfields Nursery School a clear rural character. Clifford Forge House in Clifford Chambers is more than a backdrop: each classroom has a garden of its own, so outdoor play can be part of the day rather than a separate excursion. Animals add another reason to explore.

Children can attend from birth to five years, and the nursery has 141 places in total. At its July 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Freshfields Good overall, while identifying further work on staff supervision and the consistency of curriculum delivery. That dated judgement matters alongside the current practical offer.

Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings serve different family routines. The minimum attendance pattern includes a Monday or Friday, an important consideration for parents whose working week is concentrated in the middle.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, conversation and physical exploration are ways of learning, rather than breaks from it. Freshfields adds a strong outdoor setting to that everyday foundation. Its gardens, play areas and animals give children things to investigate beyond the classroom.

The group-wide Confident Communicators commitment centres on helping children express themselves in ways that work for them. Explorers of Our World connects learning with nature and outdoor experiences. These are useful themes for understanding the offer, but the most tangible detail is the setting itself: classroom gardens allow children to move between indoor activity and outdoor exploration.

In July 2023, older children worked with dough and transferred coloured water using pipettes, exploring colour changes while practising small hand movements. Younger children climbed, balanced and investigated messy materials, alongside opportunities to crawl and stand. The activities gave different ages different ways to participate.

Communication also had a practical role in July 2023. Babies used signs to request more fruit and express thanks, giving them a way to communicate before spoken words were established. Staff talked alongside children's play and introduced vocabulary connected with what they were doing. Language was woven into activity rather than confined to a separate lesson.

Outdoor and Community Life

Over an acre of private gardens accommodates purpose-built play areas and soft-pour playgrounds. Each classroom's own garden space makes outdoor access relevant across the nursery, rather than dependent on one shared area. For families who value time outside, this is a substantial part of Freshfields' appeal.

The on-site mini farm brings children into daily contact with animals and nature. In July 2023, animal visits were part of the children's outdoor experiences, while a vegetable-hiding game encouraged them to take turns and give each other clues. The grounds supported both exploration and shared play.

Books offered a quieter counterpoint in July 2023. Children joined in familiar story phrases and chose books independently during calmer periods. That combination of adult-led storytelling and children's own choices gave reading a place beyond a single group activity.

Relationships and Communication

In July 2023, a key-person arrangement connected each child and family with staff who knew them well. Parents helped establish children's starting points, and that information informed activities matched to their interests and learning. This gave families a practical role in shaping the nursery day.

Daily conversations covered children's welfare, while an online app shared activities and learning updates in July 2023. The two routes served different purposes: direct conversation for the day's essentials, and digital updates for a fuller picture of what children had been doing. Both are relevant to parents balancing nursery attendance with home routines.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described SEND support involving a designated coordinator, individual learning plans, parents and other professionals, including work supporting children's transition to school. This was a description of arrangements at that visit, rather than a promise about an individual child's future provision.

There was also a clear limit to the independence children experienced in July 2023: adults sometimes stepped in before children had sufficient opportunity to complete tasks themselves. Staff supervision arrangements needed firmer implementation, and teaching needed to carry the curriculum's ambitions through more consistently. Those points concern the everyday detail of how adults help children learn.

Meals are cooked at the nursery each day, using seasonal ingredients. For non-funded attendance, meals and consumables are included in the fee; during funded hours, food and consumables are separately charged through the optional Essentials Package.

Sessions and Attendance

Freshfields is at Clifford Forge House, Clifford Road, Clifford Chambers, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 8HW. It operates Monday to Friday for 51 weeks, closing for public holidays and a week over Christmas. This is provision across the year, rather than a term-time-only arrangement.

Full days run from 8am to 6pm; mornings run from 8am to 1pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. An Early Start booking covers 7.30am to 8am, while the full-week pattern runs Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. The minimum weekly booking is two full days or four morning or afternoon sessions, including a Monday or Friday.

Families can make an enquiry or book a tour through the nursery's contact routes. On-site parking provides somewhere to leave the car for collection and drop-off.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for children aged nine months to four years, subject to eligibility, including the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements and 2 Help funding. The standard arrangement stretches entitlement across the nursery's operating weeks: the annual 570-hour entitlement becomes 11.18 funded hours weekly, and the annual 1,140-hour entitlement becomes 22.35 hours weekly.

Funded hours can be taken alone or combined with paid attendance, and can be used within day, morning or afternoon sessions between 8am and 6pm, subject to availability. Stretching spreads support through the year, but it changes the weekly number of funded hours. That distinction matters when matching a booking to a working pattern.

During funded hours, the optional Essentials Package charges separately for food, consumables and enrichment. Consumables cover nappies, wipes, cream, nappy bags and suncream; the Enrichment Programme covers additional experiences beyond the standard early-years curriculum. Families can opt out by contacting the manager before term starts, although suitable alternatives or arrangements for collecting and disposing of consumables may be required under the nursery's policy.

For non-funded sessions, fees are inclusive. The registration charge and deposit are waived for fully funded places; otherwise, the deposit is credited against the final invoice. Permanent session changes and cancellations require one calendar month's notice, and sickness or holidays do not attract credits, exchanges or refunds. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• A fixed weekly commitment. Two full days or four morning or afternoon sessions must include a Monday or Friday. At a tour, discuss how this pattern fits your week and how your child would settle into it.
• Teaching consistency. In July 2023, staff supervision needed firmer implementation and adults sometimes completed tasks too quickly for children. Ask how practitioners now support independence and review their teaching.
• The end of the day. The branch's opening information gives a 6pm finish, while the fee sheet gives 6.30pm; the fee sheet gives full-day and afternoon sessions ending at 6pm. Clarify the closing time and the collection arrangements for your chosen booking.
• Funded extras. Food, consumables and enrichment are separately charged during funded hours through an optional package. Establish what opting out would involve for your child's meals and daily supplies before agreeing the booking.

Freshfields suits families seeking morning or afternoon attendance as well as full-day bookings, with gardens and animal contact playing a substantial part in nursery life. The Georgian house, individual classroom gardens and mini farm give it a recognisable character.

The July 2023 Good judgement sits alongside specific teaching improvements that deserve attention. For parents, the decision rests on that balance: an appealing outdoor setting and several attendance patterns, weighed against the minimum booking commitment, the funded-hours extras and how consistently children are encouraged to do things for themselves.