Growing Patch Nursery

An open-plan nursery with an enclosed garden and access to a playing field gives Growing Patch Nursery a clear physical character: children have indoor areas organised by age, plus outdoor space on the same premises. At its 7 September 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. That dated judgement sits alongside a current offer built around three named rooms, settling sessions with parents and a key person for each child.

Growing Patch Nursery has capacity for 40 children, with an age range beginning at six months and extending to five years. In Shipston-On-Stour, the nursery occupies Shipston Enterprise Centre on Pittway Avenue, CV36 4DQ. Ladybirds accommodates the youngest children, Bumblebees the next stage and Butterflies the oldest group.

Both term-time attendance and year-round childcare are offered. The practical distinction is how the core day, additional childcare and funded hours fit together, rather than simply how long the building stays open.

Rooms and Ages

Ladybirds, for six to 18 months, combines a carpeted space with soft furnishings and soft play for less mobile babies, a second area for those becoming more mobile, and a milk kitchen and nappy-changing area. Low-level resources let babies reach for things themselves. The arrangement gives different stages of movement their own space within the baby provision. Ladybirds has one adult for every three babies.

Bumblebees, for children from 18 months to 2.5 years, emphasises the EYFS prime areas through books, art, construction, role play and tabletop activities, with resources children can reach independently. EYFS means the early years foundation stage: learning and development through play, with attention to communication, physical development and children's relationships. Here, accessible equipment makes choosing an activity part of that learning.

Butterflies, for 2.5 to five years, extends learning into writing and maths alongside books, construction and role play, with a stage area used for smaller-group work and preparation for school. Children choose resources according to their interests, while adults also lead activities. This is a more structured set of learning spaces for older children, rather than simply a larger version of the baby area.

Learning and Activities

In the moment planning is used in Butterflies alongside adult-led activities and children's own choices of play. The balance matters: an older child can pursue an interest, but also take part in activities organised by an adult. School preparation includes work in smaller groups using the stage area; it is preparation for the next stage of learning.

Optional specialist tuition includes Calypso, PE and yoga, charged separately from childcare. Calypso is one of these optional specialist activities. Families can opt into or out of the tuition, so it is a separate decision from choosing the nursery's core provision.

In September 2022, children practised balance on low beams, directed balls with their feet and developed control with scissors. Movement also featured in action songs. These examples show how physical learning crossed between larger movements and the smaller hand movements needed for everyday tasks.

Outdoor and Community Life

The enclosed garden is attached to the nursery, and children can also use the playing field on the premises. That gives outdoor play two different settings while keeping it connected to the nursery's own site.

In September 2022, mirrors and self-portraits helped children explore their own features, while conversations and drawings brought parents, grandparents and pets into their learning. Talking about familiar people helped children express ideas about themselves and their families.

Relationships and Communication

Settling sessions take place before a child starts, with parents and children attending together to become familiar with staff and the setting. They also create time to discuss individual needs. Regular staff work within each section, and every child is assigned a key person who keeps parents informed about learning and development and discusses concerns.

For a family starting childcare, those arrangements provide a named point of contact and an introduction before the usual attendance pattern begins. They also give staff information about the child beyond what happens during the nursery day.

In September 2022, staff gathered information about children's abilities when they joined and used their observations to shape subsequent activities. Babies received close attention to their gestures, and younger children were held while having bottles. Rest followed children's needs, with regular checks while they slept.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The team includes a SENCO role within Butterflies. Meetings are held with families to assess the support a child needs and whether the nursery can provide it, alongside discussion with professionals such as speech and language therapists. Depending on the child's needs, the response may involve identifying a key worker, recruiting additional staff or arranging further staff training.

This is an individual assessment process, rather than a blanket promise. Where the nursery cannot accommodate the required support, the policy provides for directing parents towards another service.

In September 2022, staff used signing to help children communicate and visual prompts to explain the daily routine. They also worked with parents and other professionals when their assessments identified learning gaps. These were concrete ways of adapting communication and seeking support at that time.

Daily routines include personal hygiene, good manners and sharing. In September 2022, children were encouraged to wash their hands, dispose of used tissues and drink regularly; food activities included making a healthy-lunch collage and discussing sugary foods. The emphasis connected care routines with things children could practise themselves.

Sessions and Attendance

The Full Day Session runs from 9am to 3pm. Breakfast Club covers 8am to 9am, and the after-school club runs from 3pm to 5pm. At least two sessions must be booked each week on different days, with both All Year Round and Term Time Only attendance offered.

For funded children, the September 2026 arrangements require at least two full core sessions each week, whether funding is term-time or stretched. The core session runs from 9am to 3pm, so the booking commitment and the funded portion of the day need to be considered separately.

Opening hours are 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Growing Patch operates for 50 weeks, closing for bank holidays and two weeks at Christmas. Holiday care is also offered, with booking forms required and lunchboxes supplied by parents.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the universal 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, the working parent entitlement and 2help funding, subject to the relevant eligibility conditions. Families can use term-time funding over 38 weeks or stretch their entitlement across 50 weeks. Tax-Free Childcare payments are accepted too.

Under the September 2026 arrangements, term-time funded hours fall between 10am and 3pm. The 30-hour stretched option allocates funding from 10am to 2.30pm, totalling 22.5 funded hours weekly; the 15-hour stretched option uses 1pm to 3.15pm, totalling 11.25 funded hours weekly. Childcare outside the funded allocation is charged separately.

Breakfast, snacks, lunchbox reheating and high tea are optional, separately charged items; parents can supply their own snacks, while holiday-club children bring lunchboxes. Additional activity resources are also optional and separately charged, as is specialist tuition.

A funding declaration must be signed each term for funding to be claimed. Booking patterns are agreed before a new term, changes to contracted hours require at least one month's notice, and ad-hoc sessions outside the agreed pattern are privately charged. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Getting There

The nursery is based at Shipston Enterprise Centre on Pittway Avenue, Shipston-On-Stour, CV36 4DQ. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01608 238946 or by email to contactus@growingpatchnurseryltd.co.uk.

• Funding within the core day. The 9am to 3pm core session does not match every funded allocation. Compare the chosen attendance pattern with its funded window and separately charged hours before agreeing the booking.
• Baby-room fit. Ladybirds separates less mobile babies from those becoming more mobile within its layout. During a visit, ask how your child's movement, sleep and feeding needs would be accommodated across those areas.
• Staff development. In September 2022, systems for reviewing staff practice needed further development. Ask how staff feedback and professional development now work across the rooms.
• Individual support. The inclusion process assesses whether the nursery can meet a child's needs and may involve additional staffing or training. Families needing extra support should discuss that assessment before committing to attendance.

Growing Patch suits families choosing between term-time attendance and year-round care, with a core day and breakfast or after-school additions. Its clearest practical strengths are the age-specific indoor areas, accessible resources, garden and playing field, together with settling sessions and a key-person contact.

The September 2022 Good judgement provides a dated quality benchmark. The decision now rests on how the child's room and support needs fit the provision, and how the chosen funding allocation fits the required core sessions. Families who want those arrangements set out clearly before starting have several concrete points to discuss.