Pennypot Day Nursery, Chobham

Growing vegetables, tasting the harvest and joining Stretch-n-Grow health and fitness sessions give Pennypot a recognisable mix of outdoor exploration and physical activity. The garden is part of the daily offer for every child. That makes outdoor time a practical part of the nursery day, rather than an occasional addition.

Pennypot Day Nursery, Chobham has capacity for 116 children and accepts children from 2 to 60 months. At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Outstanding overall. That judgement provides a strong starting point for families, while its date matters when weighing it alongside the current activities and care arrangements.

Rooms and Ages

Caterpillars cares for the youngest children at Pennypot. For parents choosing care for a baby, the organisation of that room deserves as much attention as the activities offered to older children: the whole nursery's capacity is a different measure from the number sharing a baby's day.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, with activities shaped around their interests and learning through play. Stretch-n-Grow adds regular health and fitness sessions. Its practical appeal is straightforward: children have an organised opportunity to be active alongside their everyday play, although regular should not be read as a particular weekly timetable.

In June 2022, toddlers experimented with pipes, changing their arrangement to investigate the speed of flowing water. Babies handled wet sand and explored its texture. These examples show how ordinary materials became opportunities to investigate movement, practise coordination and discover what happens when children change something themselves.

Language also featured throughout play in June 2022. Staff introduced vocabulary while sharing books with babies, gave older children time to explain their thoughts and used children's home languages within activities. The useful distinction is between simply hearing adult talk and having space to contribute: children were encouraged to put their own ideas into words.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily garden access gives children repeated opportunities to spend time outdoors. Vegetable growing has a clear connection to food, too: children plant vegetables and taste the produce served by the nursery chef. The activity has an end point they can recognise, linking something they have grown with something they eat.

Pennypot holds an Eco-School Green Flag award for its environmental work. Alongside planting and tasting, that gives families a concrete environmental thread to consider. The strongest detail here is the children's involvement in growing, rather than the award alone.

In June 2022, staff took time to learn children's personalities, interests and abilities as they settled. Babies and younger children formed trusting relationships with the adults caring for them. For families, the important practical detail is that settling involved getting to know the individual child, rather than treating every new starter in the same way.

At the June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that safeguarding arrangements were effective and that children with SEND received exceptionally strong support, involving parents and external professionals in assessments and precise plans for their next steps. These are dated findings, rather than a guarantee about an individual child's care today.

Communication with families was also part of daily practice in June 2022. Parents received updates on activities and achievements, creating a connection between what children did at nursery and what families could support at home. Staff adjusted learning to children's existing knowledge and worked together when additional help was needed. The practical value lay in linking observations to what happened next, rather than collecting information alone.

Food has a hands-on connection with the garden: the nursery chef serves produce that children have helped grow. That gives tasting a familiar starting point for children who have already taken part in planting.

Sessions and Attendance

Pennypot opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6.30pm, across 52 weeks of the year, excluding public holidays and inset days. The opening window is useful for assessing whether the nursery fits around work and other commitments; the attendance arrangement is a separate decision.

Getting There

The address is Pennypot Lane, Chobham, Surrey, GU24 8DH. Families can contact the nursery by telephone or email, or use its enquiry form to request a call back. This gives an initial contact route before making a booking decision.

Funding and Paid Extras

In June 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Families should obtain current prices through the nursery's written quotation, with the attendance arrangement and any funded hours considered together.

• The youngest children's day. Caterpillars cares for the youngest children, while Pennypot has 116 places in total. During a visit, what group size, sleep arrangement and settling pattern would your baby experience in Caterpillars?
• Opening hours and attendance. The 7.30am to 6.30pm opening window covers a substantial working day. Before booking, establish the attendance pattern and the treatment of meals and non-food consumables in the written quotation.
• A dated inspection judgement. The Outstanding judgement dates to June 2022. Use a visit to discuss how the individual assessment and family involvement described then work for your child's needs now.

Pennypot suits families seeking daily outdoor activity, a tangible connection between growing and eating, and regular organised physical activity through Stretch-n-Grow. Its weekday opening window will also interest parents whose commitments extend beyond the middle of the day.

The June 2022 judgement adds weight to the choice, especially alongside the detailed examples of learning and individual support from that period. A decision should bring those strengths together with the child's likely experience in their own room and the agreed attendance arrangement.