Puffin's Pre-School & Day Nursery, Windlesham

Daily woodland time gives Puffin's Windlesham a clear identity. Children spend a couple of hours each day exploring the local wooded area, making seasonal change part of their nursery experience rather than something encountered only in pictures. The village setting matters here: a park and recreational ground also provide places to explore beyond the building.

Based in the Village Hall on Chertsey Road, Puffin's accepts children from 3 months to 5 years and has 36 places in total. Its Baby room and Preschool separate the younger children from those aged two and over. That gives families a straightforward picture of the two age groups, while the total capacity describes the whole nursery rather than either room's size.

At its November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and identified support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language as a strength. That is a dated judgement. Later compliance action also matters to the decision, alongside the outdoor routine, room arrangements and choice of full-day or half-day attendance.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby room covers ages 0–2, within the nursery's overall starting age of 3 months; Preschool caters for children aged 2–5. The baby play space allows children to move around an enclosed area and select resources for themselves, while the sleeping area sits towards the back of the room, partly screened, with cots and sleep mats. Rest therefore has a defined space within the room.

Accessible resources shape the Preschool Room, with independence an explicit aim. The Preschool Book Corner brings together puppets, story sacks and books beside a child-sized sofa, giving children a comfortable place to choose a story. Children's toilets are arranged so that children can practise managing routines while staff remain able to help.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: activities are adapted to children's abilities, with play helping them build skills for their next stage. It is the baseline for the nursery day. Woodland exploration adds a concrete setting in which children can notice changes in nature.

In November 2022, staff developed vocabulary through a bear-hunt story that children acted out using a plastic tray. Mathematics also appeared in practical activities: filling containers with sand introduced ideas about quantity, while a pretend shop gave children a reason to count. These examples show how conversation and familiar play can carry learning, rather than confining it to a separate lesson.

Outdoor and Community Life

The daily wooded-area visits are the strongest practical feature for families who want substantial outdoor time. Structured activities sit alongside free play, and children explore outdoors across different weather conditions. Walks also take children to the local park and recreational ground.

In November 2022, community experiences included shopping for ingredients for a Diwali meal, helping decorate the village Christmas tree and taking part in Remembrance Sunday activities. Trips and stories also prompted discussion of disability and people's similarities and differences. These were opportunities to connect celebrations and social understanding with people and places beyond the nursery.

Settling depended on relationships in November 2022. Children sought comfort from staff, and settling arrangements helped practitioners get to know families. Day-to-day communication included spoken updates, weekly photographs and suggested activities for home, giving parents something concrete to discuss and continue with their children.

Support at that time involved identifying additional needs and working with parents and other professionals on strategies tailored to the child. This describes the mechanism behind the inspection's positive judgement on inclusion. It is more useful than a general promise that every child will receive the same approach.

The Lending Library allows families to borrow books from the lobby, extending story time into home life. Food is prepared by the nursery cook on the premises each day, with a four-week menu cycle adjusted for the seasons. The arrangement brings meal preparation into the setting itself.

Later regulatory history needs separate consideration. Ofsted's November 2024 compliance action recorded a failure to notify a change of directors, with steps being taken at that point; the May 2025 visit identified another incident that had not been notified to Ofsted, alongside improved understanding of which significant incidents required notification. Separately, actions concerning outings and risk assessments were accepted as met in May 2025, and an action concerning notification to child protection agencies following serious accidents or injuries was accepted as met in July 2026. These later outcomes relate to their own actions and do not establish an outcome for the director-change notification issue.

In July 2026, resource risk assessments had also been revised to improve suitability and safety. The notification action followed regulatory telephone calls that month. Families should read the Good judgement alongside this later history, rather than treating a November 2022 assessment as a complete account of subsequent practice.

Sessions and Attendance

Full-day sessions run from 8am to 6pm. Half-day options run from 8am to 12.30pm or from 1.15pm to 5.45pm, so morning and afternoon attendance are both part of the booking model. Early drop-off begins at 7.30am and late collection extends from 6pm to 6.30pm, each carrying an additional charge.

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6.30pm, across 51 weeks of the year. It closes on bank holidays and from 24 December until 2 January. Those closures matter when matching nursery attendance to work commitments, even where the usual session pattern fits.

Getting There

The address is Village Hall, 41 Chertsey Road, Windlesham, GU20 6EW. The setting has access to the M3 and M25, and its contact route includes a Windlesham email address, telephone number and an enquiry form with a setting selector.

Staff cover for annual leave and sickness comes from the nursery's own bank team. Additional training is also part of the staff-development arrangements, supporting the team beyond its ordinary daily deployment.

Funding and Paid Extras

In November 2022, the nursery provided funded early education places for children aged two to four. Early drop-off and late collection are separately charged additions to the standard sessions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Outdoor routines. Daily woodland exploration is a substantial part of the offer. At a visit, discuss how outings work for your child's age and how the later risk-assessment changes operate in practice.
• Independence and healthy choices. In November 2022, staff sometimes completed tasks children could attempt themselves, and explanations of healthy living needed development. Ask how snack times and other everyday routines now help children practise both.
• Notification procedures. The November 2024 director-change notification issue and July 2026 action on notifying child protection agencies concern different responsibilities. Ask about the outcome of the former and the procedures now used for significant incidents.
• Your attendance quotation. Full days, morning half days, afternoon half days and paid extensions create different arrangements. Request a written quotation for your chosen pattern covering funded-hour delivery, food and consumables before agreeing terms.

Puffin's Windlesham suits families looking for daily woodland exploration alongside either full-day attendance or morning and afternoon half-day sessions. The baby rest area, Preschool Book Corner and Lending Library add useful detail to that picture: rest, independent story choices and reading at home each have a practical place.

The November 2022 Good judgement is a positive starting point, with specific strengths in inclusion and practical learning. The later compliance history deserves equal attention. A decision should weigh those dated findings, the notification questions and the fit of the outdoor routine and session pattern for the individual child.