Teddy Bear Day Care

Tomatoes grown by children, chickens hatched from eggs and outings to watch fishing boats give Teddy Bear Day Care a recognisable Queenborough character. In September 2022, those experiences connected practical exploration with conversation about living things and the coastal community. This is a nursery whose strongest detail lies in what children actually did.

At its September 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the setting Outstanding overall, with the same judgement across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. The current age range runs from three months to five years, with capacity for 50 children at Queenborough Church Hall on North Road.

Attendance combines morning, afternoon and all-day sessions within a term-time calendar. For families, that means a choice between shorter sessions and a day spanning both, rather than a single attendance pattern.

Rooms and Ages

The Queenborough setting has a Baby Room and a nursery area. Tiny Teds, the under-two provision offered at both locations, uses sensory activities and stories, with experiences adapted to children's stage of development. That gives the youngest children opportunities to explore through touch, movement and listening, alongside familiar relationships with adults.

The Queenborough approach includes hygge, presented here as a comfortable, home-like atmosphere. The practical detail is more useful than the label: a separate area for babies gives parents a clear starting point for understanding how care changes as children grow.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, learning through play sits alongside support with communication, physical skills and increasing independence; the nursery's activities sit within that framework.

In September 2022, younger children investigated a wall-mounted board fitted with switches, handles and bolts. These everyday mechanisms gave them something concrete to manipulate and investigate. Older children tested their physical skills outdoors, including cycling down a garden slope and planning how to jump safely from a low wall.

Storytelling also had a practical purpose in September 2022. Staff retold familiar stories expressively, encouraging children to anticipate what happened next and discuss what they remembered. Rather than keeping language work apart from play, adults used children's existing interests as reasons to talk.

Outdoor and Community Life

Growing food supplied another thread in September 2022. Children picked their own tomatoes for the chickens, while adults helped them recall watching eggs hatch through images projected from an incubator. An allotment had also been obtained to extend their interest in fruit and vegetables. These experiences connected growing, caring and remembering.

Regular outings in September 2022 took children to the sea and creek, where fishing boats provided a real example of local working life. Other trips included a café, the library and picnics in a park. The value was concrete: children encountered people and places beyond the nursery, with familiar adults alongside them.

Relationships and Communication

In September 2022, children new to the setting sought hugs from their key person. That small detail gave a concrete example of the relationships supporting children as they settled into nursery life.

Famly brings everyday information together, including sleep, medication, accidents and nappy changes. Parents can also use its Journey tab to follow development records, exchange messages and access policies. This makes communication possible beyond a brief conversation at collection time.

In September 2022, children took responsibility for small daily tasks, including cleaning their snack dishes and managing belongings. Staff explained expectations calmly and supported personal care. Independence here was practised through ordinary routines, rather than treated solely as preparation for the next stage.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged support for children with SEND exceptional, describing their participation throughout activities. In September 2022, the SENCO and manager sought help from other agencies and had approached a Sure Start centre about workshops offering parents advice and support. This combined children's participation in nursery activities with efforts to support their families.

Illness procedures require children to remain at home for 48 hours following the last episode of vomiting or diarrhoea. Medication administration requires prescribed medicine in its original labelled container and parental acknowledgement through Famly; antibiotics can be administered only after 48 hours from the start of the course. Families need to allow for these procedures when planning care around illness.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Queenborough Church Hall, North Road, Queenborough, ME11 5EU. Opening hours are 8am to 4pm on weekdays; booked sessions follow a different timetable.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, afternoons from noon to 3pm, and all-day sessions from 9am to 3pm. The attendance offer is between two and five sessions each week, subject to availability. This distinction matters: the opening window should not be read as the duration of an all-day booking.

The nursery runs for 38 weeks annually and closes during school holidays and on bank holidays. Families can register interest using the enquiry form, choosing Queenborough as their preferred setting.

Funding and Paid Extras

Two-year-old funding is offered, with eligibility checks supported by the nursery team. Early Years Pupil Premium is a separate source of additional support for eligible three- and four-year-olds, with applications submitted each term and interventions informed by children's starting points.

Parents supply essential care items such as nappies, wipes and cream; a care-package charge may apply if a child arrives without them. Private-session charges continue during sickness, family holidays and closure days, so a missed session does not automatically reduce the bill.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees and contract terms include four weeks' written notice to end the contract; if a child starts during the 14-day cancellation period, payment for booked sessions and four weeks' notice still apply.

• Term-time attendance. Morning, afternoon and all-day bookings run within a 38-week year. Families needing care during school holidays will need a separate arrangement.
• Opening hours and booked hours. An all-day session ends at 3pm, while the opening window ends at 4pm. At a visit, ask how the hours outside booked sessions work for your proposed attendance pattern.
• Care supplies and food. Nappies, wipes and cream come from home, with a possible charge when essential items are missing. Ask what lunch and snack arrangements apply to your child's sessions.
• Contract costs during absence. Charges continue through sickness, holidays and closure days, and ending attendance requires written notice. Assess the contract against your family's likely attendance before accepting a place.

Teddy Bear Day Care suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, as well as an all-day pattern ending at 3pm. Its September 2022 account of coastal outings, growing food and practical independence gives substance to its Queenborough identity. The attendance calendar and contract terms deserve equal weight in the decision: this is a choice about how nursery fits family life as well as what children experience there.