Imagination Childcare

Sensory play for babies, creative exploration for toddlers and growing independence for preschool children give Imagination Childcare a clear progression through its Ladybird, Caterpillar and Butterfly rooms. This independent, family-run nursery is based at Moredon Childrens Centre in Swindon and accepts children from three months. It has 52 places in total, a whole-nursery figure rather than a room size.

At its 24 March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Imagination Childcare Outstanding and found communication and language development strong across the age groups, with preschool children using sign language to communicate with peers with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That dated judgement gives families a substantial starting point, with language and inclusion central to the assessment.

Private and government-funded attendance runs across 51 weeks, with full-day, school-day, morning and afternoon patterns. The practical attraction is choice: a family can consider shorter attendance as well as a longer nursery day.

Rooms and Ages

Ladybird covers the baby stage up to two, combining sensory and heuristic play with care that follows the child's individual home routine; the emphasis is on exploration alongside continuity between nursery and home.

For children aged two to three, Caterpillar uses creative play and first-hand experiences to develop independence, making learning something children take part in rather than simply listen to.

Butterfly covers the three-to-five preschool band, emphasising curiosity, friendships and independent learning as children prepare for school.

These stages give parents a useful way to think about progression. The baby offer centres on familiar routines, the toddler stage on doing more independently, and preschool on learning alongside friends. Those are different priorities, rather than the same description applied to every age.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play. Here, the room descriptions translate that into sensory exploration, creative activity and opportunities to develop independence, rather than treating learning as a separate lesson added to the day.

In March 2023, children's interests helped staff shape activities. Stories involved participation and conversation, while preschool role play and group discussions gave children opportunities to express ideas. Babies practised early communication through babbling; toddlers used language to build friendships and explain what they needed. For parents, the useful detail is that communication appeared throughout ordinary interactions, rather than being confined to story time.

Independence also took different forms in March 2023. Babies practised feeding themselves, toddlers worked on fastening coats and helped friends with theirs, and preschool children served snacks, poured drinks and cleared plates. These are small, practical tasks with a clear purpose: children get opportunities to do things for themselves as their abilities develop.

World Book Day in March 2024 invited children to dress as a story character and bring a book to share. The yearly Easter Bonnet Parade, held again in April 2025, invited families to make a bonnet at home. Both connect something personal from home with a shared nursery activity, although the bonnet event also gives families a small making task to plan for.

Outdoor and Community Life

In March 2023, children exchanged drawings, photographs and postcards with nursery pen pals in England and overseas. They also made regular visits to older people in a retirement home, while farm and pet-shop visits introduced animal care. These experiences brought people and places beyond the nursery into children's conversations and helped give their learning a concrete reference point.

The annual Summer Fete adds a family occasion to that community strand. In June 2024 it raised money for Wiltshire Tree House Charity, with games, arts and crafts, a raffle and a barbecue. A further Summer Fete took place in June 2025. These dated events show how family involvement has extended beyond individual progress discussions.

Relationships and Communication

Following each baby's home routine is an important part of Ladybird's offer. For a parent choosing care for a young baby, that is a more useful detail than a broad promise of warmth: it identifies continuity as something the room works around.

Room-based family participation has also been a recurring feature. Ladybirds Stay and Play, Caterpillars Stay and Play and Butterflies Stay and Play all appeared in the June 2025 calendar. These sessions give parents opportunities to share nursery play with their child, rather than relying entirely on an account afterwards.

A November 2024 parents evening offered ten-minute appointments with each child's key worker. In March 2023, parents received updates about development and ideas for learning at home, and could contribute through reading sessions or talks about their occupations. The relationship worked in both directions: families received information, and their experiences became part of children's learning.

The sensory room also hosted cake and conversation during the September 2024 Macmillan Coffee morning. It is a concrete example of a nursery space being used for contact between families, alongside fundraising.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2023 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding arrangements and strong SEND support through collaboration between families, staff, outside agencies and other settings children attended. The practical significance is coordinated support: adults involved with a child were working together rather than treating each part of their care separately.

In March 2023, families contributed belongings, stories and explanations of celebrations connected with their backgrounds. Children explored similarities and differences through things that mattered to their peers. This made inclusion part of shared activity, with family members helping children explain their own experiences.

That same month, staff refreshed safeguarding knowledge through training and meetings, documented concerns and communicated them to managers. These are inspection-time practices, distinct from a current assurance about individual staff or arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Moredon Childrens Centre, Montrose Close, Swindon, SN2 2JR. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01793 530197.

Full day care runs from 8am to 6pm, School day from 9am to 3pm, Morning care from 8am to 1pm and Afternoon care from 1pm to 6pm. Friday closing is 5pm, so that earlier finish needs to be built into plans for full-day or afternoon attendance.

The nursery operates across 51 weeks. The choice between a school-length day and a morning, afternoon or full day matters as much as the overall opening span: families can compare an attendance pattern with their working hours, rather than assuming every booking covers the whole day.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both 15-hour and 30-hour Government Early Years funding are accepted. Funding relates to 38 weeks, while delivery here is stretched across 50 weeks. The funding arrangement therefore follows a different annual span from the nursery's 51-week operation.

Hours beyond a child's funded entitlement are charged separately. Consumables also carry a separate charge, with parents able to opt in or out. That distinction matters when comparing the funded portion of attendance with the total cost of a booking: additional hours and consumables are separate parts of the arrangement.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The funding and session details set out the attendance choices and stretched funding structure.

• Friday collection. The 5pm Friday finish is earlier than the full-day and afternoon finish on other days. Families whose work continues later need to judge that pattern against their collection arrangements.
• Baby routines. Ladybird adapts care to individual home routines. At a visit, how would settling and the handover of your baby's feeding and sleep routines work in practice?
• Funding across the year. Funded hours are stretched over 50 weeks, while nursery attendance runs across 51. Compare the written quotation with the weeks and additional hours your family intends to use, including the consumables opt-in choice.
• Family participation. Room-based Stay and Play sessions have taken place during the day, and the annual Easter Bonnet Parade invites a home-made contribution. Consider how those opportunities fit your family's time and preferences.

Imagination Childcare suits families looking for a choice between full-day attendance, a school-length day and shorter morning or afternoon care. Its room progression is easy to understand, with familiar baby routines giving way to creative exploration and preschool independence.

The Outstanding judgement belongs to March 2023, and the detailed observations from that period give it substance: conversation, practical self-care and contact with the wider community were woven into children's experiences. Later family events and room-based Stay and Play sessions add further character. The earlier Friday finish and the difference between funded and operating weeks are the practical details to weigh alongside that appeal.