North Star Nursery & Holiday Club

Growing food, caring for oak seedlings and spending most of Welly Day outdoors give North Star Nursery & Holiday Club a recognisable character. This is a purpose-built setting in the UKRI grounds in Swindon, open to families beyond the campus workforce, with capacity for 40 children. Its appeal rests on concrete experiences: growing things, getting messy and learning to do more independently.

At its August 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found effective safeguarding, positive relationships with key persons and well-coordinated support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. That assessment also identified two weaknesses: children waited too long around meals, and some planned art activities left too little room for their own ideas.

The nursery age range is three to 59 months, with younger children using Explorers and Adventurers before moving through Pioneers and Discoverers. Full-day and half-day attendance sit alongside term-time and year-round funding arrangements. A separate Holiday Club serves children from primary school entry to 11 years old, giving families with older siblings another practical option during school holidays.

Rooms and Ages

Explorers and Adventurers, for under-twos, share a flexible two-room unit where sensory play, songs and stories accompany opportunities to choose activities as children become mobile. The rooms can operate together or separately according to the children attending that day. This matters for babies: the arrangement responds to their different stages rather than treating every under-two as ready for the same activity.

Pioneers, for two- to three-year-olds, combine adult-led activities with independent choices, using tabletop play, music, simple science and the garden to build familiarity with materials and routines. Discoverers, for three- to five-year-olds, develop counting and early writing through rhymes, drawing and practical hand activities such as threading, alongside substantial time outdoors. These are different emphases, rather than a promise that children will reach milestones on a fixed timetable.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through play, covering communication, physical development, relationships and the other areas of learning. It is the shared framework for early years provision; North Star adds its own practical themes and experiences within it.

May and June themes illustrate the curriculum approach: deconstruction and construction, alongside tolerance and respect. Taking materials apart and working out how they fit together lets children build, test and reconsider their ideas. The respect strand involves learning to recognise differences, consider feelings and respond kindly. The accompanying activities include books and play resources representing different families and communities.

Sign Along adds a regular communication practice: staff and children learn a new sign each month and use it in everyday exchanges. That gives the nursery's emphasis on language a concrete routine. For the youngest children, even the railway becomes a talking point, with passing trains visible from a window and familiar words repeated during conversation.

In August 2022, staff combined activities chosen by children with planned experiences, using children's interests to decide what came next. One colour-learning example showed a new word being used later during painting. Creative exploration included mixing powder paint with water and noticing the change, although an adult-drawn fire-engine outline illustrated the concern about directing children's artwork too closely.

Outdoor and Community Life

Welly Day gives Pioneers a weekly day spent largely outside using the nursery's outdoor space. Discoverers also have welly days, and waterproof suits help keep garden play going in wet weather. Their short outings include the park, the station and journeys by bus. These give children experiences beyond their room, without turning an ordinary outing into a formal lesson.

From Seed to Plate is a food-growing project that connects planting and harvesting with simple preparation. Children also observe insects and other small wildlife around the growing areas, bringing food and the living world into the same experience. Donated egg cartons are being used as planting pots, a tangible link between families and the project.

From Acorn to Oak began in November 2025 and involves collecting local acorns, planting them at nursery and caring for the seedlings. The intention is to donate the growing trees to local reforestation and biodiversity projects. Its value for a young child is the repeated care involved: watching a living thing change takes more than one afternoon.

Relationships and Communication

A key-person system gives children a familiar adult relationship, while a written diary at the end of each day lets parents see what their child has been doing. Artwork goes home for some age groups, and displays give children another way to share their achievements. These are useful bridges between nursery life and home, especially before a child can give a detailed account of the day.

Before the first visit, a registration questionnaire gathers information about developmental concerns, allergies, dietary requirements and the transition into nursery. It gives practitioners a starting point for understanding the child rather than relying on the first session alone. Parents must also notify the nursery when medical or dietary needs change.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO and an assistant SENCO role form part of the staff structure. At the August 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that families and outside agencies worked with staff on support plans, with relevant funding and specialist training used to address individual needs. That is a dated judgement about how support worked, rather than a blanket assurance for every child's circumstances.

ENCOMPASS links the nursery with Wiltshire Police and other education settings, passing confidential information about domestic incidents to a designated Key Adult by the next working day. The practical purpose is to help staff respond to difficulties a child may be experiencing. The nursery also has a Designated Safeguarding Lead role.

Sleep has its own physical provision. The under-two unit has dedicated sleep rooms with listening monitors, including one with a viewing window; Pioneers have a quieter period after lunch, with mattresses for naps and stories for children needing less sleep. Discoverers who still need a lunchtime rest can join them.

The Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme includes space to feed a baby at nursery, while a Breastmates peer supporter offers appointments for questions about feeding, expressing and milk supply. This is a useful arrangement for families continuing breastfeeding alongside childcare.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1FL, within the UKRI grounds on the other side of Swindon train station. The station connection may be useful for commuting families; it does not replace checking how the nursery fits their own route.

Weekday opening is from 8am to 6pm, with collection requested by 1745 to allow time to discuss the child's day. Nursery bookings include all-day attendance and half-days in the morning or afternoon. The nursery operates across the year, excluding bank holidays and Research Council privilege days.

Place allocation considers existing siblings, links with UKRI or nursery employees, the intended start date, the number of sessions requested and how the request fits the attendance pattern. Children requiring the highest number of sessions receive priority within this process. Families can enquire or arrange a visit through the contact form, email or telephone. This is a setting open to all, but its allocation priorities still matter when planning a booking.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both 15- and 30-hour funded entitlements are offered. Funding can follow 38 term-time weeks or be stretched across 49 weeks, with additional hours paid privately. The choice affects how the weekly allowance fits the child's sessions, so term-time and year-round contracts need to be considered separately.

Some arrangements for using the full 30-hour entitlement depend on additional paid sessions to absorb the remaining funded time. On year-round contracts, sessions that funding cannot cover are charged privately. A funded entitlement therefore needs to be read alongside the actual attendance agreement, rather than treated as a promise that an entire year-round booking is covered.

Meals are prepared on site each day, with a four-week menu rotation that changes for summer and winter; babies can have food mashed or puréed to suit their stage. The allergy policy identifies ingredients and allergens for each dish and warns that dishes may contain allergens.

Meals and snacks are included in private childcare fees; for funded sessions, meals are purchased separately or parents can supply packed meals. Consumable charges also apply to funded sessions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the fees and funding page sets out the attendance and funding options.

A deposit forms part of the booking agreement, including for funded-only attendance where meals are purchased. The terms provide for its return at the end of the contract when sufficient notice has been given and balances are clear. Ending the contract or reducing standard sessions requires at least four weeks' written notice, which matters if work arrangements change.

• Mealtime organisation and creative freedom. In August 2022, long waits around meals unsettled children, while some art activities were too directed by adults. During a visit, ask how lunch now runs and how children choose what to make.
• Under-two room arrangements. Explorers and Adventurers can operate jointly or separately according to attendance and ages. Ask what group your baby would normally join and how the room arrangement supports their sleep and play.
• Funding alongside paid attendance. Some 30-hour options rely on additional privately paid sessions, and funded meals and consumables carry separate charges. Request a written breakdown matched to the exact days you intend to use.
• Food allergies. Ingredient and allergen assessments are available in children's rooms, and dishes may contain allergens. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food-handling practice and agree their child's individual arrangements before starting.

North Star suits families seeking morning or afternoon half-days as well as full-day attendance, with term-time and year-round funding choices. Its strongest practical attractions are the flexible under-two rooms, planned sleep spaces and outdoor projects that children can return to over time.

The Good judgement from August 2022 provides a positive assessment of care and education at that date, balanced by specific concerns about meal organisation and artistic choice. For parents who value growing, outdoor play and everyday independence, there is plenty here to make the nursery worth considering. The funding contract deserves equally careful attention.