Godstone Farm Day Nursery & Pre-School

Daily visits to Godstone Farm give this nursery a recognisable character: animals, food production and countryside are part of children's ordinary week. Private gardens extend that outdoor emphasis back into the nursery itself. For parents who want nature to shape the day, rather than feature only in occasional outings, this is the central attraction.

Godstone Farm Day Nursery & Pre-School takes children aged 2 months to 5 years in Godstone, Surrey. At its May 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall and found safeguarding effective. That is a dated judgement, rather than an assessment of today's practice.

The current learning offer combines play chosen by children with daily supervised farm visits. Care is organised around a key carer, with daily feedback and more focused feedback at different intervals for babies, toddlers and preschool children. Full days and half-day attendance serve different family routines, with a minimum booking of two half-day sessions each week.

Rooms and Ages

Babies emphasises exploration and new skills, with private gardens and daily animal visits extending play beyond the room. Toddlers, for children aged 2 to 3 years, brings language, early mathematics and creative activities together across the nursery, gardens and farm. Pre-School, for ages 3 to 5 years, encourages children to attempt unfamiliar activities, with direct access to private gardens and supervised opportunities to feed animals and use the farm's adventure play spaces.

Day-to-day numbers vary with children's attendance patterns. That matters when weighing the experience of a particular room: the children present depend on which sessions families book, rather than forming one fixed group throughout the week.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning and care, with play developing communication, early number understanding and confidence in trying things. Alongside it, Planning in the Moment means staff use activities children have chosen as opportunities to extend their learning. The practical distinction is that a child's interest supplies the starting point, rather than every activity beginning with an adult's plan.

The play and education page connects this approach to the natural environment. Farm visits include encounters with animals, tractor and trailer rides, and indoor and outdoor play. These are daily supervised visits, giving children repeated experiences to talk about and return to as their interests develop.

In May 2023, children explored quantity while making play dough and practised counting as toy cars travelled through a tube. Babies experimented with musical instruments during singing, while older children joined stories and rhymes. These activities gave children opportunities to practise language and mathematics through play at that time.

Independence was the weaker point in May 2023. Adults sometimes completed tasks children could attempt themselves, including preparing their snacks and attending to their noses. The youngest children also spent unnecessary time waiting between activities. The improvement priorities were therefore practical: more chances to do things independently and better organisation of transitions for the youngest age group.

Outdoor and Community Life

Godstone Farm's 45 acres provide the wider setting for learning about animal care and the journey from food production to eating. Feeding goats and meeting piglets make those subjects concrete. Children can connect what they see with what animals need, rather than learning about farm life solely through pictures or toys.

Rooms have free-flow garden access, giving children outdoor play opportunities within the nursery as well as during farm visits.

In May 2023, relationships with the neighbouring farm supported children's understanding of nature and animal care. Links with schools and the wider community also supported the move to school. Those were practical transition arrangements, with no admissions advantage implied.

Relationships and Communication

A baby's key carer works with parents around feeding, weaning, changing and sleep routines. The purpose is continuity between home and nursery, including care needs that change as a baby grows. For toddlers, staff and parents also work together when a child is ready for potty training.

Daily feedback is paired with more detailed feedback every 4 weeks for babies, every 6 weeks for toddlers and every 10 weeks for Pre-School children. Families receive both an account of each day and more focused feedback at these regular intervals. For a baby, that closer interval is especially relevant as routines and needs change quickly.

Settling-in sessions are planned with parents during enrolment weeks. In May 2023, staff also used children's home languages to help them settle and sign language to support communication. These are useful examples of adapting interactions to the child, though they describe practice at that date.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND made good progress, supported by funding for individual adult help, additional communication resources and advice from outside agencies. The substance of that finding is the combination of direct support and resources, rather than a general promise that every child's needs will be met in the same way.

In May 2023, checks on sleeping babies formed part of safeguarding practice. Children also supported one another when preparing for farm visits. These details connect care with the ordinary nursery day: sleep required its own checks, while preparing for an outing gave children opportunities to cooperate.

Meals are cooked on site in Courtyard Kitchen, with menus changing over a 3 week cycle. The nursery's dietary policy provides for special requirements and allergens.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6.30pm, across 52 weeks of the year, closing for bank holidays. Full-day bookings and half-day sessions accommodate different attendance needs; the minimum is two half-day sessions per week. The opening window describes the operating day, rather than specifying the length of each half-day booking.

Getting There

The address is Godstone Farm, Tilburstow Hill Road, Godstone, RH9 8LL. The nursery is close to the M23 and M25, making those roads relevant to families fitting childcare around a driving commute.

Enquiries can be made through the registration form or by telephone on 01883 725 865. The form is also the route for requesting a tailored quotation, so a family's proposed attendance can be considered alongside the price.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded sessions are offered for children aged 2, 3 and 4, including an entitlement of up to 30 hours, subject to eligibility checks. Private childcare is also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page explains the included provision.

Food is included in childcare fees, as are babies' nappies, nappy cream and wipes. Daily supervised farm visits are included too, so the nursery's main outdoor experience sits within the childcare offer. Optional branded uniform is available, rather than being a clothing requirement.

A deposit forms part of the joining process.

• Independence in the youngest rooms. The May 2023 improvement priorities concerned adults doing too much for children and unnecessary waiting between activities. During a visit, ask how children now attempt manageable tasks and how the youngest move between activities.
• A recurring attendance commitment. The minimum booking is two half-day sessions each week. Families seeking occasional childcare should weigh that rule against the routine they actually need.
• Funded-place costs. Funded sessions and fee-inclusive food and baby consumables are part of the offer. Ask for the written quotation to distinguish funded hours, additional private hours and any charges attached to your proposed arrangement.
• Seeing the farm-based day. Weekend open-day tours run monthly. Use a visit to discuss how farm outings, garden play and your child's feeding or sleep routine fit together, including current dietary practice if allergies affect your family.

Godstone Farm Day Nursery & Pre-School suits families choosing either full-day childcare or a recurring half-day pattern who want daily animal encounters and outdoor play to shape their child's week. The strongest reasons to choose it are concrete: supervised Godstone Farm visits, garden access and a learning approach that starts with children's interests.

Key-carer communication adds a useful care structure, especially for babies whose routines need coordination between home and nursery. The balance is equally clear. The Good judgement dates to May 2023, and that assessment also identified independence and waiting times as areas needing attention.