Nanny Jo's Day Nursery

A vegetable patch and settling visits shaped around each child give Nanny Jo's Day Nursery a clear character: play and personal relationships carry the learning. Its purpose-built premises are at 3 Frinton Road in Thorpe-le-Soken. At its August 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found safeguarding effective.

The early-years age range runs from birth to 60 months, alongside a separate offer for primary-school-aged children. Big Kidz Holiday Club provides after-school and holiday care in a purpose-built lodge within the nursery grounds. That distinction matters: younger children's nursery care and older children's club activities have different routines and attendance arrangements.

For parents choosing early-years care, the most useful details are the individual settling process, learning journals and planning around children's interests. These give families concrete ways to understand how their child will start, what staff will learn about them and how their development will be followed.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS guides the nursery's planning: children learn through purposeful play, with experiences covering the areas of learning indoors and outside. Adults support activities while also making room for children's choices. Planning can change around an individual child's interests and needs, rather than requiring every child to follow an identical activity.

Weekly planning sheets set out key children's next steps, while observations are recorded in individual learning journals. Children also contribute ideas about activities and the arrangement of their environment. Their involvement extends to discussions about changes and buying resources, giving them a practical role in shaping the places where they play.

In August 2024, hands-on experiences explored growth and life cycles, and staff helped children consider risks in different environments. On outings, children put road-safety learning into practice. These examples connect learning to situations children can recognise, rather than leaving it within an adult-led discussion.

Communication had several forms in August 2024. Children used Makaton sign language to support communication, and group activities included greetings in children's home languages. Staff allowed children time to form their own answers to questions. For a child who needs longer to respond, that pause gives space to contribute rather than having an adult supply the answer.

Outdoor and Community Life

The vegetable patch links growing food with regular cooking and food-preparation activities. Children can take part in producing ingredients and then explore how food is handled. It gives healthy eating a practical setting and brings food hygiene into an activity they help carry out.

For older children, Big Kidz Holiday Club has a lodge with soft furnishings and wooded play areas. Activities include gardening, cooking, craft and outward-bound experiences. This is a separate school-age offer with room both for activity and for unwinding after lessons, rather than an extension of the younger children's nursery routine.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is individual rather than governed by a fixed timetable. After registering, a child can have up to six free settling visits, each lasting one hour. Parents share information about interests and capabilities and complete an information and permissions booklet, helping staff prepare for the child before regular attendance begins.

Home visits or visits to another setting can also form part of the process when they would benefit the child. The key-person approach provides a continuing relationship within the nursery. For families whose child needs gradual familiarisation, the combination of short visits and information sharing gives the start a clear structure while allowing the pace to vary.

Learning journals document development, and staff discuss observations with parents. In August 2024, communication included daily conversations in person and online contact. That creates opportunities to exchange immediate information as well as talk about longer-term learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the August 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children made rapid progress, speech-and-language interventions were effective, and complex health needs were supported through detailed care plans, with management communicating regularly with families and professionals, including paediatric nurses, so staff understood and followed those plans. The practical significance is the combination of targeted learning support and specific instructions for care, rather than relying on a general promise of inclusion.

Current planning includes working with families and outside agencies around identified needs, and supporting children whose families use English as an additional language. Individual observations help staff identify concerns and adjust activities. These are mechanisms parents can discuss in relation to their own child's needs.

In August 2024, babies used soft-play equipment to practise pulling themselves upright, while older children managed sun hats, drinking water and hygiene routines. Everyday care was also an opportunity to practise independence.

Menus are planned around fresh, balanced food, and families are asked to share dietary requirements. Children bring a named cup or bottle containing fresh water and are encouraged to drink independently, with reminders during hot weather and after physical activity.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 8am to 5.30pm, across the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas. These opening hours are useful for judging whether the setting fits the working day.

Big Kidz offers after-school collection from local primary schools, with care from 3pm to 5.30pm. During school holidays, its full-day pattern runs from 8.30am to 5.30pm, and a half-day option is also offered. Those patterns belong to the school-age club and should be kept separate from arrangements for younger children.

Getting There

The address is 3 Frinton Road, Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex, CO16 0JE. Families can contact the nursery by telephone on 01255 860 080 or email info@nannyjosnursery.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

In August 2024, the nursery received early-education funding for two-, three- and four-year-old children. That establishes its participation at that date; a family's current quotation should distinguish funded attendance from any additional paid care and other charges.

• A gradual start. Up to six free one-hour settling visits follow registration, and the settling process has no fixed timescale. On a visit, discuss how those sessions would be paced around your child's response and family routine.
• Nursery care and Big Kidz are different offers. The school-age club has timed after-school and holiday patterns, including a holiday half-day option. Ask for the younger child's proposed booking pattern and a current written quotation that separates funded hours, additional care, meals and consumables.
• Individual health and dietary needs. Detailed health-care planning featured in August 2024, and families are asked to share dietary requirements. Families managing allergies or complex health needs should confirm the current arrangements for their child before joining.

Nanny Jo's suits families who value an individual start, play shaped around children's interests and an ongoing exchange with their child's key person. The vegetable patch and learning journals give that approach substance, while the August 2024 Outstanding judgement provides a dated assessment of its quality.

For families with primary-school-aged children, the separate Big Kidz offer serves after-school care and holiday attendance, including full-day and half-day patterns. The distinction between nursery care and the school-age lodge is central to choosing the right arrangement here.