Make Waves Nursery

Ocean-named learning rooms, a garden combining grass with hard surfaces, and a curriculum organised around changing seasonal ideas give Make Waves Nursery a recognisable character. This Bideford setting brings childcare together with the wider Make Waves swim and play centre. Its strongest practical details are the gradual start, a named key person and regular updates that connect nursery life with home.

At its December 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. The current nursery space has open-plan learning zones, with places for quieter activities as well as group play. There are 65 places in total, a whole-setting figure rather than the size of an individual room or group.

Children aged 0 to 4 are welcomed across the year, with a minimum booking of two five-hour sessions each week. That regular attendance requirement matters for families planning occasional childcare: this is a recurring arrangement with time to establish relationships and routines.

Rooms and Ages

The Jellyfish Room emphasises friendships and confidence with other children; the Turtles Room develops independence and confidence in doing things for oneself; the Seahorses Room introduces more structured activities and preparation for school. These are different learning emphases within an open-plan arrangement, rather than wholly separate worlds.

Children become familiar with adults and other children across the nursery zones, an arrangement intended to make moves between spaces easier. Creative activities, quiet periods, group experiences and child-chosen play all have a place in the layout. For families weighing the environment, the useful distinction is between an open-plan setting with different activity areas and a series of enclosed rooms.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for learning and care: children develop language, relationships, physical skills and early literacy and maths through play and everyday experiences. Alongside this, the Birth to Five Matters Framework informs a curriculum adapted to the children attending, with medium- and long-term plans adjusted around the cohort.

Seasonal concepts give that planning a clear shape. Autumn explores Change & Celebration, spring centres on Belonging & Our World, and summer brings together Animals & Humans, Past & Present. Topics can include jobs, transport, family life and food. This gives adults material to connect a child's immediate interests with wider ideas, rather than treating reading, number work and creative activity as isolated tasks.

The curriculum approach also develops skills such as questioning, investigating, practising and refining an idea. Literacy, maths and physical development run through daily activities. The important practical point is the connection between what children enjoy doing and what adults help them try next.

In December 2024, activities included searching for dinosaurs hidden in shredded paper, scooping water with different objects and shaping play dough into imagined shark teeth. These examples show how familiar interests can become opportunities to investigate materials, compare quantities and use the hands. They also give parents a more concrete picture of play-based learning than a curriculum label alone.

A sample nursery day alternates adult-organised activities with child-led choices. Circle time and stories sit alongside outdoor play, messy activities and sensory experiences, with meals and snacks breaking up the day. It is an example routine, rather than a promise that every child follows an identical timetable; its value is the balance between shared structure and opportunities to choose.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden has both grass and hardstanding, with water, soil and sand used for exploration. This creates different surfaces and materials for physical play and discovery. Outdoor time is part of the example daily routine, alongside quieter story sessions and indoor activities.

The Play Cove, the ocean-themed activity centre within Make Waves, combines sensory experiences, imaginative play and zones for babies and toddlers. The Play Cove membership benefit covers the child and one adult, with online booking using a membership code. That is a family benefit alongside childcare; it should be understood separately from the nursery's daily programme.

In May 2025, Make Waves announced a Petroc College initiative: health and social care trainees would observe children's development during a supervised group visit on a specific day, with permission from the parents of participating children. The announcement concerned an observation visit, rather than a school admissions pathway.

Relationships and Communication

Settling has a concrete starting point: new children receive at least two free sessions, each lasting two hours. Their key person begins getting to know their interests, personality and sources of comfort during those visits. Further settling can be considered according to the child's response, giving the start some room to adapt rather than moving immediately to a full day.

A familiar object from home can accompany the child, and parents are encouraged to share routines, worries and changes in family life. Telephone contact during settling is welcomed. These details matter because a child's needs on a particular day may be shaped by a poor night's sleep, teething or something happening at home.

The Tapestry App carries information about food, activities and developmental observations, while daily handovers provide direct conversation. Parents evenings and open afternoons offer further opportunities to take part. Families can also contribute images or objects from home, bringing familiar experiences into the learning conversation.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff identified children needing additional help and supported their next learning steps, but asked for group activities to be adapted so quieter children could participate more fully. This is the main qualification to the positive overall judgement, and a useful issue for parents whose child tends to watch before joining in.

In December 2024, adults responded to babies with physical comfort and attention to their usual routines. Children also practised everyday tasks by helping with meal preparation at the table, serving themselves and clearing away afterwards. Those examples connect care with increasing independence, rather than treating the two as separate parts of the day.

School preparation continues through learning to take turns, follow routines, communicate needs and manage changes between activities. Circle time, stories and problem-solving sit alongside child-led exploration. The emphasis is on practical and social skills as well as early literacy and number work.

An onsite cook prepares meals and plans menus, including mild curries, cottage pie and pasta dishes; the nursery has a nut-free policy, an allergy lead and paediatric first aiders overseeing mealtimes. Dietary requirements can be discussed individually, and food eaten is recorded through Tapestry.

Sessions and Attendance

Make Waves Nursery is at Unit 6, Pine Close, Caddsdown Industrial Park, Bideford, EX39 3SG. It operates throughout the year and opens on weekdays from 8am to 6pm, with weekends and Bank Holidays closed. The sample routine specifies collection by 5.55pm, so families should plan around that pickup point.

Bookings are based on five-hour sessions, with at least two required each week; wraparound childcare is also part of the offer. The opening window describes when the nursery operates, rather than fixing the start and finish of each booked session. The weekly minimum is the key commitment to weigh against a family's working pattern.

Getting There

Free onsite parking is provided, and the centre is opposite Lidl, beside Tool Station and Screwfix. These landmarks make the industrial-park address easier to identify when planning a visit.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded childcare is accepted, with funded hours stretched across the year. Parents obtain an eligibility code, share it with the nursery and renew it every three months; acceptance of funding does not itself establish an individual family's entitlement.

Private childcare is charged by the hour across age bands, while the booking arrangement uses five-hour sessions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the fees and funding page separates childcare charges from food charges.

Breakfast, lunch and tea are charged separately, with breakfast and tea labelled optional; for funded children, morning and afternoon snacks also carry separate charges. Families may instead supply an allergy-sensitive packed lunch prepared with choking risks in mind, under the nursery's packed-lunch policy.

• Regular attendance. The minimum is two five-hour sessions each week. Consider whether that commitment fits the childcare pattern you need, and use a tour to discuss the session arrangement and settling sequence together.
• Quieter children in groups. The December 2024 improvement point concerned children who were less vocal or slower to participate. Ask how adults now adapt shared activities for a child who prefers to observe first.
• Food and funded hours. Food charges sit alongside childcare, including separate snack charges for funded children. Allergy-affected families should confirm current kitchen practice and how any packed lunch would be managed.
• Shared spaces. The learning zones share an open layout; during a visit, ask how rest and quieter activities work alongside busy group play. A separate closure notice states that Soft Play and the café are closed until further notice, while nursery continues normally. Confirm whether The Play Cove is operating before planning to use the membership benefit.

Make Waves suits families seeking recurring five-hour sessions or wraparound childcare, with a gradual start and regular communication about the child's day. Its room emphases, seasonal curriculum concepts and mixed-surface garden give the offer substance, with a family membership benefit for The Play Cove whose use depends on the centre operating.

The Good judgement from December 2024 provides a clear inspection position, with participation by quieter children the main improvement point. For parents, the strongest combination is the practical settling offer and the connection between purposeful play, everyday independence and preparation for school.