Countryside Pre-School Nursery

A willow teepee, fruit orchard and allotment give Countryside Pre-School Nursery its strongest sense of place. Children grow vegetables, explore among trees and use a pavilion for outdoor learning. This is countryside that becomes part of the nursery day, with opportunities to handle, investigate and grow things rather than simply look at them.

Based at Little Canfield Village Hall, the nursery accepts children from six months to five years. Little Bears provides the younger children's base, with an older room offering freely chosen play and activities. At its May 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that its curriculum challenged children while staff used their understanding of development to support those needing extra help.

Families choose their own attendance hours. A gradual adoption of The Curiosity Approach brings natural materials and everyday objects into children's play.

Rooms and Ages

Little Bears welcomes children from six months to two years, emphasising sensory exploration and early mark-making in a large play room, with a sleep room containing four permanently set-up cots. Having a room for sleep gives rest a physical place alongside play; individual routines are discussed with parents rather than treated as a single timetable for every child.

The Over Twos Room lets children choose construction, small-world play, puzzles, creative materials, sand and water; its message centre, drawing club and writing club provide opportunities to make marks and explore early writing.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS guides learning across personal development, communication, movement, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. In parent language, that means play and planned activities support several aspects of development together, with learning journeys, next-step sheets and reports helping families follow what their child is working towards.

Alongside that framework, The Curiosity Approach uses natural and everyday materials to encourage children to investigate and make choices. Its introduction is gradual: the home corner, table activities and garden have been adapted, with further changes developing over time. Neutral colours and softer lighting are part of the arrangement. Bobbins, log slices and moss balls provide objects children can use for building or counting, giving familiar skills different materials to work with.

Children's suggestions and interests brought from home help shape planning, with spontaneous play alongside adult-planned activities.

In May 2024, babies shared familiar books with adults, while older children used story baskets and joined songs with actions. Counting activities included placing rings on a stand, and staff brought number language into play. The inspection also supplied a clear improvement point: Ofsted found in May 2024 that staff needed to introduce more unfamiliar vocabulary during activities so that conversation extended children's thinking and knowledge further.

Outdoor and Community Life

An astroturf garden section supports year-round play, with bikes, scooters and obstacle courses encouraging movement. The bark-covered natural section contains a mud kitchen, fairy garden, gravel pit and digging zone, giving children materials to investigate alongside physical play.

At the allotment, children plant vegetables each year and pick fruit from trees. With a key worker, they explore other growers' plots, the willow teepee and pavilion, experiencing how plants develop and produce food.

Forest School Pedagogy is another part of the approach, centred on practical exploration in natural surroundings such as fields, trees, orchards and the allotment. The emphasis is on discovery, choices and learning close to nature. In May 2024, outdoor play also included children feeling sand beneath their feet, making castles and searching for shells, alongside running and climbing.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key worker responsible for their learning and wellbeing. Before joining Little Bears, families spend time in the room and discuss routines and individual requirements. Settling can include time with parents present, time independently and a longer transition when agreed with the family. All about me booklets share favourite things, preferences and information from home, giving staff something concrete to build on.

Before changing rooms, children spend time in the older room, meet their next key worker and practise self-help skills. School preparation includes teacher visits, time in school, carrying lunch on a tray and changing for PE, addressing practical daily adjustments.

Stay and play sessions let families join activities, while Parent consultations provide time to discuss development. Parents can also help at the allotment. Support extends to weaning, toilet training and giving up a dummy.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCO) provide identified roles for additional-needs support, which the nursery outlines in its Local Offer. Support also extends to children and families using English as an additional language.

Staff training covers first aid, safeguarding, food hygiene and health and safety, with internal updates when policies change. Recruitment includes interviews and DBS checks. A kitchen supervisor is part of the team, keeping food responsibilities identifiable within the staffing structure.

The daily rhythm includes time for rest after lunch, with younger children's sleep routines discussed individually. The nursery's food policy provides daily allergen information and records menu substitutions in children's diaries. For families managing dietary requirements, that creates a route for following what was actually served as well as what was planned.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Little Canfield Village Hall, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Essex CM6 1SW. Opening hours are 7.45am to 5.45pm, Monday to Friday, and families choose their own hours within that window. Attendance is across the year, with closure on bank holidays. The arrangement suits parents seeking hours tailored to their routine rather than a fixed morning or afternoon package.

Breakfast runs from 7.45am to 8.20am, with lunch around midday and tea at 4pm. Chosen attendance hours affect which meals and rest periods children share.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form. Unwell children must stay at home; after sickness or diarrhoea, the nursery advises staying home for 48 hours after the last episode. Weather can also affect opening: snow may lead to a later start or closure, with families notified when a decision is made.

Getting There

The nursery has a car park, with its sign marking the entrance. Road directions approach Little Canfield along the B1256, providing a clear road reference for families travelling from Great Dunmow or Takeley.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government funding is accepted from nine months, alongside funding for two-, three- and four-year-olds. The funded entitlement and the nursery's additional charge structure are separate matters; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Meals, snacks and hygiene and comfort items fall within a separately charged, voluntary daily consumable arrangement. Families can opt out and supply their child's meals and snacks instead, but that choice must be permanent rather than changed from day to day. Families who do not opt out join the meal plan automatically.

Packed food must be suitable for keeping and serving at room temperature because it cannot be refrigerated or reheated, and the packed-meal policy excludes nuts and sesame. That makes the opt-out a practical planning decision as well as a financial one: families need meals that meet the storage conditions and the nursery's food restrictions.

• Language development. The May 2024 improvement point concerned introducing more challenging vocabulary during activities. On a visit, ask how staff now extend conversation beyond familiar words during stories and play.
• Choosing attendance hours. Families select their own hours within the 7.45am to 5.45pm weekday opening window. Discuss how the hours you need would fit meals, rest and the activities your child would share.
• Permanent catering choice. Opting out of the voluntary charge means supplying meals and snacks consistently, with no refrigeration or reheating. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food handling and restrictions before choosing either arrangement.
• Settling into Little Bears. A family meeting, shared routines and potentially longer settling arrangements support the move into care. Ask to see how the play and sleep spaces would work for your baby's routine.

Countryside suits families seeking flexible attendance hours, child-led play and substantial outdoor exploration. Its allotment, orchard and natural garden make growing and investigating part of the day; Little Bears combines a younger children's base with a separate sleep room.

The May 2024 Good judgement sits alongside a specific vocabulary improvement point. The permanent catering choice also deserves thought: families must weigh the voluntary charge against preparing food that meets the packed-meal restrictions.