Hatton Children's Nursery

Farm animals, a private woodland and a vegetable garden give Hatton Children's Nursery a recognisable character. Daily access to Hatton Adventure World brings animal encounters, sensory play and soft play into the nursery offer, rather than reserving them for occasional trips. For parents who want countryside experiences to form part of their child's ordinary week, this is the central attraction.

At Hatton Adventure Farm in Warwick, the nursery accepts children from one month to five years, with Baby Room, Toddler Room and Pre-School Room provision. Ofsted rated it Good on 21 June 2023. That judgement provides a dated assessment of the education and care; the outdoor spaces, room arrangements and settling programme explain more directly what families are choosing now.

Attendance can combine full days or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, with separately charged early starts. The practical distinction is useful: children can take part in the farm-based day through different booking patterns, while parents can match attendance to their working arrangements.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Room caters for children up to 24 months, combining low-level resources and areas for different stages of mobility with a partitioned sleeping space containing cots. Babies can reach toys themselves as they become more mobile, while sleep has a defined place within the room. Air conditioning is another concrete feature of the indoor environment.

For two-year-olds, Toddler Room has a balcony opening directly from the room, alongside spaces for construction, imaginative play and exploring materials; Pre-School Room, for ages three to five, combines similar outdoor access with early reading, writing, number work and growing independence. The similar layouts help make a room move less of a change in surroundings. Children are not starting again with an entirely unfamiliar arrangement.

Toddler staffing is one adult to four children, better than the legal minimum of one to five for this age. That is a meaningful staffing difference for two-year-olds. It remains a ratio, rather than a promise about the number of children in a group, and should be read separately from the physical size of the room.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the statutory foundation: play and everyday interaction develop children's language, movement and relationships, alongside later learning in literacy, mathematics and understanding the world. Hatton uses its farm setting to give those areas tangible content. Growing vegetables and meeting animals give children things to investigate and talk about, rather than relying entirely on indoor resources.

Birth to 5 Matters is embedded as a framework for children's learning and development across the areas of learning. Each child's keyworker maintains a personal learning journey, updating it every session. That connects the broad curriculum with the individual child: parents receive an account of development, while planning takes account of children's interests and needs.

The day has a recognisable rhythm, with stories, rhymes and group conversation during circle time, followed by snacks, outdoor activity and a mixture of adult-led and child-chosen play. The timetable allows changes when an unexpected opportunity arises, such as snow. Structure and responsiveness sit together here, giving children familiar routines while leaving room for a different kind of day.

In June 2023, learning activities included counting small objects with tweezers and shaping play dough into insects. These linked mathematical language and hand control to practical play. The same visit identified a teaching limitation: adults needed to use more questions that invited children to explain ideas and think further, rather than stopping at identifying what they could see.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Forest Activity Programme adds hands-on woodland learning, including shelter building, sensory exploration and making things from natural materials. The private woodland beside the nursery is used daily, while led Forest School sessions run throughout the week. Activities respond to the season, weather and children's interests, so outdoor learning has a changing subject matter as well as a regular place in the week.

A bug hotel and mud kitchen provide smaller-scale ways to explore that environment. Children can choose woodland exploration or join planned adult-led activities, including den building and creating feeders for wildlife. The combination matters: there are opportunities to follow an interest independently and opportunities to learn a practical task with adult guidance.

Hatton Adventure World adds daily access to sensory and soft play spaces, while the nursery's growing activities include planting and harvesting produce. Animal experiences encompass chickens, guinea pigs and reptiles. These are concrete additions to the day, with repeated opportunities to connect care, food and the natural world.

The annual nursery plan also includes Sports Day and Pre-School Graduation Day, bringing organised occasions into the year alongside everyday play. Enrolled children receive a complimentary annual Hatton Adventure World membership, extending the connection with the neighbouring attraction beyond nursery attendance. Families who already enjoy farm visits may find that benefit useful in its own right.

Relationships and Communication

Free settling sessions build gradually during the two weeks before a child's start date, on the days they are booked to attend. The amount of settling can change with the child. A dedicated parent room lets parents remain nearby during this period, which gives separation a more gradual shape than an immediate move to the full booked day.

Every child has a keyworker who observes development, plans learning and shares information with parents. Daily feedback for babies and younger children includes sleep, eating and nappy changes, as well as activities. A familiar nominated colleague gives this feedback when the usual key person is away, helping preserve continuity in the information families receive.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its June 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged that children with SEND received effective support, with needs recognised promptly and staff working with parents. Those are inspection-time findings. Current arrangements include designated safeguarding roles and staff training in safeguarding and first aid, rather than those roles alone providing a judgement about effectiveness.

Sleep follows babies' usual patterns, with staff present in the sleeping area while children rest; toddlers who need a nap can use day beds in a temporary rest area. Potty training is agreed with parents and follows the home routine as closely as possible. These arrangements make everyday care more individual than a single routine imposed on every child.

In June 2023, staff did not offer younger children cutlery choices to help them practise feeding themselves. Improving mealtime independence was therefore an explicit priority, alongside extending children's thinking through questioning. For parents of babies and toddlers, this is a useful issue to explore alongside the current sleep and toileting arrangements.

Main meals are freshly cooked in Hatton's restaurant kitchens, with a menu that changes every three weeks. The allergy policy involves working with families on current medical and dietary information and creating an allergy action plan, so dietary needs require an individual conversation rather than a general assumption about the menu.

Sessions and Attendance

Full days run from 8am to 6pm, morning sessions from 8am to 1pm and afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm. A minimum of twice-weekly attendance applies through full days or morning sessions. Early starts begin at 7.30am, cost extra and must be booked regularly, making them a planned extension rather than an informal earlier arrival.

The nursery operates Monday to Friday for 51 weeks each year, closing on bank holidays and for the week between Christmas and New Year. Year-round attendance is offered; term-time-only bookings depend on the nursery agreeing the requested placement. Fees are based on attendance across the year, and the Christmas closure is not charged; ordinary absences and family holidays still attract fees.

Getting There

The address is Hatton Adventure Farm, Hatton, Warwick, CV35 8XA, with the nursery approached via Dark Lane and signs for Hatton Country World. It is just off the A46 and close to the M40, making the rural setting relevant to the daily journey as well as the child's experiences.

Funding and Paid Extras

Early Education Funding is accepted for eligible children, with 15 hours and a further extended 15 hours described, and funding of up to 30 hours offered. Funded hours can be used over school terms or stretched across the year. Private childcare is also offered, so the total bill depends on attendance and the funded portion of it.

Private session fees include meals, snacks, drinks, nappies and wipes. For funded attendance, meals and consumables are charged separately from free hours; the additional charge structure also covers seasonal celebrations, the I Connect and Parent zone app, and farm or woodland activities. This distinction matters when comparing the cost of the same attendance pattern across providers.

A registration charge is payable after the signed form is returned, and early starts have their own additional charge. Current prices should come in the nursery's written quotation, with the funded-hours calculation and extras shown separately. The fees page sets out the structure.

• Twice-weekly commitment. The minimum attendance rule specifies full days or morning sessions. Before registering, discuss how your intended pattern fits that rule, especially if afternoons are your preference.
• Younger children's independence. June 2023 improvement priorities included self-feeding opportunities and questions that extend thinking. During a tour, ask how practitioners now support these skills in Baby Room and Toddler Room.
• Funded-hours extras. Meals and consumables sit outside free hours, alongside the other listed additions. Request a written breakdown for your exact booking pattern so that the funded allocation and remaining charges are clear.
• Individual dietary arrangements. The nursery works with parents on allergy action plans. Allergy-affected families should confirm current preparation, substitutions and handling arrangements before their child starts.

Hatton suits families seeking regular woodland, animal and growing experiences, whether they need full days, mornings or afternoons. The attraction is specific and substantial: a private woodland beside the nursery, daily farm access and indoor sensory and soft play give children several different environments for play.

Free settling sessions and a nearby parent room add practical value for a first nursery start. The balance for parents is between that countryside offer, the twice-weekly booking commitment and the extra costs attached to funded attendance. The Good judgement from 2023 is a useful reference point, with the younger-child independence and questioning priorities remaining sensible subjects for a visit.