Ivy House Nursery Wellington Lane

A single-storey building with a garden wrapping around it gives Ivy House Nursery Wellington Lane a clear physical character: light-filled indoor spaces, muted colours and regular opportunities to play outside. This Farnham nursery takes children from 3 months to 5 years and has 47 places in total. Its appeal starts with the setting itself, rather than a long list of branded activities.

At its July 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that the special educational needs coordinator worked effectively with families and the local authority. That assessment needs to be read alongside later, repeated entrance-security concerns, including the February 2026 findings discussed below.

Full-day and half-day attendance are both offered. The choice matters for families fitting childcare around different working patterns, although the minimum booking terms need careful attention.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, with play helping children build language, physical skills and independence. Alongside that framework, Wellington Lane uses elements of the group-wide The Curiosity Approach, an approach centred on children's curiosity and exploration. Here, resources are placed where children can investigate them at their own height, and materials are refreshed to sustain their interest.

In July 2024, babies explored water and bubbles while adults stayed nearby, talking with them and offering reassurance. Children's construction play included demonstrations of different ways to use materials, giving them techniques they could then try independently. These examples show learning happening through handling, experimenting and conversation.

Activity planning was also the main weakness identified in July 2024. Some tasks demanded more than the participating children could manage, and their attention drifted before the intended learning took place. Management needed to watch staff practice more closely and identify who required help with planning. For parents, that makes age-appropriate challenge a more useful point of discussion than the sheer number of activities on offer.

Outdoor and Community Life

The wraparound garden gives outdoor play a regular place in the nursery day. In July 2024, raised planting beds were used for growing vegetables and flowers, connecting hands-on activity with learning about how plants develop. A shaded garden space also supported shared stories.

Other outdoor experiences that July included balancing on wooden planks, splashing in an outdoor pool and imaginative play using a camouflage den. These were different uses of the same outdoor setting: movement, sensory exploration and imaginative play. They are dated examples of how the garden was used, rather than a promise of a fixed activity timetable.

Close relationships were visible in the July 2024 practice examples. Adults comforted babies while they explored and built bonds with their key children. Parents shared babies' routines from home, which staff followed in their care. That continuity is especially relevant when a baby is adapting to time away from familiar adults.

Communication supported learning as well as comfort. In July 2024, adults read with children, paused for familiar parts of stories and introduced vocabulary through interaction. Children also practised everyday independence through dressing, serving food and helping to clear resources away. These small responsibilities made preparation for future learning part of ordinary daily life.

Behaviour support that July combined clear expectations with explanations about including others. Sharing resources and thanking children for their help gave these social lessons practical expression.

Ofsted's April 2025 and February 2026 regulatory outcomes recorded action following failures involving entrance security; the February outcome also identified inaccurate children's records and insufficient checking, with corrections and relevant professionals informed. The recurrence matters even though action was taken: families should explore how security procedures and record checks are maintained in everyday practice.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 2-4 Wellington Lane, Farnham, Surrey GU9 9BA. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, with bank holiday and Christmas closures; fees and stretched funding are organised across 51 weeks, including a Christmas closure lasting one week.

Full days and half days are booking options, including ad hoc versions of both. Minimum attendance terms apply.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both 15 and 30 hours funded childcare are offered, stretched across 51 weeks. Eligibility conditions and minimum attendance requirements apply.

The funding terms describe a minimum of two full days for 15 hours and three full days for 30 hours, while another part of the terms gives half-day alternatives.

There are no additional charges on funded days when the minimum session requirements are met. Nappies and wipes are included in fees, while families supply formula, labelled and within date; the funded-day terms also state that consumables carry no extra charge.

Fees are payable monthly in advance, with direct debit and Tax-Free Childcare among the payment methods. A non-refundable registration charge and a deposit form part of joining. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The Wellington Lane fees information sets out the attendance and funding structure.

• Repeated entrance-security failures. The April 2025 and February 2026 outcomes both involved keeping the premises secure. At a visit, ask how staff check both entrances and how managers verify that procedures are followed.
• Minimum attendance. The terms give different half-day minimums, including three and four half days, alongside different funded-session alternatives. Obtain a written booking pattern that specifies which minimum applies to your child's arrangement.
• Deposit treatment. One set of terms describes the deposit as credited against the final month's fees when notice conditions are met; another calls it non-refundable. Agree the cancellation and notice conditions in writing before paying.
• Planning for your child. In July 2024, some activities were too demanding for the children taking part. During a visit, ask how practitioners adapt activities and how managers support staff whose planning needs improvement.

Wellington Lane suits families seeking either full-day attendance or shorter half-day sessions in a single-storey setting with regular garden access. Its strongest practical features are the open indoor spaces, outdoor provision and an attendance offer that includes stretched funding.

The July 2024 Good judgement provides a useful assessment of education and care at that time. Repeated entrance-security failures require equal weight in the decision, alongside the need for clear written attendance and deposit terms. For families choosing this nursery, those are concrete matters to resolve before the building's appeal becomes the deciding factor.