Rocking Horse Nursery

Newbury Racecourse gives Rocking Horse Nursery a recognisable setting. Its purpose-built environment emphasises natural and authentic resources, while the July 2024 examples of baking, garden exploration and community visits give parents a concrete picture of children's experiences.

The July 2024 overall judgement was Outstanding, with safeguarding effective. The current age range is three months to five years. Full-day attendance and a shorter term-time funded pattern serve different family routines, rather than requiring everyone to use the same length of day.

Children aged three months to five years span very different stages of development. The July 2024 activities illustrated that breadth: babies responded to songs with gestures, while older children handled ingredients and made choices together. The practical value lies in seeing what children actually do, from joining a familiar song to taking responsibility for a shared decision.

In July 2024, kindness was part of the daily teaching. Adults demonstrated consideration for others, and children helped friends, put toys away and responded to instructions. These small responsibilities made cooperation something children practised during the day. Staff also paid attention to children's contributions, following through on decisions made with them.

Behind those experiences, the July 2024 leadership arrangements included support for staff workload and wellbeing, recognition of their work and clear communication about responsibilities. Planning combined opportunities to revisit familiar skills with fresh challenges. For parents, those details connect the activities to the adults organising them: the day involved both preparation by staff and room for children to contribute their own ideas.

Rooms and Ages

Many Clouds and Finian's Rainbow are the baby rooms, with an approximate six-week to 20-month age band; the current accepted age range starts at three months. Celestials Gold and Rocky Creek have an approximate band of 18 months to 2.5 years.

Frankel covers 2.5 to 3.5 years, with an emphasis on learning through play. Tidal Bay and Paisley Park cover 3.5 years to school age, when the emphasis turns to preparing children for the transition to school.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play, conversation and practical experiences help children build skills. In July 2024, staff planned activities around individual development, returning to skills children needed to practise while adding challenge as they became ready. Language received close attention, with adults modelling words and extending children's vocabulary.

Baking supplied a concrete example. During that July 2024 visit, children measured ingredients and controlled how they poured flour, bringing practical mathematics together with coordination. Babies joined songs through actions and clapping. These are accessible ways into learning for children at different stages, rather than a single activity pitched at everyone.

Choice also had a practical role in July 2024. After a mobile farm visit, children voted for their preferred animal, using a familiar experience to explore how a decision could be made together. Staff listened to children's ideas and acted on agreed choices. That gave children a reason to speak, listen and consider what others wanted.

Outdoor and Community Life

In July 2024, garden exploration included binoculars and bamboo, with children searching for imagined treasure and fairies. Bamboo and binoculars gave children concrete starting points for exploration and make-believe. Indoors, the nursery also has a library and sensory room, giving its environment more than an age-room structure alone.

Experiences beyond nursery were part of the July 2024 day-to-day offer. Children bought gardening supplies in a shop and used money to pay; autumn outings included a local pumpkin patch. Visits to a care home took place on alternate weeks. The combination brought everyday transactions, seasonal experiences and contact with older generations into children's understanding of the world.

Relationships had tangible routines in July 2024. Children used small figures representing themselves and their key person to mark their presence, linking a daily task to a familiar adult. Staff also helped older children talk through disagreements and work towards a solution, while younger babies were learning to soothe themselves safely.

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that the special educational needs coordinator planned support skilfully, worked promptly with parents and brought other professionals into children's support. For children preparing for school, the coordinator visited the next setting and discussed their development, wellbeing and needs with teachers. This was practical transition work: information travelled with the child, rather than school preparation ending at the nursery door.

The current staff arrangements include first-aid training across the team and training in safeguarding and food safety. Work-based training and further learning are supported too. These arrangements matter to the routines of care, but the dated inspection judgement remains the basis for assessing safeguarding effectiveness.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Rocking Horse Nursery, Newbury Racecourse, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 7NZ. Core hours run from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 52 weeks, with closure on bank holidays. Breakfast Club adds the period from 7.30am to 8am for families needing an earlier start.

Full days run from 8am to 6pm. A full-time monthly pattern consists of five full days each week; that booking includes Breakfast Club at no additional charge. Funded attendance across the full year can run up to 8am to 6pm, while fully funded term-time sessions run from 9am to 4.30pm. The shorter pattern has a separate waiting list and follows West Berkshire term dates.

Six weeks' notice is required for changes families want to make to attendance. Absences remain chargeable, and bank holidays are charged at the normal nursery rate. Families using private sessions pay a non-refundable registration charge once those sessions have been agreed and confirmed. These terms affect the cost of changing a routine, as well as the initial booking.

Enquiries can be made through the nursery's contact form, by telephone on 01635 48969 or by email at info@rockinghorsenewbury.co.uk. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page brings together its funding and charge information.

Getting There

For nursery journeys by car, use RG14 7NZ and approach through Racecourse Road; Hambridge Road is restricted to registered users for this route. Parking on site is free for nursery collections and drop-offs, so families should follow the nursery directions rather than the racecourse's event instructions.

Funding and Paid Extras

Working family funded childcare, Universal Funding and supported two-year-old funding are accepted. Eligible working families can use up to 30 funded hours over 38 weeks, with the nursery stretching funding across the year or offering a term-time arrangement. Additional private days are not a condition of taking funded hours.

A Parent Declaration is required for the nursery to claim funding. Working-family eligibility must be reconfirmed every three months, and the eligibility code must be obtained before the relevant term begins. Stretching changes how funded hours are distributed through the year; it does not remove the eligibility conditions.

Meals and snacks are included in the private full-day fee; private fees have no additional package charges. For stretched funded attendance, food and enhanced consumables are included for under-twos and two-year-olds, while children aged three to five have separately charged packages that families can opt into.

For fully funded term-time attendance, food and enhanced-care packages are optional, booked by term and paid monthly in advance; families choosing to provide lunch must follow the packed-lunch policy. Those packages are included for children using supported two-year-old funding, so the charge structure depends on both the funding route and the child's age.

• Key-person relationships. In July 2024, children used figures of themselves and their key person as part of a daily routine. At a visit, ask how that relationship develops during settling and how familiar care is maintained when the key person is away.
• Term-time attendance. The fully funded 9am to 4.30pm pattern follows West Berkshire term dates and has its own waiting list. This is a different commitment from year-round full days, so choose the pattern against your family's calendar before joining.
• Funding packages. Food and enhanced consumables have different arrangements for stretched funding and fully funded term-time attendance. Request a written quotation for your child's age and funding route, including the choice to opt out where it applies.
• Changing bookings. Attendance changes require six weeks' notice, and absences remain chargeable. Build that lead time into decisions about work patterns or reducing days.

Rocking Horse suits families seeking either year-round full days, with an early Breakfast Club option, or shorter funded attendance during term time. Its racecourse identity is memorable, but the July 2024 examples of purposeful play, community contact and individual support are more useful reasons to consider it. The Outstanding judgement gives those observations weight. The main practical decision is which attendance and funding arrangement fits: the hours, calendar and package charges differ enough to deserve careful attention before booking.