Little Giants Nursery

Woodland play, a vegetable garden and a daily new word give Little Giants Nursery its character. Based at Carterton Community College, this Carterton setting combines children’s own play choices with organised group activities, so a day can move from messy exploration to stories, conversation and movement.

At its 13 March 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, judged its education Good and found safeguarding effective. The practical strengths are more specific than the grade: a key-person buddy system, free settling sessions with a parent and learning that extends into the woodland and mud kitchen. Relationships have a clear structure here.

There is capacity for 70 children, with a current age range of 24 to 60 months; the term-time nursery offer is aimed at children aged two to four. Morning and all-day sessions sit alongside wraparound hours. That gives families different ways to use the same setting, rather than a single attendance pattern.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the baseline for learning and development: children build language, physical skills and social understanding through play, alongside early reading, mathematics and creative experiences. Little Giants combines activities chosen by children with those led by adults. Daily arts and crafts, messy sensory play and woodland exploration give that framework a concrete shape.

Language has a regular place in the routine. Group time introduces a new word each day and includes Makaton sign language practice, while children take turns speaking and listening to their friends. NELI speech and language activities also feature in group sessions. For a parent, the useful distinction is that communication is addressed through both everyday conversation and planned activities.

Stories, yoga, music and movement also appear in group time, alongside activities exploring the sounds in words. These shared sessions break up longer periods of freely chosen play. Children can pursue an interest, then practise joining a group and responding to other people’s ideas.

In March 2024, mathematical play included constructing animal enclosures and experimenting with spaghetti lengths. Books were another substantial part of the day, with familiar stories used in organised group reading. Those examples show how early learning could grow out of objects and experiences children were already interested in, rather than relying only on adult instruction.

Outdoor and Community Life

The small and large forest areas are physical features of the nursery’s learning environment. Woodland activities sit alongside the mud kitchen and vegetable garden, giving children different ways to investigate nature and work with messy materials. Wellies belong in the nursery bag. This is an outdoor offer that affects what children wear and how they spend their time.

In March 2024, children tackled obstacle courses and used ropes on climbing equipment. Indoors, miniature animals and natural materials supported exploration in a jungle-themed area, while dough, paint, water and mud gave children opportunities to experiment. The activities combined movement, imaginative play and sensory experience.

Local visits into town and to the library, together with farm and animal experiences, form part of the funded-hours activities charge. The same package includes the Summer Party and Christmas Party, with a gift and Santa visit at the latter. These extend the offer beyond the daily routine, although the woodland and garden remain the more immediate reasons an outdoors-minded child might enjoy the setting.

Relationships and Communication

Squirrels, Hedgehogs and Foxes are the main groups, identified by yellow, blue and red respectively. They are key-person groups, rather than published age-banded rooms. Each main group contains smaller key groups, so the organisation centres on the adults who know each child and family.

A key person follows a child’s interests and development and provides a main contact for parents. The arrangement can change if a child forms a stronger connection with another practitioner. A buddy system provides another familiar adult when the key person is away, which matters during settling and on days when the usual contact is absent.

Settling is adapted to the child. Short sessions with a parent or carer are free, and provide time to build a relationship with the key person as well as complete the necessary forms. That makes the transition a shared process, with the pace shaped around the child’s response.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Parents work with the key person, the Special Educational Needs Coordinator and other professionals where needed to create an individual support plan. The child’s and family’s views are included in that planning. The mechanism is useful: support has named roles and a plan around which adults can coordinate, rather than resting on a general promise of inclusion.

All staff undergo safeguarding and paediatric first aid training and hold enhanced DBS checks. The manager and deputy manager hold safeguarding lead roles, and the nursery works with the Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub and Locality and Community Support Service when concerns require advice or wider support. These are the arrangements behind the care offer; the dated safeguarding judgement appears above.

Emotional support deserves attention. In March 2024, adults did not consistently help children handle frustration, and the improvement priorities included clearer support for feelings and consistent boundaries. Staff supervision also needed a sharper emphasis on performance, with better assessment of the effect of mentoring and changes to practice. These were specific development points beneath the overall Good judgement.

Preparation for school is practical as well as educational. Children practise serving snacks and managing belongings, while discussions about healthy eating, toothbrushing and the dentist form part of the routine. Once school places have been decided, key workers communicate with the new teacher, teacher visits and settling sessions are arranged, and a transition report passes on the child’s development.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Carterton Community College, Upavon Way, Carterton, OX18 1BU. Nursery provision for children aged two to four runs during term time, with opening hours of 8am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. A separate holiday club serves children aged two to twelve during school holidays, with activities including baking, games, arts and crafts and woodland play.

Morning Sessions run from 9am to noon, Monday to Friday. All day Sessions run from 9am to 3pm on the same days, with wraparound hours from 8am to 9am and 3pm to 5.30pm. The core day therefore finishes before the nursery’s closing time; families using the later part of the opening window need the wraparound arrangement.

The early part of the day is a free-play session with staff and nursery resources. Children staying later also have free-play periods around the evening food break. This gives the additional hours their own routine, rather than simply extending the organised group sessions.

Bank holidays and a week over Christmas and New Year are closure periods. Fees remain payable for absence through illness or a family holiday, while nursery closures are not charged. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01993 623 025.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and additional paid hours are offered. Working Families Funding provides up to 30 hours a week for families who qualify; eligible children can receive up to 15 hours through 2-Year-Old Funding, and 3 & 4-Year-Old Funding provides 15 hours, with qualifying working families able to claim up to 30. Funding is applied to the invoice.

Children claiming funded hours have a separate weekly Consumables & Activities Charge. It covers snacks, outdoor clothing and sun cream, a book bag, digital resources and experiences such as outings and celebrations. Tapestry is the online learning journal included in that package, together with a printed copy of the child’s journal. Additional private hours are charged separately; current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Food has a split arrangement: families supply packed lunches and food for the evening meal, while nursery snacks are covered by the funded-hours charge. The nursery has a nut-free policy, including a restriction on chocolate spread in sandwiches.

Non-food supplies are also split. Outdoor items such as waterproofs, hats, gloves and sun cream are covered by the funded-hours package, while families bring nappies, wipes and nappy bags when needed. Spare clothes and wellies are part of the daily kit, making preparation for messy and outdoor play a regular family task.

• Support with frustration. March 2024 improvement priorities included helping children manage feelings, consistent boundaries and assessing the effect of staff mentoring. On a visit, ask how adults respond when a child becomes upset and how those responses are reviewed.
• The core day and school holidays. The all-day session ends at 3pm, with later care provided through wraparound hours; term-time nursery and the holiday club are separate arrangements. Discuss how those patterns fit the days your family needs.
• Funded-hours extras and daily kit. The weekly package covers snacks, outdoor supplies and activities, while lunches and personal changing supplies come from home. Obtain a written quotation that separates funded hours, additional hours and the package charge.
• Packed lunches and allergies. The nut-free policy extends to chocolate spread, and families provide lunch and evening food. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice and discuss their child’s requirements before starting.

Little Giants suits families seeking morning sessions or a 9am-to-3pm nursery day, with wraparound care where needed. Its appeal lies in the combination of woodland and messy play, regular language activities and a key-person structure that includes a buddy and a willingness to change the assigned adult when a stronger bond develops.

The March 2024 Good judgement supports that picture, while the priorities around emotional support and staff supervision give families concrete points to explore. For children who enjoy nature, practical independence and a mixture of freely chosen play and group activities, this is a setting with a recognisable daily rhythm.