The Old Station Nursery Filkins

A village school house, a garden and woodland exploration give Filkins its character. The Old Station Nursery Filkins operates at The Old School in Filkins, near Lechlade, with capacity for 30 children aged 3 to 60 months. Its outdoor learning has a concrete purpose: children explore living things and practise the words to describe them.

At its 1 July 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with learning shaped around children's interests and existing skills. The strongest examples were ordinary play developed thoughtfully: building roads became a pretend car wash, while a story led to a garden search. These are useful signs of how staff turned children's enthusiasm into something to investigate.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, care and development: in everyday terms, play provides opportunities to develop language, movement, relationships and early understanding of numbers. It is the foundation for nursery education, rather than an extra programme.

In July 2024, younger children explored objects with different textures, handling materials and practising coordination. Older children made roads for toy cars before staff extended the idea into an outdoor car wash, where children took turns on wheeled toys. An interest in vehicles became a shared game with movement and turn-taking built into it.

Counting was woven into construction. During July 2024, children counted their tower blocks, compared objects by size and explored number sequences through games. Shape vocabulary also formed part of play. This gave mathematical language a practical use rather than keeping it separate from children's activities.

Books prompted participation, too. In July 2024, a reading of The Gruffalo included pauses for children to predict the story, followed by a search for its characters in the garden. Books were within children's reach, and songs and rhyme props gave younger children another way to join in. The emphasis was on children responding, choosing and contributing.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School adds practical exploration of nature to the nursery day. A July 2025 environment hunt took children into the garden and woodland areas with a wildlife search list, looking for creatures including snails and woodlice. Naming their discoveries connected outdoor exploration with vocabulary practice. Some children also handled the creatures, bringing care for living things into the activity.

The outdoor space was used for more than exercise. In July 2024, children worked together to identify risks in the forest-school area, practising how to recognise hazards themselves. That example gives families a useful picture of learning about safety through participation.

Relationships mattered in the July 2024 daily routines. Children had close connections with their key person, and settling arrangements gathered information about their interests and care needs. For a family starting nursery, that combination links familiar adult support with knowledge of the individual child.

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted noted positive communication with families and support sought from outside professionals, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is a concrete example of involving others when children needed additional help.

During July 2024, staff used consistent responses to behaviour and recognised children's achievements. At lunchtime, adults sat with children, making eating a social occasion as well as a care routine. Snacks and light meals were provided during that period, alongside conversations about healthy choices and opportunities to be active outdoors.

Staff development was the point needing attention. In July 2024, leaders needed to broaden professional learning and evaluate more carefully how training affected children's education. Required training was taking place, including safeguarding, food hygiene and paediatric first aid; the improvement concerned what staff learned beyond those essentials and how that learning changed practice.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Old School, Filkins, Lechlade, GL7 3JJ. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas. That opening window is useful for families fitting childcare around a working day.

Funding and Paid Extras

In July 2024, the nursery received early education funding for children aged two, three and four. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Families comparing funded and privately paid attendance should consider the complete charge structure alongside the hours they need.

• Training beyond the essentials. July 2024 brought a specific improvement point about wider staff development and its effect on education. On a visit, ask for an example of training that has changed an activity or interaction with children.
• Outdoor learning in practice. The July 2025 Forest School hunt used both garden and woodland areas. Ask how those spaces feature in the routine for your child's age and how children participate in recognising hazards.
• The complete childcare cost. Funding supported early education in July 2024. Ask how funded hours fit your intended attendance and what the written quotation includes for meals and non-food consumables.

Filkins suits families who value nature exploration and learning built from children's interests, with weekday opening hours that can accommodate a working day. The garden story hunt, vehicle play and Forest School exploration give that character substance. The July 2024 training improvement remains a useful discussion point when weighing the nursery's educational practice.