Atelier Nursery Chippenham

An indoor beach, an artist-led Studio and a garden bedroom give Atelier Nursery Chippenham an unusually tangible character. Play here can involve construction, clay, growing vegetables or finding a quiet place to rest. The learning spaces serve different purposes, while children have freedom to explore their interests rather than spending the whole day in an age-defined room.

At its 19 June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found that its teaching supported rapid progress, with children ready for their next stage of learning. That judgement has concrete substance beneath it: practical projects, carefully developed conversation and close relationships with families feature throughout the account of daily life.

The nursery accepts children from four months to five years at United Reformed Church, St Mary Street, Chippenham, SN15 3JW. Full days and morning or afternoon sessions accommodate different working patterns, subject to a minimum booking of three sessions each week.

Rooms and Ages

Children can revisit activities across the learning spaces, while younger children also have areas for quiet play and rest.

Baby Nest combines sensory exploration through treasure baskets, mirrors and lights with a linked indoor sleep room, giving the youngest babies somewhere to withdraw from busier activity. The Explorers brings construction, imaginative play and malleable materials within younger children's reach, with lower resources and soft places for resting. The Discovery Room pairs an indoor beach with investigations such as watching tadpoles develop, making pouring, mixing and observation part of practical learning.

The Piazza uses maple blocks for design and construction, giving children materials with which to turn an idea into something they can build. The Studio has a Resident Artist and supports creative projects and investigations, extending art beyond a finished picture. The Garden combines vegetable growing, a stage, a story hut and space for bikes with an outdoor garden bedroom, so movement, imagination and rest each have a place.

Learning and Activities

The nursery follows the early years foundation stage, the framework for children's learning, development and care: play and everyday experiences help children develop communication, physical skills and relationships alongside their wider learning. Atelier's group-wide Reggio inspired approach adds an emphasis on creativity. At this branch, the artist-led Studio and opportunities to investigate materials give that emphasis a concrete form.

Staff extend children's interests through added experiences. The Discovery Room's sand and tadpoles give questions about quantities and change a practical starting point.

In June 2025, weighing flour for fruit bread supported mathematics, while using an electric sewing machine involved learning needle safety. Making things connected quantities, processes and care with equipment.

In June 2025, explanations about yeast extended vocabulary, questions allowed thinking time, and signing helped younger children express themselves. Language learning connected directly to practical experiences.

Outdoor and Community Life

Growing and harvesting vegetables adds practical investigation to outdoor play. The stage and story hut support imaginative interests, while bikes occupy the lower garden.

In June 2025, toddlers were tending fruit and vegetables as part of the eco schools award, linking their growing activities with learning about the surrounding world. At that time, outings included theatres, art museums and nearby churches, and families took part in a camping festival. Visitors brought different cultural experiences into the nursery, including a celebration of Holi. These were inspection-time examples of learning extending beyond the building, rather than a fixed weekly trip schedule.

Relationships and Communication

The Local Offer provides for a key person who becomes the family's principal contact and plans the child's learning opportunities. Settling begins with time together: parents stay with their child and agree with the key person when to hand over care gradually. A home visit is offered, creating an opportunity to share routines and important information in familiar surroundings.

Transition bags and boxes use familiar books, toys, photographs and objects to connect home with nursery. Other professionals can contribute to transition planning, with training arranged before a child starts where needed.

In June 2025, staff used parents' knowledge of their child's interests when planning activities. Communication included progress updates, reports and workshops, while connection days allowed parents to join their child's play. That combination matters: parents could receive an account of learning and also participate in it, rather than relying solely on a brief conversation about the day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found exceptional support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), involving parents and other professionals, and judged safeguarding arrangements effective. Those are dated findings about practice and protection, rather than assurances inferred from the nursery's approach to play.

The Local Offer sets out individual planning, visual timetables where appropriate and liaison through a SENCO with outside professionals. Parents contribute to assessments and discussions about the next steps. For families seeking support, the important mechanism is that observations lead to shared planning, with advice from other professionals informing what happens in the nursery.

Sleep has dedicated space indoors and outdoors: Baby Nest's linked sleep room and the garden bedroom make rest part of the nursery's design.

During June 2025, snack times also supported social learning: children served food, practised taking turns and talked together in small groups. Everyday health discussions included sun protection and the risks of excessive heat. Care routines therefore supplied opportunities to practise independence as well as meet immediate needs.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. A full day runs from 8am to 6pm; morning sessions run from 8am to 12.30pm, and afternoons from 1.30pm to 6pm. A purchased lunch session, from 12.30pm to 1.30pm, can extend a half day.

Bookings require at least three sessions per week. This is a material commitment for families considering occasional childcare: the choice of shorter sessions does not remove the weekly minimum. Attendance is across the year, with bank holidays and a week at Christmas excluded; term-time-only places are not offered.

Fees remain payable during illness and holidays. Payment is monthly in advance, due within seven days of the invoice; a non-refundable registration charge applies. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Getting There

The address is United Reformed Church, St Mary Street, Chippenham, SN15 3JW, with the nursery's contact address identifying Emery Lane. Enquiries can be made on 01249 448 600 or through chippenham.admin@ateliernursery.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Children can use 15 hours of Government funded early years education from the term after their third birthday; eligible children may also qualify for working parents funding (up to 30 hours). Funding is stretched across the year. The nursery supplies a declaration form for the child's details and the hours to be claimed, so entitlement and the family's chosen attendance remain separate parts of the arrangement.

For private sessions, full days include all meals, mornings include café snacks and afternoons include light tea. Funded attendance has a separately invoiced voluntary charge covering food, activities and consumables.

Parents supply nappies, formula milk, wipes, cotton wool and cream outside the session fee, alongside the voluntary funded-hours charge. The activities element of that charge relates specifically to early years funding.

• Three-session commitment. Both shorter sessions and full days are offered, but bookings must cover at least three sessions each week. Discuss how that pattern would work for your child during a visit.
• Year-round funding. Entitlement is stretched, and there are no term-time-only places. Families matching childcare to school terms need to weigh that attendance model carefully.
• Young babies and open learning spaces. Baby Nest offers sensory resources and a linked sleep room within a nursery designed for movement between spaces. Ask how staff balance your baby's rest and exploration during the day.
• The complete funded arrangement. Food, activities and consumables attract a voluntary funded-hours charge, while parents also supply specified personal-care items. Request a written quotation that separates these elements from additional private hours.

Atelier suits families seeking creative, exploratory childcare, whether they need full days or morning and afternoon sessions. The indoor beach, artist-led Studio and varied garden give that preference practical substance, while the June 2025 Outstanding judgement provides a strong inspection position. The decision turns on fit as well as quality: families need to be comfortable with free movement between learning spaces, a three-session weekly commitment and year-round attendance. For those who are, this is a nursery with a clear character and purposeful things for children to do.