Little Willows Day Nursery, Corsham

An indoor sandpit, a Sensory Snug with an illuminated ceiling, and garden access for toddlers give Little Willows Day Nursery, Corsham a clear identity: practical independence sits alongside sensory exploration. The Stokes Road setting cares for children from 3 months to 5 years, with babies, toddlers and preschool children moving through named areas suited to their stage.

At its December 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines a Strong standard, with achievement, welfare and wellbeing, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance at the Expected standard; safeguarding standards were met.

Care runs across 51 weeks, with morning, afternoon, full-day and school-day bookings. The physical arrangement is open plan, so the named groups are best understood alongside the shared spaces rather than as a collection of enclosed classrooms.

Rooms and Ages

Caterpillars, for 4 to 16 months, and Bumblebees, for 16 to 24 months, share an emphasis on sensory discovery through flour play, painting, mirrors and baskets containing wooden and metal objects, with home routines shaping care for the youngest children. These experiences give babies materials to touch and investigate.

Ladybirds, for children aged 2 to 3 years, combines direct garden access with practice in handwashing, dressing, pouring drinks and spreading butter, supported by a bathroom with small toilets, potties, sinks and a changing station. Independence is made concrete. Children can practise the same everyday tasks that families are working on at home.

Butterflies, for ages 3 to 5 years, follows children's interests through shop play and searching for mini beasts, while school preparation includes letter of the week activities, independent dressing and opportunities to try school uniforms. The emphasis moves towards managing familiar tasks and understanding what the next setting will involve.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: children's play builds language, physical skills, relationships, early literacy and mathematical understanding. Here, children's interests guide activities in Butterflies, so an idea that catches their attention can become the starting point for learning.

In December 2025, younger children threaded wooden blocks while adults introduced words about colour, shape and size. Older children identified shapes including rhombuses and parallelograms, and counting rhymes brought number language into shared activities. Mathematics was woven into handling objects and talking about them, rather than confined to a separate exercise.

Drawing, filling containers and lifting cotton wool with tweezers also featured in December 2025. These gave children different ways to exercise their hands, alongside books, songs and attempts by older children to write letters from their names. The activities connected physical practice with early reading and writing.

Conversation needs more consistent handling. In December 2025, older children spoke readily and shared ideas, but adults did not reliably organise turn-taking during group discussions. Some contributions therefore failed to reach the whole group. Confident speaking and learning to listen are separate skills, and both need attention.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Sensory Snug contains textured materials and lights, including its illuminated ceiling, giving children a quieter alternative to the main play space. Ladybirds has a door directly into the garden, with indoor and outdoor choice encouraged during the day. Those contrasting spaces matter for children who enjoy movement but also need somewhere less busy.

In December 2025, outdoor activities included climbing and balancing, with adults extending the challenge by encouraging children to stand on a beam using one leg. Cultural festivals and a teddy bear taken home for family photographs also prompted children to share experiences. The latter brought ordinary family life into conversation with friends.

Relationships and Communication

Baby care follows routines from home, and parents are welcome to breastfeed or spend time with their child. That continuity is especially relevant when feeding and comfort routines are still changing. For Ladybirds, toilet training also follows the family's approach, with staff offering advice through the transition.

In December 2025, adults talked with children about their feelings and offered different ways to recover when they became overwhelmed, including time outdoors or in the sensory area. Children practised sharing and resolving disagreements over toys, while adults acknowledged kindness. Emotional support was tied to the situation and the child rather than a single response for everyone.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCo role sits within the Corsham team. At the December 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff generally supported children with SEND through parental involvement, professional advice, targeted support and additional resources, with learning gaps closing over time, but some children were excluded from large group outings because adaptations had not been secured. The positive support mechanisms and the limitation both matter when choosing care for a child with additional needs.

In December 2025, parents took part in decisions about targeted support and received guidance for learning at home. Additional funding supported extra adult help and resources intended to remove barriers. However, leaders' oversight of some curriculum areas lacked sufficient consistency, leaving the improvements in conversation, healthy eating education and access to outings still necessary.

School transition work in Butterflies includes inviting new teachers and key carers to meet children in familiar surroundings, sharing transition reports, and using photographs of the children's next schools. Practising tasks such as collecting a plate and sustaining attention during circle time gives that preparation a practical purpose.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Stokes Road, Corsham, SN13 9AA. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year; closures include bank holidays and Christmas.

The Full day runs from 8am to 6pm, the AM session from 8am to 1pm, and the PM session from 1pm to 6pm. A Pre-school school day runs from 9am to 4pm. These are different attendance options within the opening window, rather than a requirement to book the whole period that the nursery is open.

Breakfast club covers 7.30am to 8am, and Late club runs from 6pm to 6.30pm. Hourly extensions apply only to regular bookings between 8am and 9am. That restriction matters if a family's working day calls for an adjustment to a standard session.

Funding and Paid Extras

Working parents funding is accepted. All-year-round EYE arrangements cover the stated bands of 9 months to 2 years and 2 to 5 years, with enhanced provision charges alongside funded hours. The charge structure distinguishes those funded arrangements from privately paid sessions, so a family's written quotation should identify the relevant arrangement and any additional private hours.

Private session fees include hot meals and snacks, as well as nappies and wipes. An on-site chef prepares meals and snacks each day using local products. This combines food preparation at the nursery with fewer everyday supplies for families to pack.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the Corsham fees page sets out the session and funded-charge structure. The Corsham booking form provides an application route.

• Participation in outings. In December 2025, some children with SEND missed large group outings, including a school nativity visit. Families needing adaptations should ask how their child would be included in these experiences.
• Group conversations and food learning. The December 2025 next steps concerned consistent conversational turn-taking and teaching children how healthy food affects growth. Ask what changes now support these parts of the day.
• The youngest children's space. Baby care follows home routines within an open-plan setting, with a quieter Sensory Snug. During a visit, discuss how feeding, rest and busy play are managed for your child's stage; a visit can be arranged through the enquiry form.
• Funded attendance. All-year-round funded arrangements carry enhanced provision charges, while hourly extensions have a narrow booking condition. Ask for a written breakdown showing the funded hours, additional attendance and what each charge covers.

Little Willows suits families wanting a choice between morning or afternoon sessions, a school-day pattern and full-day attendance. Its strongest practical details are the sensory space, toddlers' direct garden access, home routines for babies and carefully described school preparation in Butterflies.

The December 2025 position is balanced: behaviour and routines received the strongest area judgement, while consistent group conversation, healthy eating education and inclusion on every outing needed further work. For families whose children require adaptations, participation beyond the nursery's everyday spaces deserves particular attention.