Queensway Chapel Nursery

A purpose-built nursery with a Christian charitable identity, Queensway Chapel Nursery combines separate toddler and preschool spaces with a shared garden and a Sensory Room. Its links with Queensway Chapel and Canberra Children Centre give it a clear community identity in Melksham. The practical emphasis is on play, growing independence and partnership with families.

At its July 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found effective safeguarding, good progress and timely support for children needing additional help. That judgement comes with two important qualifications: teaching needed to stretch children more consistently, and activity spaces needed to sustain their interest better.

There are 48 places in total, distinct from the maximum numbers for individual rooms. Owls caters for children aged two to three, while Hedgehogs serves the preschool years. Full-day care and flexible holiday sessions serve different family routines.

Rooms and Ages

Owls has a maximum of sixteen toddlers. Its two-to-three-year-olds can choose resources from low shelves, settle with a book, build with loose parts or use the role-play space for pretend tea parties. The room combines activities led by adults with play initiated by children, giving toddlers opportunities to practise making choices as well as joining something planned.

Hedgehogs caters for three-to-five-year-olds, with a maximum of twenty eight children and a large, airy play space containing creative materials, play dough, construction resources, a home corner, books, technology and a calm den. The emphasis shifts towards preparation for primary school while keeping play central. Short adult-led activities extend children's interests rather than replacing the play-based routine.

Room limits are maximum numbers, not daily attendance figures.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play across seven areas of development. This common framework includes imaginative play, making choices and joining adult-led activities.

Hedgehogs adds Letters and Sounds during term time, developing listening and awareness of sounds as preparation for reading. Play dough gives children practice using their hands before writing, while mathematics and problem-solving resources sit alongside creative play. This makes school preparation broader than practising letters: listening, manipulating materials and working things out also have a place.

In July 2023, children made dinosaur prints with paint and constructed towers using bricks and shaving foam. Adults brought counting and comparisons of size into the building activity. Story sacks supported group storytelling, and quieter children had time to answer questions.

The same July 2023 account identified a limitation in mixed-age activities: older children were sometimes insufficiently challenged. Resources were also unevenly prepared, especially early in the morning, leaving some children searching for something else to do.

Outdoor and Community Life

Every room opens directly onto the garden. Separate areas provide resources suited to different ages, while shared spaces allow younger and older children to play together.

Outdoor play extends across the weather, with families expected to supply suitable clothing. The nursery keeps spare wellies, waterproof suits, hats and sun cream, but these are a backup rather than a replacement for a prepared bag. In July 2023, scooters, ride-on toys and an outdoor obstacle course gave children opportunities to practise physical skills.

The Sensory Room offers another change of pace. Gentle lighting, tactile materials, sounds and interactive toys support sensory exploration or a quieter break from classroom activity.

Relationships and Communication

In July 2023, key persons watched children at play, assessed developing skills and planned what to introduce next. Communication with families combined everyday conversations, an online system and parent meetings.

Daily routines also gave children responsibilities. In July 2023, they fetched and returned aprons, spread cracker toppings and helped put toys away. Everyday tasks gave children practice in independence.

Fuller Tapestry updates form part of the voluntary-contribution arrangements.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A nursery SENDCo works with children, staff and families to recognise additional needs, offer practical strategies and make referrals to outside agencies; the role is available Tuesday to Friday. There are also designated safeguarding lead and deputy roles. These are routes for raising concerns and arranging support, rather than substitutes for the dated safeguarding judgement.

In July 2023, the SENDCo coordinated interventions with staff, parents and external professionals, including work preparing children for school. Staff offered reassurance when children struggled with emotions or expectations. Alongside the current Sensory Room, these dated examples give families concrete subjects to discuss when considering how support would work for their child.

Children bring comfort items and anything needed for naps. Food is organised around a nutritious packed lunch from home, with no hot lunch service; snacks are covered by the voluntary-contribution arrangements, or families opting out must bring the required items. This makes the daily bag part of the care routine, not just a change of clothes.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Queensway, Melksham, SN12 7LQ. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, closing for bank holidays, training days and the Christmas and New Year period; training dates reach families through termly newsletters.

Full-day care is offered alongside a Holiday Club with flexible sessions. The club caters for children aged two to eight and runs alongside the nursery's daily provision, with activities matched to those attending. It can serve children whose usual setting opens only in term time, as well as school-age children needing wraparound care. Breakfast or tea can be arranged for the club.

Enquiries can be made by telephone or email.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered. The universal entitlement described here is 15 hours a week from the term after a child's third birthday, during school terms, with an alternative of 11 hours a week across the year. Some two-year-olds may receive 15 hours, and qualifying two-, three- and four-year-olds may receive 30 hours. These are conditional entitlements, not a promise of eligibility for every child.

The voluntary monthly contributions support snacks, additional resources and experiences, specified consumables and fuller Tapestry updates. Families may opt in or out each term; opting out means bringing the required items for each session. The distinction matters: the contribution is voluntary, but opting out changes what parents need to supply.

Parents provide nappies, wipes, spare clothing, a water bottle and seasonal protection such as hats and sun cream. Other consumables, including dry wipes, tissues and nappy sacks, sit within the contribution arrangements. Parents provide packed lunches. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and changes to contribution costs carry at least four weeks' notice.

• The youngest children. Owls starts at two, while the overall age range extends younger. On a visit, ask how a child under two would be accommodated and which space and daily routine they would use.
• Challenge and ready-to-use resources. July 2023 improvement points concerned adapting activities for different children and keeping play spaces consistently engaging. Ask to see how an activity is extended for older children and how resources are prepared at the start of the day.
• Contributions and the daily bag. Termly opting out changes the items families must bring, alongside the packed lunch, nappies and wipes already supplied from home. Work through the funded-hours arrangement before deciding whether it suits your household.
• Christian identity and closures. The nursery is a Christian charity linked to Queensway Chapel, and year-round operation includes training and festive closures. Discuss how its religious principles shape everyday activities and how the closure calendar fits your care needs.

Queensway Chapel Nursery suits families seeking flexible holiday sessions or school-age wraparound care alongside regular nursery provision, with play-based rooms and a clear Christian charitable identity. Direct garden access, the Sensory Room and term-time Letters and Sounds give its offer concrete shape. Parents retain a substantial role in supplying food and everyday essentials.

The July 2023 Good judgement supports a positive view, but consistency of challenge and preparation of activity spaces deserve attention. The strongest fit is a family comfortable with the nursery's ethos, its packed-lunch arrangement and the choices attached to voluntary contributions.