The Learning Meadow

Sheep, fire-pit cooking and a meadow used in all weathers give The Learning Meadow its character. In Crockerton, near Warminster, outdoor play shapes the day rather than filling a slot between indoor activities. Children care for animals, work with natural materials and help grow food that can later be cooked on the fire. This is a practical, hands-on choice for families who want nature to be part of everyday childcare.

At its May 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, found excellent progress including for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and judged safeguarding effective. That judgement is dated; the current offer includes Little Meadow Lodge for children aged 1-2 alongside the main meadow provision for ages 2-5. There are 24 places in total, a whole-setting capacity rather than a daily group size.

Full-day, morning and afternoon attendance patterns are offered during term time. The strongest reason to choose this setting, though, is the substance of its outdoor day: animal care, child-led exploration and sheltered spaces that keep activity going through changing weather.

Rooms and Ages

Little Meadow Lodge is the named provision for children aged 1-2. The main meadow offer serves children aged 2-5, with covered spaces including a library, beach, dining area, workshop and mud kitchen. These give children several places to pursue an activity while remaining connected to the outdoor environment.

A purpose-built lodge provides breakfast space and shelter, with both cooling and heating. The nursery plans for 80% of the day to take place outdoors, including in poor weather. Families should read that as a central part of the experience: outdoor clothing and a child's response to different weather conditions matter here.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: children build language, social, physical and thinking skills through play and interaction. Alongside it, In the Moment Planning means practitioners follow children's interests, recognise opportunities to extend an activity and record learning as it happens. The approach gives an unexpected question or discovery room to develop.

Animal care makes this concrete. Sheep, chickens, goats, guinea pigs and rabbits are part of the setting, and children take an appropriate role in looking after them. Counting feed scoops brings number work into a useful task; mud-kitchen recipes give another reason to measure and count. Stories, singing and children's own dictated stories sit alongside this practical play, so being outdoors does not mean leaving language and literacy behind.

In May 2022, children explored whether paint changed the smell of herbs, with adults encouraging them to test their idea. Other examples included working out water quantities for animals and solving the problem of emptying a tray. Those observations show what child-led learning looked like at that point: adults developed children's questions rather than simply supplying answers.

Outdoor and Community Life

Growing vegetables and fruit, encouraging bees and watching chicks hatch connect play with changes in the natural world. Sheep-shearing demonstrations offer another first-hand experience. These are concrete encounters with care, growth and food production, rather than nature being used only as a backdrop.

Little Art Adventures runs a children's art group on site each Friday morning. It is a partnership with an external group, and should be understood separately from the nursery's ordinary daily activities. Meadow Rangers Holiday Club extends outdoor activity into part of the summer holiday for children up to age 8, with crafts, sport, design activities and forest school sessions.

In May 2022, physical play included earth mounds, wheeled toys and dancing on a stage. A play car made with actual tyres and a steering wheel prompted children to use a map; animal books led to another map-based discussion. The examples connect movement, pretend play and reading, giving parents a useful picture of the outdoor learning seen then.

Relationships and Communication

EY Log gives parents digital access to their child's day, and three parent meetings take place each year. Practitioners also share daily news in conversation. The combination offers both an ongoing record and scheduled opportunities to discuss development, rather than relying solely on a hurried exchange at collection.

In May 2022, a storybook shared with families helped children talk about separation-related feelings after pandemic restrictions. Adults spoke calmly, worked at children's level and used walkie-talkies across the outdoor space to avoid shouting between areas. These are dated examples of how relationships and communication worked in practice, rather than a description of today's staffing deployment.

The staff structure includes a manager with the designated safeguarding lead role, deputy safeguarding roles and a special educational needs coordinator. This identifies the arrangements and roles families can discuss; the safeguarding judgement remains the dated inspection finding above.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND support uses an assess, plan, do and review cycle, with parents involved in decisions throughout. The SENCO coordinates provision with colleagues, while external agencies can contribute advice or further assessment. The inclusion policy also provides for access checks and adjustments to the environment, resources and learning activities. These are specific mechanisms for planning around an individual child's needs.

Rest is accommodated within the outdoor model. Buggies and blankets are provided in a sheltered space, with sleeping children kept within staff sight and hearing and sleep following parental instructions. For children who still nap, rest therefore takes place in the sheltered outdoor space.

Warminster School supplies a two-course lunch for full-day and morning attendance, with a three-week menu rotation and a choice of main dishes. The nursery's dietary policy provides for working with parents on medical, cultural and religious requirements where possible; meal costs depend on the chosen package, as explained below.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Foxholes, Crockerton, near Warminster, BA12 7DU. Nursery attendance runs for 38 weeks annually, with core hours of 8am-5pm and choices of full-day, morning or afternoon sessions. These are different booking patterns, rather than an assumption that every child stays for the whole opening window.

An early start from 7.45am and a late finish until 5.30pm require booking. The daily timetable includes a 1pm changeover, but that should be distinguished from a complete set of session start and finish times. The rhythm of the day leaves substantial meadow play on either side of lunch, followed by stories and songs towards home time.

A notice of interest enters the nursery's waiting list. A deposit follows a formal offer, with part credited against the first month's fees and the remainder covering administration and a nursery T-shirt. Visits can be arranged by email through the nursery's contact route.

Meadow Rangers Holiday Club gives booking priority to existing nursery children, then their siblings. It is a separate summer offer, rather than year-round nursery attendance, so families needing holiday cover should consider its dates alongside the nursery term calendar.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded and privately paid childcare are both offered. Early Years Entitlement funding covers up to 15 or 30 hours, including the 3 year universal or extended working families funding, 2 year Working Families Entitlement funding and better2gether funding. The normal delivery is across 38 weeks; unused entitlement may also be stretched to non-funded days, with priority booking under option 1. Funded places require an eligibility code verified by Wiltshire Council.

Package choice matters. Option 1 includes food, consumables and enhanced provision alongside the childcare covered by option 2; option 2 excludes the costs of meals and consumables. Food can instead be supplied from home under the nursery's food-safety policy. Families can mix attendance sessions within their chosen package, but cannot combine the two packages.

Additional hours are privately charged. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the pricing and funding page explains the package structure. Invoices separate funded hours, private hours and the package selected; term-time absence remains payable, while school holidays and bank holidays carry no charge.

• An outdoor day in all weathers. The planned 80% outdoor share makes this a substantial lifestyle choice. During a visit, discuss clothing, wet-weather routines and how the sheltered spaces work for your child.
• Rest for younger children. Sleep takes place in buggies with blankets in a shelter, following parents' instructions. Ask how that arrangement would accommodate your child's usual nap routine, particularly when considering Little Meadow Lodge.
• Package and holiday funding choices. Food and consumables are included under option 1, and packages cannot be mixed. Holiday-club terms exclude funding, while the pricing terms allow unused entitlement to be stretched to summer holiday club. Before booking, establish which funding terms apply and obtain a written quotation covering your chosen sessions and items supplied from home.

The Learning Meadow suits families seeking a nature-led childhood with practical responsibility woven into play. Animals, growing food and fire-pit cooking give that proposition substance; the May 2022 Outstanding judgement adds a dated assessment of its quality.

It serves families choosing morning or afternoon attendance as well as full days, with bookable extensions at either end. Term-time operation and package choices deserve careful consideration, as does sheltered buggy sleep for children who nap. For a child who enjoys outdoor exploration, the meadow offers a clear and recognisable daily experience.