Little Garden The Old Windsor Day Nursery & Pre-School

An adventure garden with wooden equipment and a mud kitchen gives Old Windsor's youngest children room to explore beyond their indoor play spaces. Little Garden The Old Windsor Day Nursery & Pre-School welcomes children aged three months to five years, with capacity for 70 children overall. The garden is divided by age group, making outdoor space part of the offer for babies as well as older children.

At its March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), made good progress. That judgement needs to be read alongside later regulatory findings, including repeated concerns about supervision and safeguarding practice. The most recent regulatory visit was in July 2026.

Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings serve different family routines, subject to a minimum weekly booking that includes Monday or Friday.

Learning and Activities

Light, airy indoor rooms sit alongside the rear adventure garden. Wooden play equipment gives children opportunities for movement, while the mud kitchen provides space for exploratory play. Dividing the garden by age group matters across such a broad age span: babies and preschool children have different ways of exploring their surroundings.

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care, bringing learning into play and everyday routines. Alongside it, the group-wide curriculum commitments include Confident Communicators, supporting children to express themselves in ways that work for them, and Critical And Creative Thinkers, encouraging exploration, ideas and problem-solving. These commitments describe the intended approach; the practical test is how staff respond to each child during an activity.

In March 2023, dinosaur play prompted children to discuss animals' different diets while pretending to clean a dinosaur's teeth. Familiar stories also encouraged children to remember characters and events. These examples show how conversation can emerge from play rather than being confined to a separate language session.

There were weaknesses in those group experiences, too. In March 2023, staff sometimes directed questions towards children who already spoke readily, leaving quieter children with fewer invitations to contribute. Some stories lasted beyond younger children's attention spans, interrupting learning for the group. Better participation for quieter children and more carefully planned story sessions were the two improvement priorities.

Outdoor and Community Life

In March 2023, babies used the garden daily for exploration and climbing; older children ran with friends and used water and brushes to make marks on fences. Outdoor activity therefore included both movement and creative play. The current garden's wooden equipment and mud kitchen continue to make the outdoor environment a substantial part of the nursery's character.

Relationships and Communication

In March 2023, settling sessions gave new families time to become familiar with their child's key person. Staff also communicated with parents and helped families access outside support agencies, using those exchanges to plan children's next learning steps. For a child needing additional help, the useful mechanism was the connection between family conversations, professional support and planning.

Everyday independence featured in the March 2023 nursery day. Babies practised feeding themselves, while older children served food at lunch and learned to manage coats and personal care. Staff also used drawings of different facial expressions to talk about feelings. School preparation included personal, social and emotional development, rather than concentrating only on early academic skills.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Later regulatory findings are material to the care decision. At its 27 July 2026 regulatory visit, Ofsted found that some requirements were not met following notifications concerning safeguarding, suitable people, training and behaviour support, and recorded corrective action through increased management oversight and further individual and team training.

These were not isolated regulatory topics. In December 2023, a medication incident led to findings about medication procedures and supervision; the resulting changes were accepted as meeting safeguarding and welfare requirements. In January 2025, safeguarding breaches were addressed through staff training on recognising concerns, responding and reporting promptly, including whistleblowing. In May 2025, supervision arrangements required attention again, with revised risk assessments for children moving through the nursery. Each outcome recorded action to put matters right, but the recurrence makes sustained day-to-day implementation a significant consideration.

Meals are cooked on the premises each day with seasonal ingredients. The nursery also has secure entry, CCTV, reading areas and a buggy store; these are practical facilities, rather than evidence of safeguarding effectiveness.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates for 51 weeks, closing for public holidays and a week at Christmas. The standard full day runs from 8am to 6pm, with morning sessions from 8am to 1pm and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm; an early start covers 7.30am to 8am.

The minimum weekly booking is two full days or four morning/afternoon sessions, including a Monday or Friday. That weekday condition matters as much as the number of sessions for families matching childcare to working hours. Permanent session changes and cancellations require one calendar month's notice.

Getting There

The address is 48 St. Luke's Road, Old Windsor, Windsor, SL4 2QJ. An on-site car park and bus links support the journey, while the buggy store provides somewhere to leave a pushchair during the day.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for children aged nine months to four years through the early education entitlements, including 15 or 30 hours per week over 38 weeks; the nursery also accepts 2 Help funding. Its standard arrangement stretches those entitlements across its operating weeks. Funded hours can be used alone or combined with privately paid hours, with funded attendance between 8am and 6pm across day, morning or afternoon sessions, subject to availability.

Private session fees are all-inclusive, including meals and consumables. During funded hours, food, consumables and enrichment are charged separately through the optional Essentials Package. Its consumables cover wipes, nappies, nappy bags, cream and suncream; parents can opt out by contacting the manager before term starts, and may need to supply suitable alternatives or handle disposal under the nursery's policies.

The Enrichment Programme covers additional experiences beyond the standard curriculum, but its possible activities are examples rather than a fixed weekly timetable. Registration charges and a deposit apply except for fully funded places; the deposit is credited against the final invoice. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Fees are paid monthly in advance, and sickness or holidays do not attract refunds or replacement sessions; normal charges also apply on bank holidays.

• Repeated regulatory concerns. The July 2026 findings follow safeguarding action in January 2025 and supervision action in December 2023 and May 2025. During a visit, ask how management monitors safe, respectful practice and checks that training changes daily routines.
• Quieter children and group stories. In March 2023, some children received fewer chances to speak and younger children struggled with lengthy stories. Ask to see how today's group activities include quieter children and adapt to different attention spans.
• A weekday condition on bookings. The minimum is two full days or four morning/afternoon sessions each week, with Monday or Friday included. This can shape whether the pattern fits a family's working week.
• Funded-hours extras. The Essentials Package is optional, with an opt-out deadline before term begins. Families considering that route should establish the alternatives and disposal arrangements alongside their written quotation.

Old Windsor suits families seeking either full-day care or morning and afternoon sessions, who can accommodate the weekly minimum and its Monday-or-Friday condition. The age-divided adventure garden, on-site cooking and practical facilities give the offer substance. However, the Good judgement from March 2023 is only part of the decision: repeated later regulatory findings mean that confidence in current management oversight and staff practice should carry substantial weight.