Little Monkey's Nursery Windsor Park

A wooden preschool cabin, a large enclosed garden and cooking with nursery-grown produce give Little Monkey's Nursery Windsor Park a recognisable character. Babies and toddlers occupy the main building; preschool children have a separate, purpose-built space. Outdoor learning is part of the daily offer, rather than an occasional addition.

On St. Leonards Road in Windsor, the nursery has 97 places in total and accepts children aged 3 to 60 months. At its March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefited from effective key-person support and work with other professionals. That judgement needs to be read alongside the later safeguarding findings discussed below.

A key-person system connects settling, observations and conversations with parents, providing continuity between home and nursery.

Rooms and Ages

The main building accommodates babies and toddlers, while preschool provision occupies the spacious wooden cabin. This separates the older children's base from the youngest children's rooms and gives families a clear picture of the site's layout.

Within the Baby Room, Family Boxes bring familiar photographs and objects into a black, white and red area, with boxes positioned where mobile babies can reach them and key-person help for those who are not yet mobile. The activity links home and nursery through things the baby already recognises. It also gives practitioners something personal to talk about during exploration.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the common framework for children's learning and care: here, play and observation inform activities involving language, movement, relationships, early number work and creative exploration.

Wake Up and Shake Up is a daily movement session for children over two, held at around 9am; younger children may join if they wish. Songs and movement give the routine an active beginning, with opportunities to practise coordination and communication.

Cooking Stations are accessible throughout the day, combining planned cooking with opportunities for children to choose the activity themselves. Weighing ingredients introduces mathematical language, while preparation brings in handwashing, safe cutting and discussion about where food originates. Familiar tasks carry several kinds of learning at once.

Older children take part in Chatter Box Session, bringing a decorated box of favourite objects from home and discussing its contents with their key person and a small group. Each child has a turn, and others can ask questions. That gives conversation a clear purpose: explaining something meaningful, listening to somebody else and responding.

In March 2022, babies practised coordination by rolling balls, while older children explored water through funnels and used tools in art activities. The same visit highlighted a limitation: activities did not consistently extend what children could already do. Enjoyment and participation were present, but the next learning step needed more deliberate attention.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor learning takes place in the large enclosed garden. Garden Champions, the nursery's gardening activity, involves preparing growing areas, sowing, tending and harvesting with real gardening equipment. Children also take part in supported checks of the activity area before beginning. This makes gardening a sequence of responsibilities, rather than simply planting something and leaving it.

Harvested fruit and vegetables are prepared with the children and incorporated into that day's menu by the nursery chef. The connection is tangible: children can follow an ingredient from growing to eating. Community visits also give them experiences beyond the nursery, extending the day outside its own grounds.

Relationships and Communication

Settling sessions introduce parents and children to their key person. That practitioner observes development, responds to the child's feelings and care needs, and shares information with parents. For a family starting nursery, the useful feature is continuity: the same role connects early familiarity with the ongoing account of the child's progress.

Learning Journeys collect observations, photographs, artwork and contributions from home, building a record of children's development that families can access in their child's room. They go home with the family when the child leaves. An individual progress tracker also helps practitioners organise observations across areas of learning and plan subsequent activities.

Termly parents' meetings provide time to discuss progress and individual needs with the key person. Daily information-sharing and an open-door arrangement add opportunities between those meetings. Parents therefore have both scheduled conversations and a more immediate route for discussing changes in their child's life.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The preschool room leader also holds the nursery SENCO role, giving special educational needs coordination an identified place within the team. Emotions Boxes provide activities about recognising feelings, understanding their effect on others and managing behaviour; younger children begin with a Feelings Bag, while preschool activities explore relationships and more complex emotions. Stories, puppets and activity cards make these ideas accessible through play.

Later safeguarding findings materially qualify the older inspection judgement: Ofsted found unmet requirements at its August 2025 regulatory visit and March 2026 regulatory telephone call, with action taken through additional training on escalating concerns and allegations, followed by improvements to safeguarding training and staff knowledge. These were repeated findings, even though both documents described corrective action. Families should weigh them alongside the learning and care offer.

Meals are cooked fresh on the premises, with seasonal menus following a four-week rotation. During weaning, parents lead the next stage in discussion with nursery staff, helping the food arrangements follow the child's development.

Preparation for school includes the conversation and listening practice in Chatter Box Session. The emphasis is on explaining ideas, taking turns and participating in a group, giving children experience of everyday skills they will use beyond nursery.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and a week spanning Christmas and New Year. Those closures matter when arranging work and alternative care.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01753 866 108 or by email to manager@littlemonkeyswindsorpark.com. One-to-one visits can be booked by calling the nursery.

Getting There

The address is St. Leonards Road, Windsor, SL4 3DR. Road access connects with the M4, and trains from Windsor Town Centre provide travel into London.

Funding and Paid Extras

For three- and four-year-olds, funded childcare includes the 15 hours and 30 hours entitlements, with the extended entitlement subject to eligibility criteria. Funding is stretched over 51 weeks rather than confined to school terms, spreading the entitlement across the nursery year.

The fully funded attendance arrangement is restricted to Mondays and Fridays. That is a significant condition for families whose working week requires other days; eligibility for funding and a suitable attendance arrangement are separate considerations. The fees and funding page explains the entitlement arrangements.

Private childcare is also offered. Families need a written quotation for their chosen attendance arrangement so that the cost of private care can be considered alongside funded hours.

• Repeated safeguarding findings. The August 2025 and March 2026 findings concerned unmet requirements, with corrective training described on both occasions. Discuss how the revised procedures operate day to day and how concerns are escalated.
• Learning between activities. In March 2022, changes between routines sometimes interrupted children's engagement, and activities did not consistently build on existing skills. A visit is an opportunity to discuss how practitioners now organise these moments and extend learning.
• Funded days. Fully funded attendance is offered on Mondays and Fridays, with entitlement stretched across 51 weeks. Families needing a different weekly arrangement should weigh this restriction before choosing the nursery.
• The attendance quotation. Opening hours run from 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays. At a one-to-one visit, what booking pattern would fit your week, and how would the written quotation treat meals, snacks and non-food consumables within private and funded hours?

Little Monkey's Nursery Windsor Park suits families who value daily garden time, practical cooking and a personal connection between home and nursery through Family Boxes and Learning Journeys. Its year-round operation will also appeal to parents arranging care beyond school terms, while the Monday-and-Friday funded arrangement suits a more specific weekly need.

There is substantial detail behind the learning offer, from growing produce to small-group conversation. The repeated safeguarding findings in August 2025 and March 2026 remain a material consideration when deciding whether this is the right setting for your child.