Ashridge Nursery

Enclosed gardens, a purpose-built nursery and play that moves between indoors and outdoors give Ashridge Nursery its character. This independent, non-profit charity shares the Keep Hatch Primary School site in Wokingham, while occupying its own premises. A management committee involving parents and other supporters gives families a role in the organisation behind the nursery.

At its December 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Ashridge Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that staff worked confidently with other professionals to support children with special educational needs or disabilities. That is a dated judgement. The current staff structure includes a SENCO and designated safeguarding lead roles.

Ashridge has 34 places in total. Children can join in the school term of their third birthday, including those still aged two at the start of that term; morning, afternoon and full-day attendance runs during term time.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, covering language, physical development, relationships and the foundations of literacy and mathematics. Activities follow children's interests, giving what catches their attention a place in planning. Seasonal topics and celebrations, including Pancake Day and Easter, add opportunities to explore stories, music and food.

Small Group Time brings children together with their key person or key-person buddy for an activity adapted to their individual learning needs. Free play then gives them choices between indoor and outdoor resources. Construction toys, water play, puzzles and mark making offer different ways to experiment, talk and solve problems. Adult involvement has a purpose: extending children's thinking while they pursue their own ideas.

Music Time includes phonics through singing alongside dance and drama. Story Time uses books, puppets and props in groups organised around children's development. These are concrete parts of the nursery day, rather than a separate package of optional enrichment.

In December 2022, children used pictures and reference books to develop construction play, experimented with making a marble run move at different speeds and made marks on an interactive whiteboard. Stories also prompted conversations about unfamiliar vocabulary. Singing needed further attention: participation was uneven, and some activities continued long enough for children to lose concentration or become overwhelmed. The improvement priority was to develop children's enjoyment, recall and expression through songs.

Outdoor and Indoor Play

Two large rooms, divided by a partition, separate messy activities from imaginative, construction and tabletop play. A smaller quiet area contains factual and story books. This arrangement gives children different kinds of space within the same setting, including somewhere to spend time with a book.

Outside, a mud kitchen and construction area support pretend play and experimentation. A stage, bridge, sandpit and balancing beams create opportunities to move and imagine; a road area accommodates bicycles and ride-on toys. The enclosed gardens therefore offer more than a break between indoor activities. Children can choose outdoors during free play, keeping physical activity within the ordinary nursery session.

Relationships and Communication

The key-person arrangement continues into small-group activities, with a buddy role alongside it. This gives the relationship a practical place in the day: an adult works with children on experiences chosen for their needs, rather than contact being confined to handovers.

New children and their parents attend an Induction Session at the beginning of their joining term. It introduces the setting and provides time to complete the necessary paperwork. Having parents involved in that first session makes the start a shared process.

In December 2022, children managed belongings, helped put resources away and used timers to organise turns with one another. Parents received newsletters and spoken feedback each day. These examples show how independence and communication fitted into the routine at that time, from looking after a coat to understanding whose turn comes next.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The current management structure includes a SENCO, with safeguarding lead and deputy roles also identified. All staff receive safeguarding training. These are arrangements for responsibility and reporting; the dated inspection judgement above remains the assessment of effectiveness.

A ramp provides wheelchair access to the building, alongside steps. Inside, children have a quiet book area as well as the busier play spaces, allowing different types of activity within the setting.

Children staying for lunch bring a packed lunch from home. During snack time, children are offered milk or water and foods such as seasonal fruit or vegetables, cheese or breadsticks, with help to pour drinks and prepare their snack.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Ashridge Road, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 1PG. Attendance is term-time only, Monday to Friday: mornings run from 8.45am to 11.45am, afternoons from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, and full days from 8.45am to 3.30pm. Children may attend a mixture of these patterns.

Lunch Club runs from 11.45am to 12.30pm. When added to a morning or afternoon session, it is charged separately and cannot be included in funded hours. For a funded full day, funding can cover all attended hours. The distinction matters when choosing between a short session with lunch attached and a full day.

Sessions are allocated termly. Absences do not attract refunds or replacement sessions, and the nursery requests six weeks' written notice to cancel a place. Those terms make a regular weekly pattern a more useful starting point than an expectation of switching sessions around missed days.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal Funding supports 15 hours a week during the school term for three- and four-year-olds, starting in the term after their third birthday. Supported families funding and working-family funding are also accepted for eligible children joining as rising threes. Eligible working parents may receive an additional 15 hours; the nursery must receive the eligibility code before allocating those additional hours.

Private sessions and hours above funded entitlement are paid for separately, with invoices issued each term. Parents supply packed lunches for funded and private attendance. The optional administration charge is non-refundable and includes an Ashridge Nursery t-shirt when the child starts; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees and funding page explains the attendance and charge structure.

An application places a child on the waiting list for the term in which they turn three, unless the family chooses to defer until funding begins. Families are contacted during the preceding term, and allocation takes account of sessions, keyworkers and parental preferences where possible.

Sharing the Keep Hatch Primary School site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• School-term coverage. Morning, afternoon and full-day patterns all operate during term time. Families needing care through school holidays will need a separate arrangement.
• Lunch and funding. A full day's attended hours can use funding, while Lunch Club added to a morning or afternoon session is a separate paid service. Compare the actual weekly pattern before choosing sessions.
• Music participation. In December 2022, singing activities did not consistently engage every child. During a visit, ask how staff now adapt their length and participation for children with different confidence levels.
• Starting and allocation. Places are allocated with reference to sessions and keyworkers, and children join with a parent at an Induction Session. A visit is a useful opportunity to discuss the preferred pattern and how that first session works for your child.

Ashridge suits families seeking term-time preschool education through morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those wanting full days. Its enclosed outdoor spaces, separate activity areas and key-person small groups give the choice substance. The December 2022 Good judgement is useful context, with singing participation the specific improvement point to explore. For parents comfortable with the school-term calendar and packed-lunch arrangement, the flexible combination of sessions is a practical strength.