Toad Hall Nursery

Donkeys Maggie and Gill, two acres of farmland and a separate garden for babies give Toad Hall Nursery a recognisable character. Animal care is part of children's experience here: they help feed the donkeys and care for the animals on site. For families drawn to outdoor exploration, that is a concrete part of the offer.

At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, while asking for stronger teaching to take children's learning further and better organisation of daily routines. Those qualifications matter. The positive judgement sits alongside specific work to do, rather than an unqualified endorsement of every part of the day.

The Wokingham setting has capacity for 122 children, with a current age range of 3 to 60 months. Babies, toddlers and preschool children have separate units, and attendance can be booked as full days, mornings or afternoons. Its strongest practical features are the separation of play and sleep for babies, detailed parent communication and a preschool offer that combines daily phonics with visiting specialists.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Unit serves children approximately 3 to 24 months old, organised into Tiddlers and Tadpoles. Tiddlers has a capacity of 12 children. The room-size question deserves attention before choosing a baby's group.

Both baby groups have their own play space, with quiet areas alongside materials for building, sensory discovery and pretend play. A separate cot room, milk kitchen and changing facilities give sleep, feeding and personal care their own spaces. The dedicated baby garden also means the youngest children have outdoor provision of their own, rather than relying solely on space shared with older groups.

Approximately 24 to 36 months is the Nursery Unit's age band. Newts, Minnows and Waterlilies each have a maximum of 15 children, their own room and an allocated staff team; messy and imaginative play, movement, stories and sensory activities shape the room layouts. The groups also join together during parts of the day, so a familiar base does not exclude friendships across the unit.

The Frogs and The Natterjacks are the preschool base rooms, within a Pre-School Unit for approximately 36 to 60 months that has a capacity of 50 children in total. Literacy, construction, mathematics, technology and creative work have allocated areas in both rooms. Low-level sinks and toilets support children in doing more of their personal care independently.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guides planning, bringing communication, physical development, social development and early literacy and mathematics into children's play. It is the common early-years framework; the useful detail here is how activities turn those areas of learning into a child's day.

For babies, a typical week can include cooking, singing, movement, stories and messy activities. Toddlers have sand and water play, art and sensory experiences, with their key person recording development in a learning journey that parents can view. This gives families a way to connect everyday play with the skills their child is developing.

Preschool children combine freely chosen activities with small-group work led by their key person. Daily phonics develops listening and early reading skills through play, while weekly sports on Tuesday mornings bring in a specialist coach working alongside preschool staff. Weekly activity plans are displayed in the Natterjacks room, making the planned learning accessible to parents.

In September 2025, children experimented with materials to build bridges for a toy railway, while babies tried removing toy animals attached to a tray. These are useful examples of learning through practical problems. The teaching weakness was equally concrete: explanations sometimes stopped short, and children struggling with scissors did not always receive enough help to develop the skill.

Outdoor and Community Life

The animals give outdoor life a purpose beyond exercise. Maggie and Gill are the resident donkeys, with goats and chickens also on site; children are introduced to the animals and help with their care. Feeding an animal is a different experience from playing with a toy version of one.

Preschool opportunities include local nature walks and outings to libraries, farm parks, theatres and Legoland. Visiting sessions include MAD Science slime experiments and Zoolab animal encounters, alongside puppetry, road safety and visits by the local fire service. These are additional experiences rather than a promised weekly trips programme: the specified weekly commitment is the coached sports session.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts with a discussion between the room leader and parents about the child's needs. Introductory visits then follow an agreed strategy; the first pre-visit is free, with additional hours charged at the usual rate. For younger children, a visit can extend through their midday sleep, making the introduction relevant to the routine they will actually experience.

Daily conversations cover activities, food and routines, while room notice boards and parent evenings provide further opportunities to discuss progress. Tapestry is used to share observations and allows families to contribute moments from home. A monthly email newsletter, stay-and-play mornings and rhyme-time sessions add further contact beyond the daily handover.

In September 2025, room changes were prepared through advance information for parents and the involvement of familiar staff, sometimes accompanying children into the next room. That detail matters in a nursery with several stages: moving up involves relationships as well as a different room and different activities.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO coordinates Early Years Intervention Plans (EYIPs), individual plans for children with additional needs or disabilities. Parents are involved in assessment, planning and review, and the nursery liaises with outside professionals, including over transfer to other settings and schools. These are specific support mechanisms that families can discuss in relation to their child's needs.

Babies' sleep follows information supplied by their parents, with individual cots and bedding; older children can rest on their own mats. Toddler naps are adjusted as routines change, and preschool rest is supported when needed rather than required of children who want to keep playing. Separate changing areas keep personal care apart from the playroom, while toilet training is coordinated with parents.

Weaning is also planned with families: the nursery kitchen prepares fruit and vegetables for puréeing, and new foods are introduced gradually in consultation with parents. A chef plans the nursery meals, giving food preparation an identified role within the setting.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Edney's Hill, Wokingham, RG41 4DS. Full days run from 8am to 6pm, morning sessions from 8am to 1pm, and afternoons from 1.30pm to 6pm. There is a minimum booking of two sessions each week. The nursery opens Monday to Friday throughout the year, closing for bank holidays and a week at Christmas.

Enquiries and registration use the contact form, telephone or email. The waiting list runs in registration-date order, with siblings potentially taken into account. A completed form and a non-returnable administration charge place a child on that list; accepting an offered place requires a deposit, which is set against the final fees when the child leaves.

Two calendar months' notice is required both to withdraw and to change booked days or sessions. Without it, fees are charged in lieu, and the withdrawal deposit is forfeited; the deposit is also non-refundable if an accepted place is not taken up. This makes the booking decision consequential for families whose work pattern may change.

Getting There

Road access is via Barkham Road or Finchampstead Road along Evendons Lane. The farmland setting gives the nursery its outdoor character, so the access route is part of assessing how it fits an everyday childcare journey.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal funding provides 15 hours for children aged 3 and 4, while eligible working families can access 30 hours for the younger and older age bands described in the nursery's funding offer. Funding follows the term-based entitlement, with full fees applying in non-funded weeks for children attending across the year; spreading invoice costs over 12 months does not turn this into stretched funded hours.

Funded hours are offered in sessions, with 10am to 1pm and 1pm to 4pm given as examples, and patterns can change each term subject to availability. Working-family funding requires an eligibility code and reconfirmation every three months. Additional attendance beyond funded hours is charged separately.

Meals are included in private fees, together with baby milk, nappies and creams; sensitive wipes are also included for children not using funded hours. For funded attendance, meals and consumables are paid for separately through an optional charge, or supplied by parents where applicable, with opt-in or opt-out arrangements agreed by term. Parents opting out of the funded-only charge provide meals, nappies and wipes, and packed meals must follow the nursery's nut-free policy.

Fees are paid monthly in advance, with charges continuing through bank holidays and accounting for the Christmas closure. Holidays, illness and missed attendance do not attract refunds or replacement sessions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page explains the charge structure.

• Tadpoles group size. The detailed room information gives 15 places, while the home-page summary gives 12. Ask which maximum applies to the group your baby would join and how its play and sleep spaces work in practice.
• Teaching and mealtime organisation. In September 2025, extending explanations and reducing waiting during routine periods were improvement priorities. During a viewing, ask how staff now support children who need extra help with a practical skill and organise the transition into lunch.
• Funded attendance and parent supplies. The optional funded-hours charge can be replaced by parent-provided items where applicable, and changes require a term's notice. Families managing allergies should confirm current food practice, including the nut-free packed-meal requirement.
• A booking that needs notice. Two calendar months apply to withdrawal and changes in attendance, alongside deposit conditions. Consider how that commitment fits variable working hours before accepting a place.

Toad Hall suits families seeking full-day care or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, especially those who value animals, outdoor experiences and clearly separated stages of nursery life. Its separate baby sleep facilities and detailed communication arrangements are substantial reasons to consider it, while preschool brings daily phonics, coached sport and visiting specialists into the mix.

The September 2025 Good judgement gives the offer a positive inspection foundation, with teaching depth and daily organisation remaining the practical questions to pursue. For parents, the decision brings together the child's room, the attendance pattern and the funded or private charge structure. Each deserves as much attention as the appealing farmland setting.