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Nursery at Lydalls Nursery School
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Inspection data and key information above update regularly, however, this review below is refreshed bi-annually and may not reflect recent changes. Contact the nursery directly to confirm current arrangements. If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
Monkey bars, a water pump and a weekly Forest School session give Lydalls a distinctly outdoor character. This local authority maintained nursery school in Didcot specialises in early education, with Chameleon Club providing places from a child's second birthday. The nursery education offer runs from the term after children turn three until the term in which they turn five, with 60 places per session.
Teachers, nursery nurses and teaching assistants make up the education team. This is a school devoted to the nursery years, so moving to Reception means moving to another school.
Play and adult-led group activities work together here. The Early Years Foundation Stage covers learning to communicate, manage feelings and move confidently, alongside early reading, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. Lydalls combines these areas with 12 curriculum goals. Children work towards telling a story, playing a counting game and moving sand, mud and water between places: recognisable achievements that connect learning with things children actually do.
Indoors, the tactile room provides puzzles, water and sand, a home corner and opportunities for making marks. In the paint room, children can build with large blocks, make music or use the sticking and gluing workshop. A sensory room adds a light tube and resources for exploring objects. Children choose resources themselves; adults add materials in response to their interests, giving familiar play fresh possibilities.
Outside, the climbing frame, monkey bars and rope tunnel offer different physical challenges. Guttering and crates give children materials to extend their outdoor creative play. Nursery and Chameleon Club children each spend one session a week in the Forest School area with their key person, digging, planting and looking for bugs through changing seasons and weather.
Curriculum precision. At the October 2023 inspection, some specific learning areas, including understanding the world, needed clearer sequences of knowledge because children were learning less successfully there. That is a useful distinction for families: plentiful experiences need a clear learning purpose too.
A familiar adult anchors care. In the routine used until July 2026, a named key person helped younger children settle, while nursery key people took responsibility for education and well-being and handed children back to parents. Snacks included vegetables or fruit, with water and milk. Children using Chameleon Club lunch spaces bring a packed lunch, making lunch preparation part of the family's routine.
The headteacher also holds the special educational needs coordinator role, and the nursery works with speech and language therapists and educational psychologists. In October 2023, Ofsted found that staff planned individual next steps with parents for children with SEND, that children settled quickly and that safeguarding was effective. ParentMail sends families group planning and letters by email, with text messages for reminders and urgent communication. Parents therefore have a way to follow learning and receive practical updates.
Lydalls is a nursery school, so families apply separately for Reception at their chosen primary school through the normal admissions route and by its normal deadline. Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Treat choosing the nursery and applying for primary school as separate decisions.
Preparation happens through the curriculum: self-care, conversation, storytelling and counting games are among its goals. Lydalls also works with local pre-schools and the Didcot Partnership of Schools. These relationships and skills support the next stage of education; they do not establish an admissions advantage.
Term-time attendance runs Monday to Friday. The 15-hour nursery place consists of five mornings or five afternoons, and the universal entitlement cannot be split with another provider. Chameleon Club offers two-year-old sessions from 8.45am to 11.45am or 12.45pm to 3.45pm on weekdays.
Additional care. Lunch and other additional sessions have limited places. Lunch spaces must be booked for a term and paid for in advance. For children taking up the 30 hours offer, lunch from 11.45am to 12.45pm attracts a top-up charge; families can instead collect their child for lunch. Nursery education sessions carry no charge, and the contribution towards consumable resources is voluntary. Contact the school for current charges.
Uniform is optional. Enquiries go to office.1017@lydalls-nurs.oxon.sch.uk or 01235 813137. Tours are booked by telephone, with a maximum of 8 places allocated in booking order.
The nursery education offer starts in the term after a child's third birthday and continues until the term in which they turn five. Chameleon Club accepts children from their second birthday.
Yes. Nursery and Chameleon Club children spend one session each week in the Forest School area with their key person, with activities including planting, digging and bug hunting.
No. Lydalls offers five mornings or five afternoons each week and does not split the universal 15-hour entitlement with another provider.
Families provide a packed lunch for children using Chameleon Club lunch spaces. Places are limited and must be booked for a term and paid for in advance.
No. Families apply separately for a Reception place at their chosen primary school through the normal admissions route and by the normal deadline.
