The nursery is open 51 weeks of the year, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am to 6.00pm. We are closed on Bank Holidays and annually on Christmas Eve until the first working day after New Year.

Yes, we are registered and inspected by Ofsted and were rated ‘Good’ in our last inspection on 19th November 2018. You can view the report at this link.

We have 2 age groups – Under 2s and Over 2s. Children in our Under 2s’ rooms move to our Over 2s’ department around their second birthday.

Yes, we encourage all prospective parents to visit us for a personal tour with our Nursery Manager who will talk to you about us and answer any questions about the nursery and the care we provide. You will be able to see our extensive gardens and nursery rooms. Please contact Jane Kemp, Admissions Co-ordinator, to arrange a visit. You can also see our video tour on the bottom of the home page.

Yes, we offer support for eligible working families with children who are 2, 3 or 4 years old and universal funding for all families with children who are 3 and 4 years old.

We are usually very busy so we would recommend that you apply for a place for your child as soon as possible. For part-time places, being able to be flexible on the combination of days your child attends can also help. Places are occasionally available at short notice, however. Offers for nursery places will usually start to be made up to 4 months ahead of the required start date

Yes. Your child will be allocated a key person when they join the nursery and again when they move department. Your key person will contact you initially to arrange an induction meeting and will also be responsible for organising your child’s settling in visits with you.

All the staff in your child’s room will interact and support your child’s care, but the key person will have an overview of their needs. They are also responsible for completing observations and assessments which help us to monitor your child’s developmental needs.

The minimum attendance is 2 full days (4 sessions).

We understand that leaving your child at nursery can be an anxious time for children and parents alike. To help with the transition from home to nursery, we will arrange some settling-in visits prior to your child’s first day in nursery to help familiarise them with their new environment as well as the room and the staff/other children.  Parents are able to spend some time in the room with their child as well during these visits.

Prior to your child starting we will have completed an induction meeting with you to gather information about your child’s likes, dislikes, routine and individual needs. We will then use this information to help your child to settle in. We will, for example, follow their home routine as closely as possible in order to have a consistent approach and we will provide activities/resources we know they enjoy and are familiar to them.

Your child’s key person will provide regular updates about their progress throughout the settling in process and, if you want to give them a call to discuss this further, they will be happy to arrange a time to do this.

We recognise that parents’ needs may change and will try to accommodate requests to change sessions whenever possible. A calendar months’ notice in writing is required for any permanent session change requests and additional sessions or a reduction in sessions will be offered subject to the availability/nursery planning. To request a permanent session change, please email admissions@chilternntc.com.

Ad hoc/one-off extra sessions can be requested via the Nursery Manager or Deputy Managers up to 2 weeks in advance. These are also subject to availability.

In our Under 2s’ rooms the ratio is 1:3 and 1:4 for the Over 2s.

Yes, we can cater for children’s individual dietary needs. During your induction we will ask you about your child’s dietary needs and, if they have an allergy, intolerance or need a specific diet for cultural reasons, we will prepare them an individual menu. This will be shared with you and everyone caring for your child.

Yes, we have a catering team onsite who prepare all the meals from scratch. We follow the government guidelines ‘Eat better, start better’ for providing a healthy balanced diet.  Sugar and salt is not added to any of our recipes. Please follow the link below for more information:

Eat-Better-Start-Better1.pdf (foundationyears.org.uk)

We are very lucky to have access to large garden areas which we make the best use of daily. To make the most of the gardens in all weathers we would ask you to provide your children with suitable outdoor clothing.

Our Over 2 age group will spend time outside every morning and afternoon. The length of time can be dependent on the weather conditions. In very hot weather, for example, we may limit the time the children are outside for safety reasons.

Our Under 2 department will also visit the garden daily but sometimes for shorter periods of time as we have to take into account other aspects of their daily routine e.g. their sleep patterns.

Yes, parking is available for parents to drop off and collect their children.

We provide sun cream unless your child needs a specific brand due to an allergy, in which case we would ask you to provide this for them.   We choose a reputable brand which is suitable for children, has a SPF factor of 50 and protects against UVA and UVB.

There is a wide range of policies, procedures, documents, forms and informative links on the Resources page.