Welcome to Waverley Nursery

   Children develop positive attitudes to their learning. Staff give them the freedom to use tools and resources to investigate freely." ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate) 2024. (Inspected on behalf of Ofsted) 

Inspected as 'Outstanding' by the ISI on behalf of Ofsted

Waverley Day Nursery is an educational Nursery which offers excellent childcare in a warm, welcoming and nurturing environment for the very young. Inspected as 'Outstanding' by the ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate) on behalf of Ofsted, we care for children from 3 months to 5 years with a focus on stimulating, developmental learning through play. Our childcare provision is extremely flexible with a choice of drop-off and collection times between 07:30hrs and 18:00hrs for either term-time only or 51 weeks a year.

We nurture the individual child by:

• Caring for and educating children in a beautiful, stimulating environment 
• Using materials that challenge, inspire and extend your child's learning
• Providing qualified teachers to enhance your child's learning
• Supporting the individual learning outcomes by working closely with each child
• Teaching children to respect and develop collaborative relationships within our Nursery and School community
• Being guided by your child's own interests and discoveries to enhance their learning

There are plenty of opportunities to explore and discover within our nursery rooms and gardens at Waverley Nursery whether your child is rolling, sitting, crawling or walking! Waverley Nursery provides a nurturing, safe and welcoming environment. Our unique single-storey, ground floor nursery offers safety, and also the freedom of indoor/outdoor play choice for all children. Each age group also has its own classroom and own outdoor area.

View online Waverley School and Day Nursery E-Prospectus here. 

Waverley Day Nursery offers:

• Flexible hours to fit in with working parents, between 07:30hrs - 18:00hrs 51 weeks per year.
• Educationally-based to give children the best start and a head start for school.
• Plenty of outdoor learning/Woodland School/outdoor play to provide children with different learning methods, fresh air and constantly changing play opportunities.
• Single, ground floor nursery for safety, and freedom of indoor/outdoor play for children.
• Healthy, balanced menus cooked onsite by our own chefs.
• Ultra secure 3-step security for nursery entry.  Via key fob, finger print recognition and staff authorisation.
• Waverley Nursery is linked to Waverley Preparatory School. This provides a thorough, seamless education from 0-11 years.
• Our Foundation class also has two full time Primary (EYFS) teachers who work with children in small focussed groups to develop their numeracy and literacy. 
• We enjoy regular use of the school facilities - including the Library, Melton Hall for physical development & Woodland Walks in the surrounding environment.
• Nursery 3 and Foundation children are able to see and mix with school children and get used to a school environment which is good preparation for school.
• A good balance of experienced staff.
• A seamless transfer to ‘big school' as our nursery and school are on the same site.
• We provide parents with a weekly development update on their child's development via a secure online system (called 'Tapestry'). Updates include your child's learning progress, achievements, artwork, particular foods they enjoyed at mealtimes and special moments with photos. This is only accessible by each child's parents and is available remotely 24 hours a day. 
• We work closely with all parents to ensure a close relationship between child, teacher and parents. Every child has a key worker to monitor the individual child's development, share learning progress and discuss any concerns.

Learning and Education - Indoors and Outdoors

Our trained, nurturing staff offer well-planned activities throughout the day to give scope for adventurous and imaginative play and learning whilst at the same time introducing literacy and numeracy to children.

Our ethos at Waverley Nursery is to provide educationally-based learning to give your child the best start in life, and a head-start for school. We teach counting, phonics, writing and language development through a range of fun activities such as singing, games and rhymes. We also teach the softer skills such as social skills and creative, critical thinking, which is the foundation for academic achievement as your child moves through school.

As children get older, we introduce more literacy and numeracy and use the Read Write Inc programme of phonics instruction to build a base of reading and writing. These are taught in small, focussed session groups with our Primary teachers as well as through many of our general learning and play activities throughout the day. 

We ensure that every child has plenty of outdoor time each day for learning, fresh and exercise each day - whether this is outdoor play in our gardens, woodland buggy walks for babies or Forest School for the older children.

Safety and Security at Waverley Day Nursery

The safety of your child is of paramount importance. At Waverley, we have a 3-step security entry system to access our Nursery which includes key fob, the latest fingerprint recognition technology and finally Nursery staff confirmation. We also practice fire evacuation and lock-downs on a regular basis - this includes practicing with our mobile baby evacuation cots which hold approx. 6 babies to ensure that even the youngest are evacuated quickly and safely.

You child's progress is carefully tracked, monitored and recorded via our online 'Tapestry' system. This enables only a child's parents to see photos, developmental and learning achievements and other special moments of your child's time at Waverley Nursery. The secure online system is accessible remotely 24 hours a day but is only accessible for each child by their parents.

We also implement a rigorous child safeguarding policy and our Head Teacher, Mr Shore, is the Child Safeguarding Officer for Nursery and School. 

Seamless Transfer to ‘Big School’

Being linked to Waverley Preparatory School, we also benefit from regular use of the school facilities such as the library and sports hall.

By introducing them gradually to the wider world of ‘Big School’, our Nursery children become familiar with the main school and get used to seeing older children around without feeling overwhelmed. By the time it’s their turn to move up to ‘Big School’, it’s a seamless transition which is stress-free for both children and parents. It’s simply another day at Waverley, with all the fun and learning that this includes!

Our Teaching Inspiration

At Waverley Nursery we have become inspired by the infant/toddler and preschool programs of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Particularly for our younger Nursery children, we base some of our play and learning activities around this approach. We encourage the children to investigate and explore the world around them to then instigate questions, ideas and learning. We use their interest to develop ideas into play, singing, art, drawing and discussions to help them understand more about what has sparked their interest.   

The Reggio Emilia Approach is based on the following principles -

• Offers children influence over the direction of their learning
• The environment acts as a third teacher
• The interests of the children help to initiate future projects
• The children are seen as competent unique individuals with knowledge, understanding and interests.