Our food

We are big foodies, the nursery kitchen is at the heart of our nursery, open plan for all to see what is being created there.  Parents stop in delight to take in the aromas, and find out what has been cooking, just like their children earlier in the day.  Each day we have five to six food stops, our breakfast, a morning snack, lunch of a main course and starter or dessert. Then we have afternoon snack and afternoon tea, plus if children are here after 6pm, another little snack.  Sometimes we successfully harvest our own produce for inclusion within the menu, and the children get stuck in helping prepare the food especially if they are assisting the carers in cooking outside on their fire.  The children input meal ideas, create their own shopping lists, and involve themselves in unloading the fresh deliveries.  Food hygiene and safety standards are embedded.  

Meals are made each day and we offer huge variety with regularly changing, exciting, nutritious new ingredients which are adaptable to the seasons’ and situations -  we don’t know if we want homemade vegetable soup next week as it might be hot and we want to make lollies and smoothies; a rolling menu would be too predictable for us.  Our vegetarian and vegan options are offered daily. The children serve themselves where possible, giving them full ownership of their personal choice.  It is much more likely for children to eat well when they can confidently decide if they want custard on the side or on top or not at all.  Great nutrition is important especially when we spend so much time eating and socialising together.  We use glasses, china and real cutlery that actually works and we have team colour coded sports bottles for our water throughout the day.  Our large blackboard shows our menu each day and you will see the children’s assessments recorded there as we recap on the food we have eaten.

Forest School in the holidays

When children have left us to go onto school we offer Forest school for them during their holidays, this is for children from their Reception year right up to the age of twelve.  This works extremely well for families who have younger siblings already attending nursery.  It is operated between 8 am and 6 pm, with an hour either side if required.  Children are catered for by the nursery, although they can have supervised cooking on their open fires periodically.  This service complements our nursery and can be booked in advance or day by day.  All the children need is the right clothes, sun cream and hats, waterproofs and a change of sturdy footwear as we are likely to get wet!

They are based in our Shepherds hut which has its own fire and handwashing facilities.  When the weather is extremely poor, they also have the luxury of our outdoor classroom to use.  It is lovely to welcome back the children and always a bonus if the Forest school leaders had worked with them when they were younger.

We call our older children, the forest schoolers. Most of what they choose to do lasts for the day or even days - they are often off walking, seen building dens, climbing trees, and using adult size hand tools.  Here the teamwork is obvious as they bring construction to a large scale.  The imagination is free to go wild and creativity presents itself with excited children relaying their experiences to their parents upon collection.

Here are some of the parents’ most frequent questions – answered.

What do I need to supply for my child?  

Children need to supply their own nappies and wipes and  Sudocrem please.  And, a spare set of clothes, including socks, to be placed in their nursery rucksacks.   We will furnish you with a helpful list of what to pack as the requirement changes with the seasons, but a waterproof and welly boots or sun protective suits and sun cream is the basic need.  A spare pair of shoes all year around such as slippers.  In the winter snowsuits are ideal and plenty of layer’s work well.  Nursery uniform is sold here for children over two years, for the under two’s our uniform is optional as we are growing so fast.

And please can I remind you that we are out in all weathers, and we have a strong belief that there is no such thing as ‘bad weather’, just bad clothing.  So, it really helps if mums and dads pack our rucksacks well each day in preparation for any weather ahead.

Can you cater for my child’s dietary needs?

Yes, the nursery kitchen caters for a vast array of intolerances and sensitivities within diets, together with more serious allergies.  We collaborate with parents, doctors, and dieticians to overcome any intolerances and allergies through altering our menu to accommodate this whilst making sure food is similar for all children to feel included.  The vegetarian and vegan options are always included in our menu.  Only in extreme cases where food cannot be prepared in the same kitchen as other foods would it be necessary for parents to bring in an alternative.

Is there a minimum attendance?

Yes, children come to nursery between two and five days each week throughout the year.  This ensures they settle quickly and does not disrupt the middle of our day when we are off site or engaged with children.  It is difficult to cover the government framework for children over three years in less than three days and that is the ideal minimum attendance for a child over three before starting school.  The minimum remains at two days throughout a child’s time at nursery.

What are the requirements for Forest school?

Children can book just one day and will need to bring in a bag of clothes to ensure that we have our legs and arms covered, plus appropriate clothing and food wear for the weather of the season.  Children also need to be siblings of children already attending nursery or be ex-NDN children.   This is so that we know them and their families, have full details recording about them and importantly because they have gone through our fire training and tool use at nursery with us already.  We are also a small nursery and the Forest school during the holidays compliments our nursery service as opposed to being opened to the public as an additional venture.

What methods of payments do you accept?

We accept anything apart from shirt buttons! Invoices are online and parents can take advantage of childcare vouchers, Tax-Free Childcare, tax credits, Universal Credit and free education and childcare for 2-year-olds, 15 hours free childcare for 3- to 4-year-olds and free childcare if you are working.  Payments can be made by standing order, direct debit, bank transfers, faster payment instructions, cash, or cheque or any of the advantages listed above.

You would choose Nutfield Nursery because.

You will want to know beyond doubt that your child’s welfare is paramount.

You need full day care and want your child/children to benefit from socialisation within a small group.

You wish your child to grow in independence and confidence whilst still being supported by a team of experienced, knowledgeable, and caring adults.

You want your child or children to enjoy and have fun particularly in the outdoor environment as a compliment to your home lives.

You want to know that your child/children will be looked after even if you are delayed.

You know your child/children need individual care and education where they will be respected and listened to.  

As parents and with your extended family you want to work with us to best meet the changing needs of your children during their magical development journey at Nutfield.

You will appreciate the accelerated learning methods adopted in our unpressurised environment.

You want to see appropriate education, where your children travel through personal exploration, and you can see our teaching.

You want school readiness, without losing sight of life skills and the real world outside the classroom.

You want your children to benefit from high standards of health and safety whilst embracing real life tasks such as finding out about tool use and fire lighting.

You have a strong regard for the involvement of food in our lives and hygiene and nutrition are important to you.

You want a homely feel to the place where your child spends a great deal of time, and you want them to be treasured and nurtured with the help of nature.

Fees

We offer competitive rates; fees are set annually from the 1 September for the year ahead.  We offer sibling and full-time discounts.  Three simple rates for under two, over two and over three years of age.  But please contact us for a full breakdown of the entire fee structure document.

Can I speak with another parent?

Of course, we would recommend this.  We can put you in contact with families past or present, with twins, with four children, with a young baby.  Just ask us.

You can sign up.

Easily by just completing our registration form and returning that to us via email or post or you can deliver by hand to our parcel box at the main entrance gates from the road to the nursery.  We can email the registration form to you once you have viewed our nursery and have asked any questions you have at the time.  Assuming there is no time lapse between viewing and registering you will know whether you are in a waiting list situation or whether you can proceed to securing a place with us straight away.

Once all the paperwork is out of the way, we hold an initial meeting with parents in our roundhouse, which takes up to two and a half hours as there is a lot to share about the children before you bounce into nursery on your first day.  And we need one of your child’s main carers to come and meet you all in your home, that is important, we have done a lot of research on the attachment theory so there is plenty to organise before your child starts with us.  This settling in process cannot be rushed so there needs to be a bit of time to make sure you are confident about us having shaped our service for your family to start with us.

You can contact us.

You can contact us at any time, we are always here during most daylight hours and beyond, just not at weekends but leave us a message via email or on our landline.

Nutfield Day Nursery Ltd

Church Hill

Nutfield

Redhill

Surrey

RH1 4JA

Tel: 01737 822014

staff@nutfielddaynursery.co.uk

Other information

Latest Ofsted report dated 24 May 2023.

We were last inspected by Environmental Health on 18 September 2023.

We were rated by the Food Standards Agency as five star.  The Food Standards Agency runs the scheme.

Under the scheme, food businesses are rated on a scale of zero to five.  A business receives a rating based on information from a routine food hygiene inspection program conducted by council food safety officers.  

The top rating of five represents a ‘very good’ standard of food hygiene.

We are members of the National Day Nurseries Association.