Cookham Dean Nursery

Cookham Dean Nursery (Tythe Barn) was our first nursery to open in 1991. It is located in the safe and secure grounds of a private house in the Dean and is surrounded by beautiful open countryside and away from main roads. Newly refurbished in 2012, the small and friendly 30 place nursery creates a home from home environment, our welcoming Baby and Toddler Unit cares for children from 3 months until 2 ½  years, and our Pre-school room welcomes children from 2 ½ until they are ready for the transition to school.

Our Baby and Toddler Unit is a welcoming and bright room which caters for 12 children from 3 months to 30 months.  The baby room provides opportunities and activities from children up until they can walk. There is a range of stimulating toys provided by caring and nurturing practitioners. We have a sensory corner for children to discover new textures and sounds and a cosy area to share stories and enjoy one-to-one experiences. Our baby room provides many opportunities to develop both fine motor and gross motor skills. It has a separate sleep room which is monitored throughout the day. Within this area of the nursery staff follow each babies individual routine, ensuring they are working with the parents closely as things change.

The toddler room takes children from walking until 30 months.  The resources are at the Toddler’s level allowing them to self-select toys during their day. They enjoy stories and singing in their cosy book corner and love to cook or sweep up in their home corner.  The Toddlers enjoy free flow onto an enclosed veranda, where they can access a sandpit and chalking area and watch all the ‘goings on’ of the nursery garden.

Our Pre-school Room is a spacious and bright room which accommodates 18 children aged from 30 months to 5 years; with most resources at the children’s level they are able to select toys of their choice through the day. The children continue to learn through play and the Pre-school room is divided into the different areas of learning allowing them to do so. These areas include a home corner, book/cosy corner, play-dough table, mark making table, creative table, painting easel, ICT area and a construction area.  The children have free flow access into a secure garden area where they can experience sand, water and messy builders’ tray activities, as well as enjoying many other activities!

Sarah Letton - Manager 

Sarah qualified in 2001 and has been Manager at Cookham Dean since November 2006; she has many years' experience in day-care settings and trained at our nursery in Burnham. Sarah very much enjoys her time with the children. Since qualifying Sarah has kept her knowledge of childcare up to date and has attended many courses, including Safeguarding Children, Health & Safety, First Aid and Behaviour Management.

What Sarah says about her nursery ....

"Our newly refurbished 30 place nursery creates a home from home environment for the children in our care. We are within walking distance of the local woods and the turkey farm, which are fantastic adventures for the children. We are also very lucky to have use of the garden to the rear of the main house, where the children can enjoy nature walks and a vegetable patch.

Our small groups allow our creative team to plan a range of marvellous opportunities for the children to experience and ensure that they are getting the very best out of what we provide. The staff and parents have worked hard to develop an effective partnership, including introducing Parent to Nursery days and other family events such as an annual fun day and Christmas concert!

We also believe in nurturing a smooth transition from home to nursery so, before children join Cookham Dean, we offer a home visit, which lets the children see their key worker in their own environment; this helps the children when they come into the nursery, to see a familiar face.

We have lots of fantastic outdoor areas to explore! Our babies and toddlers have an enclosed veranda which allows them to enjoy a free flow experience whatever the weather. The Pre-school children can also enjoy free flow into an area where they experience activities, such as water channels, balance beams, building blocks, a cosy area and sand. All the children love to regularly explore our nature garden, after following a winding path the children can experience a climbing frame with swings, a slide, there are lots of little areas to hide and seek and there is also an outdoor learning area incorporating all of our indoor activities!”

Opening Hours

We are open 7.45am until 6pm Monday to Friday and close for Bank Holidays and for one week at Christmas.

We provide childcare on a full or part time basis. Parents can choose full or half day sessions according to what best suits their needs (subject to availability and ½ days at the Manager’s discretion).

Morning session 7.45am - 12.30pm       Afternoon 1.30pm - 6.00pm        Full Day 7.45am - 6.00pm 

Feedback from Parents

“Thanks again for the wonderful care you are giving XX and for your patience with him. It is so important for me to know he is well cared for and loved when away from home – I'm sure most parents say that!”

“If I haven't said before I wanted to say how great it is to see the pictures of what you have been doing as it really gives me a great understanding of what she is up to in a given day - so thank you!”

Feedback from “Parent to Nursery Day”

“I was pleased to see such a variety in the activities/learning and development for the children. It was great to see the staff being so aware of each child and their input where necessary, each child was given encouragement to ensure they contributed/learned from the activity. I was just so impressed with the staff's level of awareness of each individual child and how well they meet each child's needs”.

Ofsted Report 2011

"The staff take great pride in helping and supporting the children develop and learn.  Consideration is given to their individual needs and in evaluating the activities, allowing the staf to provide for their continuous progression".

"The staff plan a wide range of interesting activities, whilst encouraging the children to take the lead during play.  For example, the children wanted to go to the moon so they designed and made a large rocket.  As a team, they made a decision about whether to add windows, a control panel and steps.  They then made consideration to the food they would take with them and so they made 'moon biscuits', whilst carefully measuring and weighing the ingredients".

"... the children display a strong sense of contentment and security.  They are confident to confide in adults, as they share a warm and affectionate relationship".

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