Acorn Day Nursery (Stony Stratford)

About this day nursery

Acorn Day Nursery in Stony Stratford is part of the Acorn Early Years Foundation, a charitable organisation dedicated to providing high-quality, ethical, and sustainable childcare. Their core philosophy, 'Putting children first,' underpins every aspect of their approach, fostering a nurturing environment through strong relationships with children and families.

They are committed to personalised care and education, ensuring children's happiness, fun, and laughter are central to their experience. Acorn places a significant emphasis on outdoor learning, with Forest School programmes and a focus on natural materials and green practices, encouraging children to connect with the natural world year-round.

They also prioritise professional development for their staff, fostering a learning organisation that consistently strives for excellence in early years education and care. This dedication extends to their culinary offerings, which feature freshly prepared, locally sourced, healthy meals, further supporting the well-being of both children and staff.

Our ethos

The Acorn Ethos is summarised as 'Putting children first,' with a strong ethic of care central to all interactions. The organisation prioritises building caring relationships and a responsive approach with everyone, fostering the social and emotional well-being of children and contributing to a more caring and connected society. Acorn aims to inspire the early childhood sector through an ethical, innovative, and sustainable model of early years care and education, particularly highlighting outdoor play and learning, and staff professional development. The core values include: Personal (communicating informally, treating individuals, developing caring relationships, creating homely environments, and focusing on personalised care and education where children's happiness is key); Professional (continually developing staff knowledge, skills, and qualifications, acting as a learning organisation, setting high standards for professional conduct, and aiming for excellence); Nurturing (prioritising children's development and well-being with a holistic approach, employing staff who love working with children, providing freshly prepared, healthy, locally sourced food, and offering first-hand learning experiences); Outdoor (promoting learning and play in natural environments through Forest Schools, encouraging natural materials and green practices, and enabling year-round experience with the natural world); and Ethical (operating as a charitable organisation that puts children before profit, aiming to be inclusive and sustainable environmentally and financially, and seeking excellence, honesty, and integrity).

What it's like

The curriculum for children is highly ambitious and runs through the whole setting with seamless fluency. The nursery atmosphere is calm, and children explore and move with a sense of confidence and purpose.