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Culham Village Nursery and Preschool

Ofsted: Expected standard·
4.9(8 parent reviews) ·High Street, Culham, Abingdon, OX14 4NB · Oxfordshire
Number of places
71 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Jan 2026
Local authority
Oxfordshire

About this day nursery

Culham Village Nursery and Preschool, registered in August 2024, provides a nurturing 'Childcare on non-domestic premises' setting in Abingdon for children aged 0-4. Based on its January 2026 Ofsted inspection, the nursery achieved an overall 'Good' rating.

The nursery operates year-round, Monday to Friday, from 07:30 to 18:00, creating a consistent and stable environment for children's development. Following the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum, the setting places a strong emphasis on individualised learning, ensuring that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language (EAL), receive appropriate support.

Staff carefully assess and track each child's progress, using focused assessments for communication and language development to address any gaps efficiently. The nursery's commitment to inclusive practices means they liaise with external professionals and parents to tailor support effectively.

Children benefit from a curriculum that promotes confidence and independence, with varied activities that encourage engagement and social skills. Outdoor learning is also a key feature, where children are taught about appropriate clothing for different weather and how to identify potential risks, fostering self-care awareness.

The nursery maintains strong parent partnerships, facilitating communication through an online app and daily handovers, which parents particularly appreciate.

Our ethos

Culham Village Nursery & Preschool is committed to nurturing happy, confident children through thoughtfully designed learning spaces and a caring team. They emphasise continuous learning and development, with each child assigned a Key Person who crafts engaging activities based on their interests. The nursery also offers opportunities for active, imaginative play through its expansive outdoor areas, including a forest school.

What it's like

Children at Culham Village Nursery and Preschool are happy and settled, forming close bonds with caring staff who provide reassurance and support, especially for new entrants. The setting has high expectations for children's learning and ensures their individual needs are well-known, leading to all children making good progress. Children develop confidence, independence, and social skills through positive praise, clear expectations, and engaging activities. They enjoy varied activities and engage with interest.

Nurturing EnvironmentIndividualised LearningStrong Parent PartnershipsEYFS CurriculumOutdoor Play

Pricing & funding

Privately funded fees include all meals, snacks, nappies, and wipes. Charges are billed monthly based on required hours and funding eligibility. Government funding is stretched over 52 weeks, with options for fully funded sessions or additional paid hours booked around them.

Funding accepted

30 hours — working parents (3–4 yrs)15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)Tax-Free Childcare
  • Morning session (7.30am–10am)£28.92 / session
  • Afternoon session (3.30pm–6pm)£28.92 / session
  • Late afternoon session (5pm–6pm)£11.57 / session
  • Daily lunch charge on funded days£5.05 / day

Good to know

  • Fees are billed monthly.
  • Privately funded places include nappies, wipes, milk, snacks, breakfast (before 8.30am), and hot lunch.
  • Funding is stretched over 52 weeks (15 hours becomes 11 hours, 30 hours becomes 22 hours).
  • Funding hours are restricted to specific limits for children attending 2 or 3 days per week.
  • Fully funded sessions are available, with optional charges for additional hours.
  • A voluntary lunch charge applies on funded days, or parents can provide a packed lunch.

Key facts

Food

Fresh, home-cooked meals prepared daily by a chef, accommodating food preferences and intolerances. Parents can provide packed lunches on funded days if they choose not to pay for the provided lunch.

Age range

Babies up to 18 months, Toddlers up to 30 months, and Preschoolers from 2 to 5 years.

Waitlist

Spaces fill very quickly, early enquiry recommended.

Opening hours

Monday – Friday, 7:30 AM - 6:00 PM

Term time / All Year

All_year

Staff

At least 4

Established

2024

Ofsted Inspection — new report card

Expected standard

Last inspected Jan 2026

Headline: Expected standard

Grade summary

Exceptional
—
Strong standard
—
Expected standard
Needs attention
—
Urgent improvement
—

Each dot represents one of the six inspection categories. Headline is the average of the six grades, rounded up.

Category grades

AchievementExpected standard
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routinesExpected standard
Children's welfare and wellbeingExpected standard
Curriculum and teachingExpected standard
InclusionExpected standard
Leadership and governanceExpected standard
Age range
0 to 4
Registers
Early Years Register
Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for Culham Village Nursery and Preschool

Last inspected 14 January 2026

What it's like to attend

Children at Culham Village Nursery and Preschool are happy and settled, forming close bonds with caring staff who provide reassurance and support, especially for new entrants. The setting has high expectations for children's learning and ensures their individual needs are well-known, leading to all children making good progress. Children develop confidence, independence, and social skills through positive praise, clear expectations, and engaging activities. They enjoy varied activities and engage with interest.

Inspector highlights

  • Children make good progress and are well-prepared for their next stage of learning.
  • Staff form close bonds with children, providing a safe and secure environment.
  • Children develop confidence and independence through positive praise and encouragement.
  • Children enjoy varied activities and engage with interest.
  • Effective partnerships with parents and good communication through an online app.
  • The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding, with leaders responsibly fulfilling their duties.

Areas to develop

  • 1Leaders should ensure that staff's practice is monitored and supported more precisely to help develop consistent and fully embedded highly effective teaching and interactions to support children's needs.
  • 2Leaders should support staff to recognise children's individual learning needs to ensure teaching, activities and resources match these needs more effectively, to support their ongoing achievement.
Inspection #2803375 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Staff know their key children's learning needs securely, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They observe, assess and track children's progress. They use focused assessments to identify communication and language development, enabling prompt responses to close gaps. Leaders and staff liaise with external professionals and parents of children with additional needs and/or SEND to ensure appropriate support.

Outdoor space

Older children learn about what clothing they need to wear outdoors. Staff explain to pre-school children about how running around outside helps them to feel warm on a cold day. Staff help children to recognise potential risks, such as slipping over if it might be icy, to gain awareness of how to care for themselves.

EAL / language support

Staff provide well-considered support to children who speak English as an additional language. They learn key words in home languages, use visual timetables, signing, and gestures to support communication. Activities and resources reflecting individual backgrounds, such as books in other languages, value and include all children securely.

Parent Reviews of Culham Village Nursery and Preschool

4.9
(8)
emily morgan
6 months ago

Our daughter has been attending Culham Village nursery since she was 9 months old and has loved every second! Staff are caring, kind and always put her needs first - she’s so happy at drop off in the mornings and it’s lovely to see. Food is fresh and prepared by the chef each day, I can relax knowing she gets a healthy range of food throughout the day. Overall, I highly recommend the nursery and I’m very thankful for all they’ve done!

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Lewis
6 months ago

My little girl has been attending Culham village nursery for over a year now! She has formed some great bonds with the staff who genuinely care about her as an individual. She learns so much and is always sharing her new knowledge when she comes home! The food is amazing as she will always try what is offered. Could not recommend this nursery enough.

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Robyn Russell
7 months ago

I honestly couldn’t recommend culham village enough. The staff in the lower preschool room — Paige, Leah, Mary, and Natalia have been nothing short of amazing with my son. He’d never been in any kind of childcare setting before and found it quite difficult at first, but they’ve been so patient, loving, and gentle with him every step of the way. You can tell they truly care about the children, and that means the world to me. They’re all so lovely and interactive with him, I trust them completely which as a parent is such a huge thing to be able to say. I honestly feel like he’s in the best hands, and I couldn’t thank them enough for helping him settle and thrive. The nursery itself is beautiful — calm, welcoming, and full of amazing toys and activities that are fun and engaging for all the children. You can see how much thought and care goes into everything they do. It’s a 5-star nursery through and through, and I’ll be forever grateful for the care and kindness they’ve shown my son.

Read on Google
R S
7 months ago

Overall this is a good nursery and my child is happy and settled there. My elder child went to a different nursery and comparing the two I believe there are a few things they can improve on to become an excellent place- 1. Nursery manager is not visible enough to parents, I never met her and never saw her visiting the children's rooms. 2. Nursery can make a higher effort to teach the children and prepare them to school, the balance between free play and learning can be better (I believe it's once a week for teaching letters etc in preschool). To compare, my elder had a daily lesson and came back home with notebooks showing her work on writing letters and numbers. 3. To create a community feeling, there could be a few more events with parents at the nursery (apart from Christmas).

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Sarah Ridder
2 years ago

Our two daughters go to Culham Village Nursery and Preschool, our youngest started there when she was 7 months old and our oldest started there when she was 12 months old and has been in the Lower Preschool group now for 9 months. Georgia in the baby group has been wonderful; she has built a strong relationship with our daughter, helped her develop in leaps and bounds since she joined Culham Nursery, really goes the extra mile and has been an outstanding member of staff. Our daughter also gets involved in so many fun and creative activities in the Baby Group which are always lovely to hear about when we pick her up from nursery and have also helped in her development. We have every confidence in Gerogia, and as a parent, I cannot express to you enough what peace of mind that gives us whilst we're at work away from her knowing she is in such good hands. Our older daughter is now in the Lower pre-school group... I wish we'd written similar feedback along the way as she progress through the different groups... But to single out two people in particular, Catlin and Jane were her key workers in Baby and Toddlers, they built such a wonderful relationship and bond with her and we are truly greatful as their time with her contributed and helped calve out the character and person she's become today. The staff in our older daughters current room (Lower Preschool) are great and we've really seen her independence and social skills boom in recent months. Just to provide a bit of wider feedback, we find time and time again that the quality of care and service provided by the nursery and Preschool staff are second to none. We are so greatful to them, they go above and beyond and it is obvious they are passionate about their jobs. Our daughters loves kitchen school activities and both the girls eat such healthy nutricious meals made by the cook Jeannette. A very long post, but it really does go to show just how many wonderful people they have working there. We really can't imagine our girls in nursery/preschool anywhere else.

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for Culham Village Nursery and Preschool. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Most recent inspection

14 January 2026

Expected standard

Only one graded inspection on record — a trend chart will appear here once a second graded report is published.

View full Ofsted report

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