Naturally Learning Blackwater

About this day nursery

Naturally Learning Blackwater, located in the rural village of Blackwater near the A30, offers a unique Forest School Nursery and Preschool experience for children from birth to five years old. The nursery benefits from extensive outdoor spaces, including a private woodland, facilitating a strong connection with nature.

Learning takes place in a series of cabins that open directly to nursery gardens, promoting continuous indoor-outdoor exploration. Children are transported in mini-vans to the Truro Forest School for additional woodland learning adventures.

The nursery strongly emphasises a holistic approach to childcare, focusing on the complete well-being of each child, encompassing physical, emotional, social, and intellectual growth. They offer a child-led approach to education with project-based learning and a seasonal curriculum, nurturing children's interests and inquiry.

The commitment to sustainability is evident in their operations, fostering a love for the natural world and aspiring to cultivate future conservationists. Nutritional well-being is also prioritised, with in-house chefs preparing fresh, seasonal, home-cooked menus that encourage healthy eating habits and family-style dining experiences.

The nursery provides environments that support both active play and quiet reflection, understanding the need for children to process and recharge, and staff are trained to support individual sleep patterns for infants. They aim to foster authentic relationships between staff, children, and parents, with a Key Person system allowing children to form secure attachments, providing a stable base for exploration and learning.

Our ethos

As a child’s brain begins to develop in the womb, it is nearly complete by the age of four. It is in the early years of life that brain growth occurs most quickly, with multitudes of new connections being made every day. At Naturally Learning we understand the importance of early brain development and have created an ethos that promotes a holistic approach to childcare.Integral to our ethos is the importance of nurturing each child as a whole. At Naturally Learning we recognise that children’s wellbeing forms the basis of their early experiences and we encourage positive development of children’s physical, emotional, social and intellectual wellbeing.We prioritise children’s physical growth by preparing wholesome meals that provide them with the nutrients to develop, learn and grow. Our in-house chefs prepare a seasonal, home-cooked menu that offers a well-balanced diet and a wide variety of choice. We promise to provide healthy food that promotes brain development and strengthens the immune system. As part of our ethos, we model healthy mealtime routines and promote positive eating habits. Children help to prepare food, learn how to use real tableware and serve themselves in our family-style dining experiences.We recognise that young children need time and space to move freely so our environments are spacious and open ended. Children experiment with a wide range of movement to develop their core strength and motor skills. You will find heavy resources to lift and carry, large scale construction opportunities and ‘risky’ play experiences that allow children to understand their body, developing an awareness of internal sensory feedback. In the great outdoors we swing, roll and climb to develop the body’s proprioceptive and vestibular sensory systems, improving core strength, balance and coordination. These stages of developmental movement are vital for school readiness.In addition to play spaces and outdoor environments, we provide peaceful places for rest both indoors and out. We know that all children need time to process and reflect, and have created spaces that promote quiet time or communication. Children can access fairy lit nooks or choose a hammock or den to relax and recharge under the trees.We understand the importance of sleep and work in partnership with families to ensure children get the rest they need for growth and development. We follow babies natural sleep patterns as they settle into nursery and offer bespoke cots and sleep pods to promote comfortable sleep. Our staff team will tailor babies sleep routines to provide an individual and nurturing experience for each child.We are committed to working in partnership with parents to promote each individual child’s development. At Naturally Learning, we build authentic relationships with our children and nurture them to become confident, independent and resilient.Our well-qualified, knowledgeable and experienced educators support our children at each stage of their journey. We invest in our staff team and promote professional development to ensure our ethos is embedded, creating a team of emotionally responsive caregivers and inspirational educators.Once children have settled in, they can choose their own Key Person based on a natural bond they develop with an individual member of the team. The Key Person provides professional love and respectfully nurtures the children in their care. A strong attachment creates a secure base from which children can explore, and provides a first point of contact for their family.Our child-led approach to education ensures there is time to play, space to explore and freedom to choose. Through project-based planning and a seasonal curriculum, we naturally scaffold children’s learning through their own interests and inquiry.Amongst the indoor play spaces, there are sensory opportunities to explore, explorative art projects, nature studies to be discovered and an authentic ripple of school readiness where appropriate.Children access our outdoor environments to move freely, be loud, tell stories, investigate growth, use tools, light fires, becoming confident and risk aware. It is here that children learn about the natural world and develop self-awareness.We are proud to offer award-winning Forest and Beach School sessions as outdoor learning is at the heart of our ethos.At Naturally Learning we are committed to sustainability. Our respect for the planet is reflected in our vision and considered in our daily decision making. Our ethos captures the wild at heart, fostering a love for the natural world and nurturing the next generation of conservationists.

What it's like

Children are respectfully guided by highly skilled staff in a rich learning environment, and the well-embedded curriculum ensures exceptional progress. Managers and staff create meaningful learning opportunities, such as exploring the topic of weather and developing independence and mathematical skills through creative activities.