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Orchidale Children's Nursery

Ofsted: Outstanding
(Jun 2022)
·
4.9(58 parent reviews) ·Nursery Bungalow, Fir Covert Road, NORWICH, NR8 6HT · Norfolk
Number of places
75 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Jun 2022
Local authority
Norfolk

About this day nursery

Orchidale Children's Nursery, which registered in 2015, provides a nurturing home-from-home setting in Norwich, NR8 6HT. The nursery serves children from birth to four years old, operating from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday, all year round.

The dedicated team of 19 childcare staff, 15 of whom hold qualifications at level 2 or above, includes an early years teacher and two staff members with a level 6 qualification, ensuring a high quality of education and care. This commitment to professional development is prioritised by the manager to maintain the quality of education available to all children.

The children at Orchidale develop exceptional bonds with staff and flourish in their care, arriving happy and excited to learn. They consistently show strong levels of independence from an early age and develop an outstanding understanding of the natural world through daily forest school classes.

The nursery also fosters an excellent attitude towards working with the local community, with children regularly visiting a local home for the elderly to form special caring friendships. Staff skilfully support children's personal, social and emotional development, encouraging them to understand their feelings and promoting high levels of confidence and a willingness to engage, preparing them well for their next steps in education at school.

The setting provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

What it's like

Children have built exceptional bonds with staff and flourish in their care. They arrive happy and are excited to learn at this nurturing home-from-home setting. Children benefit from highly stimulating and exciting activities. They take part in daily yoga sessions to help support well-being and build on their physical skills. Children express their interests with confidence and decide what they would like to play with each day. They are inquisitive learners and actively explore the wide range of resources and learning opportunities that are available to them. Staff have high expectations for all children. They ensure the quality of teaching and care are maintained at the highest level throughout the nursery. Therefore, children make excellent progress, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children show strong levels of respect for others and understand the importance of being kind. They can be heard using phrases such as 'kind hands' and 'use your kind words'. Children develop an exceptional understanding of the natural world through exploration and inspirational teaching from staff. They attend daily forest school classes and learn about fungi growing on the logs and how to keep themselves safe.

Nurturing environmentStrong independenceCommunity engagementOutdoor learningExcellent progress

Pricing & funding

Funding accepted

15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)

Key facts

Opening hours

7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday

Term time / All Year

All_year

Established

2015

Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for Orchidale Children's Nursery

Last inspected 9 June 2022

Overall effectiveness
Outstanding

What it's like to attend

Children have built exceptional bonds with staff and flourish in their care. They arrive happy and are excited to learn at this nurturing home-from-home setting. Children benefit from highly stimulating and exciting activities. They take part in daily yoga sessions to help support well-being and build on their physical skills. Children express their interests with confidence and decide what they would like to play with each day. They are inquisitive learners and actively explore the wide range of resources and learning opportunities that are available to them. Staff have high expectations for all children. They ensure the quality of teaching and care are maintained at the highest level throughout the nursery. Therefore, children make excellent progress, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children show strong levels of respect for others and understand the importance of being kind. They can be heard using phrases such as 'kind hands' and 'use your kind words'. Children develop an exceptional understanding of the natural world through exploration and inspirational teaching from staff. They attend daily forest school classes and learn about fungi growing on the logs and how to keep themselves safe.

Inspector highlights

  • Children have built exceptional bonds with staff and flourish in their care, arriving happy and excited to learn at this nurturing home-from-home setting.
  • Children benefit from highly stimulating and exciting activities, including daily yoga sessions to support their well-being and physical skills.
  • Children express their interests with confidence and decide what they would like to play with each day, demonstrating they are inquisitive learners.
  • Staff have high expectations for all children, ensuring the quality of teaching and care is maintained at the highest level, leading to excellent progress.
  • Children show strong levels of respect for others and understand the importance of being kind, using phrases like 'kind hands' and 'use your kind words'.
  • Children have outstanding levels of independence from an early age, demonstrating self-care skills during mealtimes.
  • The setting has an excellent attitude towards working with the local community, with children regularly visiting a local home for the elderly.
  • Staff carry out robust observations and assessments of children's learning, promptly identifying any gaps in development and planning activities effectively.
  • Management and staff have developed fantastic parent partnerships, with parents feeling well-informed about their children's development.
  • Staff skilfully support children's personal, social and emotional development, encouraging them to understand their feelings and manage their behaviour effectively.
  • Staff deliver high-quality interactions and build on children's speech and language effectively, immersing them in opportunities to extend their communication and language skills.
  • The manager places a high priority on supporting staff's professional development to maintain the quality of education available to children annually.
  • The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff demonstrating an excellent understanding of how to protect children from harm and confidently describing their reporting procedures and safeguarding protocols.
Inspection #10219447 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make excellent progress, reflecting the staff's exceptional understanding of what each child knows and can do, and their next steps.

Outdoor space

Children develop an exceptional understanding of the natural world through exploration and inspirational teaching from staff. They attend daily forest school classes and learn about fungi growing on the logs and how to keep themselves safe. Children dig in the garden using shovels and spades which helps them build resilience, physical and social skills.

Parent Reviews of Orchidale Children's Nursery

4.9
(58)
Emma Thornton
4 months ago

Our experience with Orchidale has been, and continues to be, outstanding. Our toddler started here when he was 12 months old and now at nearly 21 months old, he is thriving. Every day the staff do something different with the children, from animal visits, to garden centre outings, puppet shows and garden time. The staff are incredibly knowledgeable and understanding and have been amazing whenever any concerns have popped up about development or behaviour. I cannot recommend Orchidale enough and feel that they're as supportive to parents as they are essential for young children.

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Andrea Colbrook
3 months ago

My daughter started at Orchidale in September 2025. She absolutely loves it here, and we are so thankful to have such a wonderful nursery available to us. She loves being outside, exploring and learning new things. This is one of many reasons we love it here. Due to my working hours, she does do long days at nursery (10 hours), this does not negatively impact her as she is always very well cared for, supported, and happy during her time there. She has built strong relationships with the staff, which is clear as she often talks about them and even asks for them outside of nursery hours.The team create such a nurturing and engaging environment, she feels comfortable, settled, and genuinely enjoys attending. Pick-up and drop-offs are always handled smoothly, it isn't often my daughter will get upset when I drop her off in the morning, but on the occasions she does get upset, the staff are very reassuring and know exactly how to comfort her, helping her to settle quickly. Thank you Orchidale!

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Anna
5 months ago

Orchidale is a wonderful nursery. The team work very hard to ensure the children have fun, enriched days. They keep rabbits and chickens, which my daughter loves. To me what set them apart other than the kind and empathetic staff is the wonderful, large natural environment they provide and the trips they are taken on. I have seen my daughter who was quite shy grow immensely in confidence and curiosity. She is 2 years old and driving home from nursery recently asked me "mummy what do clouds do?" I feel she is being prepared for school in terms of her curiosity, language capability and interest in the wider world, without the nursery setting being formal or restrictive. I was nervous about sending her to nursery and experienced 'mum guilt' but the team were consistent and kept me updated all the way. Jess the manager said she was happy for me to call whenever I needed to check how she was settling in. Now I know she's having such a fun day and look forward to the photos of all the wonderful things they've been upto. Thank you to the wonderful team.

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Kat Markevica
7 months ago

By far the best nursery around! Our son has been with Orchidale for almost two years, and the difference it has made to his development — and to our lives as parents — has been truly incredible. From the very start, the staff have shown such genuine care, patience, and passion for what they do. Every single member of the team goes above and beyond to make the children feel valued, understood, and supported. Our son can sometimes display challenging behaviour, but the staff at Orchidale never gave up on him. They took the time to understand his needs, find the right approach, and help him overcome every hurdle with kindness and consistency. We have been so blessed with his wonderful key people, who treated him not just as a child in their care but as part of their own Orchidale family. Academically, we’ve been amazed too — our son is leaving the nursery being able to read confidently and showing a real love for learning. His teachers noticed his interest and talent in reading and maths early on and nurtured those skills beautifully, helping him thrive in ways we never expected at this age. We could not recommend Orchidale more highly. It’s more than just a nursery — it’s a place filled with warmth, understanding, and genuine dedication to every child’s happiness and growth. We’ll always be grateful for the incredible start they’ve given our son.

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Chelsea Howe
6 months ago

My little girl joined the nursery a few months ago and I've continued to be impressed every week, the effort and attention and love they provide for the children really is outstanding. My little girls key worker Abbie really is a superstar and as a mother with anxiety it was my biggest worry leaving my little girl there as she's very little! But Abbie never leaves a question unanswered at the door, she has welcome arms for my little one every session and my little girl is more than happy to go in, never with fuss and always with a huge smile. Truly an exceptional nursery and I can't wait to see how she progresses over the years. Thank you so much for making this journey for us so wonderful so far x

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Reviews from Google for Orchidale Children's Nursery. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history
Improved from Good → Outstanding in 2022
  • June 2022Outstanding
  • August 2016Good

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This listing has been compiled from official Ofsted records, the nursery's own website, details provided directly by the nursery where available, and other trusted public sources. We regularly review and update listings to keep the information as accurate as possible. Learn more