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Partou Bumpkins Day Nursery & Forest School in Royston (SG8 5SQ)

Ofsted: Outstanding
(Jul 2023)
·
3.5(13 parent reviews)
·Bridge Street, Whaddon, Royston, SG8 5SQ · Cambridgeshire
Number of places
73 places
Age range
1–3 yrs
Last inspected
Jul 2023
Local authority
Cambridgeshire

About this day nursery

Partou Bumpkins Day Nursery & Pre-School, located in Whaddon near Royston, offers outstanding early years childcare and education in a beautiful rural setting. The nursery operates across two distinct sites, with dedicated facilities for babies and two-year-olds at Bridge Street and a pre-school focusing on school readiness at Meldreth Road, both offering convenient parking for parents.

A standout feature is their award-nominated Forest School, Nature Rangers, providing continuous outdoor learning experiences with amenities like a cabin classroom, sandpit, firepit, and mud kitchen. This outdoor approach is integrated into daily activities, fostering confidence, creativity, and a connection with nature, alongside covering the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum.

The nursery prides itself on healthy, nutritious meals prepared fresh on-site by an experienced chef, with mealtimes designed to be both enjoyable and educational. Parents consistently report their children settling quickly and making significant developmental progress in speech, confidence, and independence.

Partou Bumpkins is committed to delivering exceptional care and a stimulating environment that caters to the individual needs and interests of each child.

Our ethos

Partou Bumpkins Day Nursery & Forest School integrates the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum with a Forest School approach, fostering confidence, creativity, and a connection with nature through continuous outdoor learning experiences. They are committed to delivering exceptional care and a stimulating environment that caters to the individual needs and interests of each child.

What it's like

Children flourish and succeed in this exceptional nursery. They are remarkably independent and are supported by highly trained and knowledgeable staff who nurture their inquisitiveness and help them build and embed existing knowledge and skills. Staff carefully consider sequential teaching to ensure children continue building on what they know and can do.

Outstanding Ofsted ratingAward-nominated Forest SchoolRural settingFreshly prepared mealsAge-specific environments

Pricing & funding

Fees are structured into care, meals and snacks, and consumables. The nursery offers weekly, full-day, morning, and afternoon sessions, with an option for early drop-off. Funding covers the care portion only, meaning meals, snacks, and consumables remain chargeable.

Funding accepted

15 hours — working parents (9 months–2 yrs)15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)30 hours — working parents (3–4 yrs)Tax-Free Childcare

Good to know

  • A £75 registration fee or deposit is required to reserve a nursery place.
  • Funding only applies to the care fee; meals, snacks, and consumables are fully chargeable on all sessions.

Key facts

Opening hours

Mon - Fri, 7.30am to 6.00pm (excluding bank holidays)

Food

Healthy and delicious meals from our seasonal menu, freshly prepared at the nursery.

Age range

9 months to 4 years

Term time / All Year

All Year

Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for Partou Bumpkins Day Nursery & Forest School

Last inspected 4 July 2023 · Lynn Clements

Safeguarding effective
Overall effectiveness
Outstanding
Quality of education
Outstanding
Behaviour and attitudes
Outstanding
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Outstanding

What it's like to attend

Children flourish and succeed in this exceptional nursery. They are remarkably independent and are supported by highly trained and knowledgeable staff who nurture their inquisitiveness and help them build and embed existing knowledge and skills. Staff carefully consider sequential teaching to ensure children continue building on what they know and can do.

Inspector highlights

  • Children are highly confident as they move freely between the indoor and outdoor environments, learning how to keep safe from a very young age.
  • Children listen attentively and respond with comprehension to familiar stories, rhymes and songs, with even the youngest children showing understanding that books carry meaning.
  • Staff utilise the farm on which the nursery is situated, allowing children to experience the changing seasons and their local community first hand.
  • Leaders have a clear vision for their well-structured curriculum, providing expert guidance, coaching, and training to staff, and consulting with staff and parents to tailor learning experiences.
  • The nursery supports children's transitions to primary school exceptionally well, equipping them with a wealth of skills and knowledge through meticulous planning.
Inspection #10300453 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

What parents say

Verbatim quotes recorded in the Ofsted inspection

Parents feel very well informed about their children's learning and enjoy the opportunities to share learning that happens at home. Parents are delighted that they can actively share their ideas through the parent forum, which resulted in some recent changes, such as reusable nappy sacks for soiled clothes.

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

While there are currently no children on roll with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), there is a clear track record of recent support provided for children and families, and well-targeted plans for future admissions. The extremely enthusiastic and experienced special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator works in partnership with parents and specialist outside agencies to ensure children receive the highest standard of teaching adapted to their unique learning needs, resulting in excellent progress.

Outdoor space

During outdoor play, children initiate their investigations, such as learning how their bodies can move in different ways. Very young children use various equipment with ever increasing confidence, crawling and pulling themselves onto see-saws and into ride-in cars, learning to move themselves forward and backward with delight.

Parent Reviews of Partou Bumpkins Day Nursery & Forest School

3.5
(13)
Gentiana Restelica
a year ago

I love, love, love Bumpkins. We had such a great experience when we had our daughter here. She learnt so much from being there and I cannot thank the staff enough! They cared for our daughter so well and she still mentions them now! Thank you to all the lovely staff at Bumpkins. I have to also add that whilst I feel terrible for the people with the reviews below, and I agree they are in a horrible situation to be in but this has no reflection on the staff and the running of the nursery. This industry (from my own knowledge) is usually more female dominated and in my time alone at Bumpkins they have had many staff go on maternity at the same time. They can’t control or change that!

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Benoît Mars
a year ago

We are extremely disappointed with how Bumpkins handled our son's place at nursery. We booked his place at the nursery 14 months in advance (before he was even born) and everything was confirmed. However, just 2 months prior to the start date, we were informed that his place was being cancelled due to recent staffing issues. We were informed that 17 other parents were also told that they had lost their place due to Bumpkins recently losing 5 or 6 members of staff. Looking at past reviews on here, it looks like this has previously happened, which highlights how poor their staffing planning and management is. Given this is not the first time this has happened to families registered with Partou Bumpkins, it is highly likely to happen again in the future. This is completely unacceptable, families plan their childcare well in advance, and to have this taken away at such short notice is both unprofessional and incredibly stressful for parents. The nursery left us scrambling to find alternative childcare in an already challenging market 2 months before our agreed return to work date. This level of unreliability, poor communication and lack of offering any alternative solutions is shocking. I would strongly advise other parents to think twice before considering this nursery if they’re looking for a dependable and organised childcare provider.

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Beccy Foster
a year ago

AVOID if you don't want to be let down at the last minute. 2 months before our child was due to be starting we received a phone call informing us that they we cancelling her place despite booking her in 10 months previously, stating last minute staff shortages and recruitment issues as the reason. But looking further into this they have been having staffing issues for well over 6 months but decided not to inform us, their MD even acknowledged they needs to "improving our communication". I'd say that’s an understatement! We are now left with the almost impossible task of finding an alternative place. As acknowledge by the Pumpkins staff, there is a 12 month waiting list for nursery's in our area. When we asked Bumpkins what they could do to help us, they responded with "Nothing"! It would appear they are happy to take a deposit and booking even when they know they don’t have the capacity to take children on.

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Rachael Martin
a year ago

If you have reserved a place at this nursery I strongly suggest reserving an alternative too. Our son has been registered to start when 1 since before he was born and they’ve just withdrawn our place leaving us less than 3 months to find an alternative. They claim the issues are industry wide, but as far as I’m aware they’re the only nursery in the area that have done this to multiple families (18 families this month alone). We were registered for 5 full days, and were told they could offer us nothing and had no information on when a spot may become available.

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Benoit et Anne-Cécile Labbe
5 years ago

My daughter joined Bumpkins nursery when she was 7 months and settled from day 1. 18 months later, she still enjoys going to nursery every morning. Her key workers take great care to monitor her progress daily and we have seen the positive impact nursery has had on her development. The staff and management team are very competent, friendly and reliable. I would highly recommend Bumpkins nursery.

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for Partou Bumpkins Day Nursery & Forest School. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Date: July 2023

  • August 2023Outstanding
  • July 2023Outstanding

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