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The Old Station Nursery in Innsworth

Ofsted: Good
(Feb 2025)
·
4.7(10 parent reviews) ·Imjin Barracks, Innsworth Lane, Innsworth, GL3 1ET · Gloucestershire
Number of places
94 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Feb 2025
Local authority
Gloucestershire

About this day nursery

Apricot Day Nursery, situated in St Neots, offers a nurturing and intimate environment focused on each child's individual development, guided by the Montessori approach. The nursery emphasises learning through play, fostering confidence, independence, and readiness for school.

They provide a unique Brighter Learning Approach (BLA), which customises the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum to offer hands-on, child-led experiences across six core areas including My Happy and Healthy Self, Wonderful World, Super STEAM, Raving Readers, Mini Maths, and Confident Speakers and Communicators. The nursery is split across two sites for different age groups, with free-flowing access to age-appropriate outdoor play areas.

They also offer various extracurricular clubs such as cookery, movement, art, music, gardening, and science, aiming to enrich children’s experiences. Apricot Day Nursery prioritises family engagement, offering regular updates through a parent app and verbal feedback, and maintains high safety standards.

They provide freshly prepared meals on-site and assign a dedicated key person to each child to ensure personalised care and smooth transitions between age groups and onward to primary school, supported by their 'Next Stop School' programme that includes a £30 Clarks voucher for school shoes.

Our ethos

At Apricot Day Nursery, we believe that a smaller, intimate setting allows for closer partnerships with families, enabling us to meet each child's individual needs and cultivate capable learners and communicators. We follow the Montessori approach, fostering learning through play in a home-from-home environment. Our passionate team offers a variety of activities tailored to children's interests, ensuring every day is unique.

What it's like

Children enjoy attending this bright and welcoming nursery, forming secure relationships with key staff who provide consistent care and support. Staff praised for warm interactions, praise, and clear routines that help children manage behaviour and develop a positive approach to learning. Children are kind and considerate, playing harmoniously, sharing and taking turns.

Montessori approachBrighter Learning Approach (BLA)Outdoor learningNutritious meals prepared on-siteNext Stop School programme

Pricing & funding

Funding accepted

15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)30 hours — working parents (3–4 yrs)Tax-Free Childcare
Pricing on request

This nursery doesn't publish its fees online. Contact them directly for an up-to-date price list and availability.

Key facts

Session types

Full day (8am to 6pm), Early start (7:30am to 8am), Late finish (6pm to 6:30pm)

Food

Freshly prepared on-site with rotating nutritious meals; dietary requirements catered for.

Opening hours

7:30am - 6:30pm

Term time / All Year

All Year

Established

2010

Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for The Old Station Nursery

Last inspected 28 February 2025 · Holly Smith

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

What it's like to attend

Children enjoy attending this bright and welcoming nursery, forming secure relationships with key staff who provide consistent care and support. Staff praised for warm interactions, praise, and clear routines that help children manage behaviour and develop a positive approach to learning. Children are kind and considerate, playing harmoniously, sharing and taking turns.

Inspector highlights

  • Children make good progress in their learning and development because staff plan an engaging and well-sequenced curriculum.
  • Leaders have worked closely with staff to address actions from the previous inspection; staff morale is high and they feel well supported.
  • Partnerships with parents are good, with staff sharing information through verbal discussions, online learning journals and newsletters.
  • Staff work closely with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to support children's good progress.
  • Staff effectively support children's health, safety and well-being, with daily opportunities for physical activity and outdoor play.

Areas to develop

  • 1support staff to further enhance the quality of their teaching to make sure it is developmentally appropriate and includes more active approaches to enhance young children's engagement
  • 2optimise the learning environment and deployment of staff to fully support young children's opportunities for restful sleep and purposeful learning
Inspection #10383806 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

What parents say

Verbatim quotes recorded in the Ofsted inspection

feedback highlights the improvements the nursery has made

They praise the stable relationships their children have with their key workers and value the extra-curricular experiences their children attend

these experiences help children to flourish and thrive

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Staff use their observations of children's play to identify interests and next steps in learning, which helps them identify any emerging developmental gaps and implement targeted support. Staff work closely with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to support children's good progress. Leaders make sure that any additional funding is allocated to meet children's individual learning needs.

Outdoor space

Staff provide children with rich learning experiences outside in the fresh air. Pre-school children use their imagination as they pretend to cook dragon pancakes around a campfire. Children have daily opportunities to be physically active and play outside in the fresh air.

Parent Reviews of The Old Station Nursery

4.7
(10)
Paula Stokes
6 months ago

I can’t recommend this nursery highly enough! From the moment we walked through the doors, the staff were so welcoming and made both my child and I feel completely at ease. The environment is bright, clean, and full of exciting activities that keep the children engaged and happy. The staff are truly amazing — caring, patient, and always take the time to give updates on how the day has gone. It’s clear they genuinely care about the children’s wellbeing and development. My child has grown so much in confidence since starting here, and it’s lovely to see how excited they are to go in every morning. Communication with parents is brilliant, and the nursery always keeps us informed about learning topics, events, and milestones. You can tell there’s a real sense of community here. I’m so grateful to have found such a nurturing and supportive setting — it really feels like a second home for my little one

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Patrick Dee
2 months ago

Both my children have been through the setting. The team are brilliant, right from the first day they made us feel at ease and the children both loved it.

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Jodie Warren
a year ago

I love visiting The Old Station Nursery in Innsworth! The staff are so warm and welcoming, and it’s wonderful to see how engaged and happy the children are during our Boogie Beat sessions. It’s clear that the team create a nurturing and fun environment where little ones thrive. A fantastic nursery with a fabulous hard working team!

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Mike Taylor
11 months ago

The staff are very enthusiastic and interactive with parents, and a strong and approachable management team. The rooms are spacious, and there always seems to be lots of activity happening. Safe and easy parking. The children always seem happy and engaged, and they appear to be the main focus for the nursery.

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Samantha Buckland
a year ago

Would highly recommend this nursery! All of the staff are very welcoming and supportive and nothing is too much to ask. This nursery has gone above and beyond for us as a family, not just our little boy. Our boy is absolutely thriving at nursery and I am yet to collect him and be told he's had a bad day; he's been there almost a year! This is definitely a nursery that genuinely care about the welfare and development of your child. Thank you to the entire team at Innsworth!!

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Reviews from Google for The Old Station Nursery. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history
Improved from Requires improvement → Good in 2025

Date: February 2011

  • February 2025Good
  • April 2024Requires improvement
  • October 2022Good
  • October 2016Outstanding
  • May 2013Good
  • February 2011Good

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