1
0 – 2 years
Babies
Our calmest room. A 1:3 ratio, cosy floor play, sleep routines that follow your baby’s rhythm, not ours. Nappies, naps and cuddles — the lot.
Acorn
01993 405 880★ Ofsted Outstanding · Witney, Oxfordshire
Real mud,
real wonder,
real childhood.
A small, family-run nursery on the edge of Witney where every child, every week, spends proper time in the woods. Babies from six months. Pre-schoolers ready for big school. And everyone, gloriously, allowed to get muddy.
EYFS Framework·1:3 Baby Ratio·30-Hours Funded·0–5 Years
01 · Welcome
A nursery the way you wish they all were — small, kind, outside.
Acorn was started in 2009 by two early-years teachers who wanted somewhere their own children could climb trees and learn to read. We have room for thirty-two children across three rooms, a half-acre garden, and an ancient stretch of woodland five minutes’ walk from the door. Most of our staff have been with us for over five years — some since the very beginning.
02 · Our Rooms
Five places to grow up.
Children move between rooms as they’re ready — not on a date in a diary. Every room has a key person who stays with your child from their settle-in visits to the day they walk to big school.
2
2 – 3 years
Toddlers
When little legs get busy. Mud kitchen mornings, messy-tray afternoons, gentle steps toward potty training and the first proper friendships.
3
3 – 5 years
Pre-School
Getting ready for big school. Phonics through stories, numbers through cooking, confidence through climbing trees. EYFS done the Acorn way.
4
Weekly sessions
Forest School
Every child, every week, every weather. Den building, bug hunts, fire-circle snacks. A qualified Forest School leader runs every session.
5
Easter · Summer · Half-term
Holiday Clubs
Open to Acorn families and the wider Witney community. Themed weeks — pirates, potions, woodland adventures — for ages 3 to 8.
03 · A Day at Acorn
From welly-pulling on, to a hug at the door.
- 8.00
Doors open
A soft welcome, breakfast on the table, slippers on, parents in for a chat if they need one.
- 9.15
Welcome circle
Songs, a story, today’s weather check, who’s here and who’s missing.
- 9.45
Forest walk or garden play
Wellies on. Out we go — rain, shine or frost. The garden has a mud kitchen, willow tunnel and bug hotel.
- 11.00
Snack & story
Fruit, oatcakes, milk. A story on the rug with one of the team.
- 11.30
Free play & focused activity
Painting, dough, building, dressing-up. Children choose; staff support and extend.
- 12.30
Lunch together
Hot meals cooked on-site. Children help lay the table and pour their own water.
- 13.15
Quiet time
Sleepers sleep, others rest with books, puzzles or a quiet corner. No screens, ever.
- 14.30
Afternoon adventure
Garden, art, music, or a second forest session for the pre-schoolers.
- 16.00
Tea & tidy up
A proper sit-down tea, then jobs — sweeping, sorting, putting friends away.
- 17.30
Pick up
Doors stay open until 6pm. A handover with your child’s key person, every day.
04 · The Acorn Way
Forest school isn’t a buzzword here.
It’s every Wednesday for the pre-schoolers, every Friday for the toddlers, and every dry afternoon for the babies in the buggy. A qualified Level 3 Forest School leader runs every session, with two members of the regular team alongside.
Children learn to use real tools — potato peelers at three, bow saws at four — under proper supervision. They light campfires, build dens, name birds, and come home filthy. We provide the waterproofs, wellies and warm tea. You provide the spare jumper.
Den buildingFire circle snacksTool workMini-beastsMud kitchenTree climbing
05 · What Parents Say
Words from the school-gate.
“
Two of ours went through Acorn and one is still there. The forest sessions changed how our boy plays at home — he’s outside in all weathers now, building dens with sticks. Worth every penny.
“
What I love most is that the staff don’t change. The lady who looked after our daughter as a baby still gives her a hug at the door three years later.
“
I was nervous about a forest-school nursery in winter. One look at the kit they put on the children and I stopped worrying. They come home filthy, happy, and absolutely shattered.
Ofsted
Outstanding
Rated Outstanding in every area, 2024.
“Children flourish in this exceptional setting. Staff are highly skilled, the curriculum is rich and ambitious, and the use of the local woodland is inspirational.” — Ofsted report, March 2024.
06 · Come and Have a Look
The best way to know is to visit.
We do show-arounds on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons — ideally while the children are still pottering. Bring your little one. Take half an hour. Have a cup of tea with us.
Call 01993 405 880 →or email hello@acornnursery.example
Address
The Old Schoolhouse
Hailey Road
Witney, Oxfordshire
OX28 1HL
Hailey Road
Witney, Oxfordshire
OX28 1HL
Opening Hours
Mon – Fri · 8.00 – 18.00
Term-time & 50 weeks/year
Closed bank holidays
Term-time & 50 weeks/year
Closed bank holidays
Funding
15 & 30-hour funded places
Tax-Free Childcare
Childcare vouchers accepted
Tax-Free Childcare
Childcare vouchers accepted
Show-Arounds
Tue & Thu · 14.00 – 15.30
By appointment only
Bring your little one along
By appointment only
Bring your little one along