Choosing to send your child to nursery is a big step and can be an emotional decision. Nursery can play a huge and exciting part in your child’s development but picking the right one for your little one can feel like an overwhelming decision, particularly for new parents.

The right nursery will be child focussed and provide a safe, clean a fun environment for your little one to thrive. Nursery is great for social skills and relationship building as well as providing that essential care for working parents.

When thinking about nurseries these are some key considerations you might want to think about

• Location, how close is it to home and work?
• Opening times, will they fit with your work schedule?
• Setting, some children will suit a smaller setting while others will be fine in larger environments, how many children are in each group?
• Outside space, how much and what toys are there?
• Resources, are there a variety of toys to play with and do the children look happy and cared for.

We are so lucky in Wokingham to have a huge range of choice with nurseries, we have pulled together a summary of some of the best local childcare settings to help with choosing which ones to go and look at for your child.

The Acorn Centre at St Joseph's College
 Address St Joseph’s College, Upper Redlands Road, Reading, RG1 5JT
Opening Hours 7.45 - 6pm
 Total Places 26
 Website https://www.sjcr.org.uk/the-acorn-centre/
The Acorn Centre, for children in their Pre-Reception year, provides a nurturing environment where they can be happy, independent, creative and confident. The day is structured around the way young children learn best, which includes uninterrupted time to direct their own play and make friends.

Merrydale Nursery & Pre-School
 Address Broad Oak House, London Road, Wokingham RG40 1PD
 Opening Hours 7.30am-6pm
 Total Places 56
Website https://www.completechildcare.co.uk/merrydale-day-nursery.aspx
Merrydale Day Nursery is conveniently located at Amen Corner, Wokingham, close to the A329, and has served hundreds of busy commuting families over the years. With its own car park, friendly experienced team, and large garden it has always been a popular choice with parents.

Kingsclere Nursery
 Address Forest Road, Wokingham RG40 5SA
 Opening Hours 8am-6pm
 Total Places 34
Website https://www.completechildcare.co.uk/kingsclere-day-nursery.aspx
Kingsclere Day Nursery offers a smaller, more personal and nurturing environment for children from 3 months up to 5 years old. A home from home. Full time and sessional care available.
All meals home-cooked by the lovely Cook. Lovely gardens for outdoor exploration and physical development. Boogie Mites, Blast, Cook School and French classes are also included.

Happitots
 Address 1/3 Winnersh Grove, Winnersh, Wokingham RG41 5EQ
 Opening Hours 7.30am-6pm
 Total Places 83
Website https://www.completechildcare.co.uk/happitots-day-nursery
Happitots Day Nursery has helped thousands of working families over its twenty years, serving the community from its two bright and airy nursery buildings situated between Wokingham and Winnersh. This ‘Outstanding’ nursery has a real sense of energy and activity and the brilliant practitioners there are excellent at providing fun activities for enquiring minds. Parents love the efforts that go in to creating a series of events for the children and their families at the nursery.

Hazebrouck Day Nursery & Pre-School
 Address: Community Centre, Sheerlands Road, Arborfield, RG2 9ND
Website: www.hazebrouckdaynursery.co.uk

Hazebrouck Day Nursery has been part of the Arborfield community for over 10 years and attracts families from a wide area, being well situated off the A327. The nursery has many bright, spacious, vibrant rooms for all ages, and has many unique features such as a sensory room and a dedicated Outdoor Experience/Forest School area.

Woosehill Day Nursery & Pre-School
Address: Chestnut Park Pavilion, Ruskin Way, Woosehill, RG41 3BP
Website: www.woosehilldaynursery.co.uk

Woosehill Day Nursery & Pre-School has been open since 1989, caring for children aged 3 months to 5 years old from its site nestled amongst the woodlands at Chestnut Park, Wokingham. The nursery cares for up to 53 children at any one time and benefits from its own car park and a recently refurbished garden area.

Lower Earley Day Nursery & Pre-School
Address: Chalfont Park Pavilion, Chalfont Way, Lower Earley, RG6 5HQ
Website: www.lowerearleydaynursery.co.uk

Lower Earley Day Nursery was established in 1996, at its site on Chalfont Way. Conveniently situated near to the Asda supermarket, this nursery has provided excellent childcare for hundreds of families in Lower Earley and the surrounding area. It benefits from a large car park, is close to bus routes to Reading, and has a great outdoor space for the children.

Finchampstead Day Nursery & Pre-School
Address: 430 Finchampstead Road, Finchampstead, Wokingham, RG40 3RB
Website: www.finchampsteaddaynursery.co.uk

Finchampstead Day Nursery has been well established on the site of Nine Mile Ride School for many years, providing excellent childcare to local families. The cosy, purpose-built setting, features large open plan rooms and varied outdoor play space for children aged from 3 months to 5 years.

Stepping Stones Day Nursery & Pre-School
Address: 152 Nine Mile Ride, Finchampstead, Wokingham, RG40 4JA
Website: www.steppingstonesnursery.org

Stepping Stones Day Nursery is the choice for families who are searching for a cosy, intimate nursery, with a large enchanting garden space where the children can explore and have fun. The nursery is conveniently located on Nine Mile Ride in Finchampstead, between the California Crossroads and California Country Park, and benefits from its own large car park. Parents and visitors comment on the home from home feel and love that all the children’s meals are freshly prepared and cooked on site each day.

Bramley Wood Day Nursery & Pre-School
Address: Old Bracknell House, Crowthorne Road North, Bracknell, RG12 7AR
Website: www.bramleywooddaynursery.co.uk

Bramley Wood Day Nursery is set in one of Bracknell’s most historic properties, whose walls now provide a special place where our staff prepare the future generations. The nursery has been a firm favourite with local working families for its convenient location, spacious gardens, and experienced and friendly staff.

OakTree Day Nursery
 Address 13 Nine Mile Ride, Finchampstead, Wokingham RG40 4QD
 Opening Hours 7.30am-6.30pm
 Total Places 71
Website https://childbasepartnership.com/oak-tree-day-nursery
Oak Tree Day Nursery in Finchampstead, Wokingham really lives up to its ‘Outstanding’ reputation and we are proud to have been awarded this by Ofsted three times.
Extra-curricular activities at Oak Tree include Mini Professors for 2 years+ and In2Sport for 2 years+.
Parent’s value our knowledgeable and experienced practitioners who are always on hand to listen and advise.

Wokingham Day Nursery
 Address Westcott Road, Wokingham RG40 2ER
 Opening Hours 8am-6pm
 Total Places 22 (from aged 2)
Website http://wokinghamdaynursery.org.uk/
Providing childcare to children from the age of 2 years old. Wokingham Day Nursery, established since 1974, is extremely proud of the experience and care we are able to give your children in a home from home, caring and warm environment. We offer a unique combination of experienced and highly qualified, consistent and reliable staff

Holly Cottage Nursery
 Address Heathlands Road, Wokingham RG40 3AP
 Opening Hours 8am-6pm
 Total Places 81
Website https://hollycottagenursery.com/
Holly Cottage is a large privately owned nursery in a spacious and rural location in Wokingham providing childcare for children aged 3 months to five years since 1998.

Teepee Nursery
 Address Pembroke, Hanworth, Bracknell RG12 7RD
 Opening Hours 7am-7pm
 Total Places 53
Website https://www.teepeedaynursery.co.uk/
The Teepee Day Nursery is Bracknell's premier day nursery. We provide childcare and education for children from six weeks to pre-school and we are the only day nursery in Bracknell that Ofsted has judged 'Outstanding'.

Little Grange
 Address Holme Grange School, Heathlands Road, Wokingham RG40 3AL
 Opening Hours 9am-4pm
 Total Places 66 (from aged 3)
Website https://www.holmegrange.org/little-grange/
Part of Holme Grange School, The Little Grange setting is for children from the age of 3. Children attend Little Grange for a minimum of five morning or five afternoon sessions to experience a careful blend of adult-directed and child-initiated activities. Children benefit from learning in our spacious, nursery with free-flow opportunity to access our adjacent all-weather outdoor areas. Little Grange teachers ensure that Literacy and Mathematics are daily priorities. Many children learn all the alphabet sounds and begin to blend them to read words by the end of their pre-school year ensuring they are well prepared for Reception.

Reddam House Nursery
 Address Reddam House Berkshire, Winnersh, Wokingham RG41 5BG
 Opening Hours 8am-6pm
 Total Places 84.
Website http://reddamhouse.org.uk/phase/early-learning-school/
Learning at Reddam is based around a ‘rhythm of the day’ instead of a structured timetable; caring, dedicated staff invite our youngest students to join in with a variety of activities that are designed to allow each child to reach the next step in their development. We believe that children are confident, capable learners from birth and the education of our children is of utmost importance. Our facilities are designed to meet the specific needs of the particular age of the child, as well as offering a home-away-from-home, nurturing environment that ensures every child feels comfortable and happy whilst learning in all areas.

We hope you have found this article useful, and it gives you some ideas on what to look for when visiting nurseries and which ones maybe suitable for your child.
If you are a nursery provider and would like to feature in this article please get in touch, we would love to hear from you!

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