Rooms and routine
Three rooms and one long, unhurried day
Acorns for babies, Saplings for two-year-olds, Oaks for preschool. Small numbers,
the same adults every morning, and a garden nobody is allowed to forget about.
A day at Little Acorns
What happens between 7.30 and 6
Morning, from 7.30am
Doors open at half past seven. Breakfast is toast, porridge and fruit until half past eight, and a key person takes each child in at the door — the same person most mornings, so the handover is a conversation rather than a form. Nothing is timetabled before nine: children come in, find what they left out yesterday, and start.
Snack, lunch and the kitchen
We cook on site. One menu on a four-week rotation, written out on the board by the front door, with allergies and preferences carried in each room rather than in a folder in the office. Children serve themselves from small jugs and bowls and clear their own plate — which is slower, and worth it. Lunch is at half past eleven in Acorns and midday in the other two rooms.
Outside, twice a day
Every room goes into the garden in the morning and again after lunch, in every weather except thunder and high wind. There are raised beds the children plant and then eat from, a willow tunnel, a mud kitchen and a shed of waterproofs and wellingtons in every size, so nobody stays in for want of a coat. Bring a spare set of clothes on Mondays.
Rest, stories and home time
Babies sleep when they sleep. Older children have a quiet hour after lunch: sleep mats and blankets for those who want them, books and puzzles for those who have finished with naps. The afternoon ends with stories and singing, and the door stays open until six. Your child’s day — what they ate, slept and did — goes onto the portal before you arrive.
In every room
The four things every family gets
A named key person
One practitioner holds your child’s day, their records and your questions.
The day on the portal
Meals, sleeps, nappies and two or three photographs, posted before pick-up.
Termly catch-ups
Fifteen minutes with the key person each term, plus whenever you ask.
Settling at your pace
Four free settling sessions before the first paid day, longer if it takes longer.
Come and see
Come in on a Wednesday
and see an ordinary morning
Visits run at 9.30am and 2pm on Wednesdays, and last about half an hour. No appointment needed for the second Saturday of the month — that is our open morning. Bring your child.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
The questions parents ask on a first visit. Anything not covered here, call the office on 01632 960240 and ask for Helen.
By readiness rather than birthday. A child spends a fortnight visiting the next room with their key person before the move, and we agree the date with you rather than announcing it. Most children move up in the term after their second and third birthdays.
One adult to every three children in Acorns, one to four in Saplings and one to eight in Oaks. The manager and the deputy are supernumerary, so cover for breaks and sickness does not come out of the room.
A spare set of clothes, nappies and any milk for babies, and suncream in summer. Waterproofs, wellingtons, bedding, food and everything else is here.
Yes. The kitchen cooks to each child’s plan, the room keeps their own crockery, and every practitioner in the room knows the plan by heart before the child starts. We will talk it through in detail at your settling visit.
Our deputy manager is the special educational needs coordinator. She will meet you before your child starts, work with whichever services are already involved, and write a plan that the room actually uses day to day.