We believe Holmsdale Manor offers the best nursery facilities in the area. We celebrate our 35th anniversary in 2021, so there has been plenty of time to develop our excellent facilities. The nursery's development is ongoing, we continually monitor and review our facilities to suit the children we have.

We think it is very important for young children to spend time outdoors and are proud that each room has their own outside space, in addition to the communal outdoor areas enjoyed by all age groups.

This photo shows the all weather surface next to the garden belonging to the Willows toddler room.

Our outdoor space has been carefully planned so that the weather does not prevent access, for example by using all weather surfaces and canopies where necessary.

The shared areas of the nursery include a field with play equipment, a climbing wall, a trim trail, a stage and a huge sandpit. We also have a tennis court (used for football, dance and Multisports coaching too), an orchard and vegetable gardens/raised beds, a story garden, a sound garden made of reclaimed materials, 'water walls' and mud kitchens!

We have a wildlife pond and chickens in various runs around the nursery, We even have two Guinea pigs! There is also a field for the donkeys, as well as a small on-site copse of trees, used as a Forest School for the younger children. Children have opportunity to watch frogspawn turn into frogs and to see ducklings and chicks hatching and to watch them grow! We also adopt ex-commerical chickens, giving them a new lease of life.

In 2008 Holmsdale became the first nursery school in Leicestershire to offer Forest School sessions, Originally a successful Scandinavian approach to early years education, Forest Schools are now growing in popularity across the country.

In 2018 we became the first nursery in the UK to be awarded the top Forest Schools Quality Mark!

We invest heavily in staff training and now have more than 10 Forest School trained staff, including a qualified Forest School trainer, who has researched the subject for a Masters dissertation. We have our own woodland to use for these sessions, a short walk from nursery, as well as an on site area.

The indoor environment at Holmsdale is also excellent, well resourced and well maintained. We aim to use natural materials as widely as possible within the nursery, both for decorating the rooms and for resources. Each room is carefully designed for the relevant age group and adjusted to suit each group of children. We have indoor spaces for active play, cookery, and even sensory rooms.

We make sure that there are areas for different activities so that quiet time is not disturbed by more boisterous play. Spaces for different group sizes are important too, to facilitate communication. We ensure every group has a quiet corner to relax and get away from it all.