Best nurseries in Oxford and Oxfordshire

For day nursery, look at Bright Horizons in Summertown and Cowley, or Busy Bees in Littlemore. University employees qualify for their Kids Planet nurseries, spread across north/central Oxford and Headington, including at the hospitals.

Many pursue pre-schools. From Jericho or Summertown, look at The Nursery (Lathbury Road), which runs nine-to-five rather than the standard school-day-length sessions. At Headington Quarry Foundation Stage School, sessions can be topped up to create a long day. It’s a standalone state nursery, offering funded places of 15 or 30 hours a week depending on your eligibility.

Oxford Montessori Schools (OMS) have two early years settings: Wolvercote and Forest Farm. The latter is ten-acres, just outside the ring road, where they also have primary and senior Montessori schools.

Bright Horizons have a few sites around here, including one with good outdoor space in Abingdon; expect to wait a few months for a place to come up. The Manor Prep takes children from two, offering extended days to older ones. Moving down towards Faringdon, there’s a gorgeous nursery at Buckland Church of England Primary School where children tend to the school allotment; ‘many wheeled vehicles’, says school, for little people to enjoy. Admissions organized according to County Council policy. 

Day nurseries here are independent rather than part of big chains. You’ll need to wait a few months for a place; pop their name down now. In Banbury, the Close Day nursery has a colourful garden, Astroturf-ed to ensure a soft landing (‘I can’t fault it!’, says our source). Sparkling Minds, in Weston-on-the-Green, is set in farm buildings with lots of space to roam outside.

The yummiest mummies head to Willow on the Farm at two and a half: get in touch ASAP after your child is born to enquire about a tour and registration, because it’s more and more popular. Expect tractor rides (kids), cocktail parties (grown-ups) and the classiest nativity in OX15. Many go to prep schools; others ‘state ‘til eight’ at the right village primary. Great Tew Pre-School is small and a lot more low-key; naturally, many go on to that primary, though the pre-school is managed separately. Sibford School has a nursery class who are taught together with reception.

For daycare, we like The Old Station Nursery (downtown Henley), where children toast marshmallows in the woodland. Highmoor Nursery, a short drive away, runs Stay & Play sessions for tinies; from two, children join their pre-school, enjoying outdoor adventures, cooking with Mrs Bun the Baker and French, taught by a hand-puppet called ‘Phillipe’. Rupert House School’s nursery in Henley is popular and takes children the year before starting in Reception. Nearby Bix Montessori School is also pukka. You could just about drive to Harriet House School, a beautiful Montessori which many think it’s worth crossing the M4 for. Register when they’re a babe-in-arms. In Moulsford, Cranford House offers a nursery year, recently integrated into the main school site, which feeds into reception there. Over the road, Moulsford Preparatory School’s new pre-school, Bobcats, feeds automatically into their newly co-ed pre-prep.

East of Oxford, Wheatley Nursery School is state-maintained (a rare beast) with 12 places for under threes and another 40 from three upwards; families can pay extra for wraparound care to create a full day. You might get in from as far as Garsington, but it’s dicey. Luckily, you’ve got The Orchard Pre-School in Little Milton, with newly refurbished outside space, right next to the village rec where children play after school. 

Look in the towns for the best day nurseries; again, no big chains. Little Monkeys, in a Georgian townhouse in Charlbury, provides homecooked food and sessions in snail-racing or building pixie homes on a woodland adventure site. The Town Nursery in Chipping Norton is long-established, with no mod-cons. Nearby Forest Fawns enjoys a pretty woodland setting.