Hawthorn House Day Nursery

At Hawthorn House, we know you're looking for more than just childcare. You're looking for a place where your child feels secure, where they're genuinely seen, and where real learning happens every single day. ✨

That's exactly what we offer. Our team walks with you every step. Highly qualified, deeply experienced, and genuinely invested in your child's development, they're the heart of what makes Hawthorn House different. They build relationships that help children flourish. They notice the small moments that become big development. They celebrate who your child is becoming.

In our nurturing setting, children thrive. They're safe. They're happy. And they're engaged in rich, meaningful learning experiences that lay the foundations for everything that comes next.

Hawthorn House. Where your child is known, supported, and encouraged to grow in confidence every day. 🤍

When children engineer, they're thinking like scientists. 🛠️

Recycled materials in the hands of young children become something extraordinary. A cardboard box. A wooden block. A cardboard tube. Suddenly, they're not just objects, they're building blocks for investigation!

Watch what happens when children design an obstacle course for their toys. They test angles. They predict what will happen. They rebuild when something doesn't work. They problem-solve together. This is STEAM thinking, but it doesn't look like a worksheet. It looks like play.

When we reuse and recycle materials, we're removing the pressure of 'getting it right' and opening space for genuine exploration. A milk carton isn't precious, so it can be cut, stacked, rebuilt. Children feel free to take risks, test ideas, and learn from what happens.

Behind every obstacle course and engineering challenge is a team noticing what children are curious about and building the conditions for them to think, test, and discover for themselves.

That's where real learning lives. 💚

At Hawthorn House, we've created something special.

✨ Small classes led by a highly qualified team of teachers.

✨ Spacious outdoor learning spaces where children truly explore and discover.

This isn't just nursery, it's a place designed for children to grow in confidence, develop independence, and find genuine joy in learning.

🌿 Our outdoor space means real nature connection and freedom to move.

🌿 Our small groups mean every child is truly known and celebrated.

Teaching-led, play-based, built around what children actually need to thrive.

If this sounds like the kind of place you're looking for, we'd love to meet you. Get on touch to arrange a viewing 🧡

We don't plan activities and hope children will be interested. We watch, listen, and follow where curiosity leads. ✨

Every child arrives at nursery with their own interests, their own questions, their own pace. Some are drawn to building. Others to stories, nature, messy exploration. Our team notices. And that's where the magic happens.

When activities grow from your child's genuine interests, learning becomes irresistible. They test ideas. They problem-solve. They discover how the world works, not because they're told to, but because they're genuinely wondering.

This is how confidence builds. This is how independence grows. A child who's leading their own discovery learns that their ideas matter, that trying and testing is safe, that they're capable.

At Hawthorn House, we're not filling a day with activities. We're following your child's lead and building the experiences that help them become curious, capable learners, from day one. 🩵

The best learning happens at the edge of what children already know.

That's why we intentionally set challenges in our classroom. Not to frustrate. But to stretch. To help children discover what they're capable of when they try something just beyond their reach.

A challenge that feels manageable builds confidence. It teaches children that struggle isn't failure, it's where growth lives.

When we design our curriculum around thoughtful challenge, we're not just building skills. We're developing resilience, problem-solving, and the belief that they can figure things out.

We're teaching children to think bigger. To persevere. To trust themselves.

Because the children who aren't afraid of a challenge are the ones who become confident learners. 💛

Plastic Free July: Learning with purpose ✨

This July, we're thinking differently about what we use and what we waste. Plastic Free July is about making conscious choices, and it starts right here in our nursery.

In the Bees room, our children are learning in the midst of it. Watch them navigating bears through cardboard tubes, a simple activity that's anything but simple. Their fingers are steady. Their focus is complete. They're practising hand-eye coordination, fine motor control, and the concentration it takes to post something small into a space.

But there's something else happening too. They're learning that we can create, play and explore without single-use plastic. They're discovering that natural materials and cardboard can be just as engaging if not more so. They're building an early understanding that the choices we make matter. ✨

Hand-eye coordination might sound technical, but it's foundational. It's the skill that underpins writing, drawing, dressing themselves, and so much of school readiness. Every time a child concentrates on navigating a bear or posting into a tube, they're strengthening the fine motor muscles that will carry them through their early years and beyond.

And they're doing it whilst learning something bigger: that we can be creative, playful and purposeful without harm.

That's the Hawthorn House difference. Small moments. Big learning. Conscious choices. 💚

When your child spots a number, stops and points it out, something important is happening. They're beginning to recognise numeracy in the world around them, not because we're teaching it, but because we're inviting them to notice.

This week in the Bees room, our rising 3s have been exploring cardboard number rings on the stacker. What looks like simple play is where real mathematical thinking starts. Each time they slide a ring onto the pole, they're developing hand strength for later writing, understanding size and sequence, and building the confidence to engage with numbers as something familiar and manageable.

When children can recognise numbers in play, when they see "3" and know what it means, they're not just learning to count. They're building the foundations for numeracy, problem-solving, and the belief that maths is something they can do. That confidence matters far more than getting the answer right.

The early years are where mathematicians, engineers and thinkers begin. Sometimes that begins with a cardboard ring and a curious little hand. ✨

Graduation 2026: A moment to celebrate 🎓🥳

What an honour to witness our children stepping confidently into their next chapter. We celebrated each and every one of them at our recent graduation and the remarkable growth they've shown during their time with us. 💛

Our heartfelt thanks go to Tracey and the whole Hawthorn House team for creating a day that was truly memorable. And to our families, for entrusting us with these precious years, for being so present, and for becoming part of our community.

Graduation is about so much more than marking a milestone.

✨It's about recognising who they've become.

✨The courage they've discovered.

✨The bonds they've formed with one another.

✨The creativity, independence, and compassion woven into who they are.

As our children move forward to school, they carry these gifts with them. They already understand how to feel safe in new spaces, how to take chances, how to be resilient.

They've been truly known by adults who saw their potential, championed their progress, and invested in the person they're becoming.

That foundation opens doors.

Thank you for trusting Hawthorn House with your child's early years. We're so excited to follow their journeys and celebrate all they'll achieve next. 💛

The habits we nurture today help shape the world our children will inherit. 🌿

At Hawthorn House, we believe that caring for our environment starts with the everyday choices we make together.

Our team recently met to explore new ways to embed sustainability throughout nursery life, ensuring that children experience first-hand what it means to care for the world around them. From reducing waste and making mindful choices to creating meaningful nature-based experiences, we're committed to making sustainability a natural part of each day.

By seeing these values in action, children begin to understand that even the smallest acts of kindness towards our planet can make a real difference. Along the way, they're developing respect, responsibility and a sense of pride in looking after their environment.

This is just the beginning of our journey, and we're excited to share the sustainable projects, activities and ideas we'll be exploring together over the coming weeks.

🌍 Every little step matters, and together we're helping to grow a generation that cares for both people and the planet. 💚

Keeping cool the Hawthorn House way. 💚

With the warmer weather here, our preschool children enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of self-care designed to help them stay cool and comfortable.

The children carefully chopped their own cucumber slices before enjoying a calming pamper session with cucumber over their eyes, while cooling off with refreshing foot soaks in our water-filled tuff trays.

These gentle experiences not only helped children regulate their body temperature but also encouraged independence, developed fine motor skills and introduced the importance of looking after their own wellbeing.

At Hawthorn House, it's the thoughtful moments like these that help children feel calm, cared for and ready to enjoy every part of their day. 🌿