Little Acorns
Little Acorns · Wychcombe

A childhood with room around it.

A nature-led nursery and pre-school for children from birth to five, in the old village schoolhouse with Hatch Wood at the end of the garden.
Come and see usMeet the rooms
  • Birth–fiveThree rooms, one gentle path
  • 7:45–6Monday to Friday
  • 51 weeksA year
Three small children in waterproof suits and wellies walk away down a muddy woodland path towards a great oak, a grown-up ahead of them

01 / What we believe

Wonder rarely arrives on a timetable.

Children need steady people, useful time and places worth exploring. So we keep the day unhurried: familiar faces at the door, materials within reach, lunch around one table and the wood waiting beyond the garden gate.

Look closely · take time · try again

02 / How children learn

The whole day is the curriculum.

The early-years areas belong together here. A story becomes a den; a puddle becomes a measure; a difficult turn becomes a conversation.
Children's hands in waterproof sleeves dip brushes into jars of blue-green paint at a table strewn with leaves and clay
01

Talking

Songs, stories and real conversation give new words somewhere to land.
02

Moving

Climbing, pouring, carrying and making build confident bodies.
03

Feelings

A known key person helps children name what they feel and find their way back.
04

Counting

Number begins with cups, steps, collections and questions that matter.
05

Exploring

Weather, wood, water and living things invite close attention.
06

Making

Paint, clay, blocks and loose parts leave room for an idea to change.
03 / The rooms

Three rooms. One unhurried journey.

Each room has its own rhythm, materials and garden route. The thread between them is a key person who knows when to offer a hand — and when to step back.
  1. A baby's hands stack wooden rings on a peg on a woven rug, a grown-up's hand steadying the tower

    01 — Acorns · Birth to two

    A calm baby room with a gated lawn of its own. Wooden toys stay within reach, we follow each family's own sleep and feed routines, and the day is written down for you at pick-up. One adult for every three babies.

  2. Two toddlers seen from behind play at a slate-blue play kitchen lined with wooden pots

    02 — Saplings · Two to three

    A busy, companionable room for first friends: a play kitchen, a generous messy table, a weekly morning in Hatch Wood and space to repeat something until it makes sense. One adult for every four toddlers.

  3. Older children seen from behind around a big wooden table, tracing letters and counting pine cones with a grown-up

    03 — Oaks · Three to five

    Pre-school at a child's pace with a qualified early-years teacher. Stories, counting and early letters at the big table, forest school every morning, and summer visits to Wychcombe Primary. One adult for every eight children.

04 / Hatch Wood

Beyond the garden gate.

At the end of our garden, Hatch Wood gives every day a horizon. Base camp sits beneath the big oak, with a mud kitchen, a rope swing and — for the oldest children — a carefully held fire circle.
  • All weatherWe go out in rain, frost, wind and soft summer light.
  • WaterproofsEvery child can borrow a set from us.
  • Five morningsOaks begin every weekday in the wood.
  • One base campA familiar place to return to, notice and remake.
Children in waterproofs at a wooden mud kitchen under a huge oak in the wood, a grown-up standing back by the rope swing
05 / Growing up here

Ready is a rhythm, not a birthday.

  1. Arrive gently

    Three short settling visits with a parent come before the first full day.

  2. Be known

    A key person learns the small things: the wave at the window, the favourite song, the surest comfort.

  3. Move when ready

    Children step into the next room when they are ready, not on a birthday. Their key person walks them in.

  4. Look outward

    In the last year, Oaks visit the village school before Reception begins.

06 / A day here

Eight moments, loosely held.

There is a shape to the day, with enough air inside it for an idea to last longer. Drawn to scale, from 7:45 to 6.

  1. 07:45

    Hello at the door

    The same faces every morning, and a slow handover for anyone who needs one.

  2. 08:30

    Free play indoors

    Breakfast cleared, the rooms open and the children choose where to begin.

  3. 09:30

    Off to Hatch Wood

    Waterproofs on, through the garden gate to base camp under the big oak — and puddles measured on the way back.

  4. 11:15

    The big painting table

    Paint, clay and whatever the wood sent home with us.

  5. 12:00

    Lunch together

    Cooked in our own kitchen and eaten round one table.

  6. 13:00

    Quiet time and stories

    Rest for those who need it, books for those who don't.

  7. 14:30

    Garden and sandpit

    The long afternoon outside, then tea at four.

  8. 17:30

    Home time

    A word about the day at the door, and the day sheet for the babies.

07 / Simple facts

The useful things, at a glance.

One old schoolhouse · one garden · one wood at the gate
0–5
Years old
7:45–6
Monday to Friday
51
Weeks each year
11
People on the team
08 / Field notes
Six pictures from one Tuesday, in the order they happened.

An ordinary day, in frames.

Small muddy wellies stepping over a wet flagstone threshold beside an open blue-green door
07:52 · Wellies in at the door
A child's hand in a green sleeve holds a magnifying glass over a wet fern on the woodland floor
09:42 · The wood after rain
A row of muddy wellies of every size lined up under coat pegs on a slate floor
10:58 · Back at the schoolhouse
A small child in a navy waterproof suit carries a long roll of blue paper down a mossy woodland path
11:12 · An idea gets bigger
Steam rises from a big bowl of vegetables as small hands serve lunch at a wooden table
12:03 · Lunch from our kitchen
Three small children seen from far away walking past tree-stump seats in the garden at the edge of the wood
15:20 · The garden, the long afternoon
09 / The people

Eleven people. Four introductions.

The whole team brings different experience. These are four of the people families meet most often — you meet the rest when you visit.
Portrait of Helen Ashby smiling, in a green waterproof jacket and a grey scarf, trees behind her
Portrait of Maya Fernandes smiling, her dark hair tied up, in a green jacket in front of the schoolhouse
Portrait of Tom Reeve smiling in a knitted hat and a green waterproof jacket in the wood
Portrait of Grace Lin smiling, her hair tied back, in a navy jacket in front of the stone schoolhouse
  1. Helen AshbyNursery manager
  2. Maya FernandesAcorns room lead
  3. Tom ReeveForest-school lead
  4. Grace LinOaks room lead · Early-years teacher
10 / Parents' words

What stayed with them.

  • Two pairs of muddy children's wellies and a grown-up's boots side by side at the open schoolhouse door
    Dan Okoro, Theo's dad · Oaks room
    Theo comes home with muddy knees and one very specific thing he has noticed — like which sticks make the best bridge.
    The three settling visits changed everything. Maya watched Ivy carefully, but never rushed in. By the first full day, the room already felt known.
    Sophie Hart, Ivy's mum · Acorns, now Saplings
    The fees were written down clearly, and the same faces are at the door every morning. With two children, that steadiness matters to us.
    Priya & Sam Mehta, Parents of two · with us since 2023
11 / Fees · from September 2026

Clear from the beginning.

No registration fee. No deposit. Meals, nappies and forest-school kit are included, and we ask families to book at least two sessions a week.

Full day

£78a day, 7:45 to 6
The whole day, from breakfast to tea.
  • Breakfast, lunch and tea
  • Nappies, wipes and suncream
  • Forest-school waterproofs to borrow
  • A written day sheet
Book a visit

Morning

£46a session, 7:45 to 1
The busiest part of the day, home after lunch.
  • Breakfast and lunch
  • Forest school for Saplings and Oaks
  • Nappies and wipes
Book a visit

Afternoon

£40a session, 1 to 6
Quiet time, the garden and tea — a gentle start.
  • Snack and tea
  • Nappies and wipes
  • Garden and sandpit
Book a visit

Funded hours

Freefor every funded hour
15 or 30 funded hours a week for eligible families from nine months old, spread over the days you choose.
  • Meals and outings an optional £6 a day
  • No top-up fees for funded hours
Ask about your week

Funded hours: bring your eligibility code to the visit and we will work through it with you.

12 / Good to know

Before you come through the door.

Every child begins with three short visits alongside a parent. We agree the shape of those visits together before the first full day, and the key person leads them at your child's pace.
13 / Come and see

Come and stand in the rooms.

A visit is the best way to notice the scale of the rooms, the pace of the morning and how close the wood really is. Helen does the first visit with every new family.
Open
Monday to Friday · 7:45 to 6 · 51 weeks a year
Phone
01632 960284 · the office answers between 9 and 4
Parking
The village hall car park opposite
Little Acorns Nursery & Pre-schoolThe Old Schoolhouse Mill Lane, Wychcombehello@littleacorns.example
The old stone schoolhouse at blue hour, its door open and lit, a garden gate and trees on either side

Please leave details about your child out of this form — we talk them through with you in person at the visit.