Bright Horizons Ampfield Day Nursery and Preschool

I was a typical anxious mum when I first dropped my son off at the nursery when he was only 8 months old. The staff immediately put me at ease though and in the 18 months he’s now been there it’s brilliant to see how much they’ve helped him develop. Every day he has a great range of fun and creative activities to get stuck into, really good food to fill him up, and the team are always friendly, attentive and professional. What really made Ampfield stand out to me is its nature nursery which I know he’ll love playing in when he’s older, whatever the weather. I’d highly recommend this nursery to other parents.

We selected Yellow Dot Ampfield after reviewing online information about full time Good and Outstanding nurseries around Winchester. After visiting one I was disappointed but then we visited Ampfield and my faith was restored. Colleagues and friends took their children her and to other Yellow Dot nurseries so we were confident in our impression. Our eldest started in babies aged one and is turning three. His baby brother will be staring soon. We love receiving updates during the day of what he has been up to. At times we’ve seen daily photos but recently they have been sporadic. Only some creations come home so we love seeing him do a variety of activities. One downside is the parking at peak times can be difficult as everyone drives at these times it is otherwise difficult to fault the site.
The staff have been supportive of our son throughout frequent bouts of glue ear, from giving medication to designing plans to develop his speech. Many team members have helped him get to a vocabulary of hundreds of words and start creating sentences. The staff know the kids even if they don’t work with them. Our son loves the freeflow between the inside and outside spaces.

I have been using Yellow Dot Ampfield for nearly five years, (after a rocky start with another nursery) and my third child is now going through. I can’t recommend them enough, the staff are kind and caring and genuinely care about the kids. My girls have all loved it there and even after a four-month break this year (due to covid) my youngest walked back in happily – a true testament to how at ease she is there. The woods at the back of the nursery are lovely and all the rooms are very well equipped. All in all – I would highly recommend anyone to visit and give it a look.

This nursery used to be fantastic when it was a Yellow Dot, but since it changed to Bright Horizon, but also when the current Nursery Manager took over the standards have drastically dropped. The Manager is rude, and the lack of effective leadership is now filtering down throughout the nursery.
They are late in opening most mornings now and at the end of the day, there is no information given, not even the briefest handover. The tapestry system which is meant to be used to show the child’s progress hasn’t had an observation on it in well over a month and now only seems to be used to send out “passive-aggressive” messages.
Simple cleaning and hygiene routines like wiping a child’s nose aren’t happening as my child repeatedly comes home with their face covered with dried residue from a runny nose.
Yellow Dot used to charge a premium which we were happy to pay as it is a fantastic nursery, we now pay even more for a significantly substandard service.

My daughter started in April 2020 at 9 months in the Under 2’s room and is due to move to the next room soon. From the start, the team have been fabulous in supporting her to settle into nursery life, build her language, give her important social skills and give her some lovely experiences. She has built such a strong bond with her key person as well as the other team in the room and often talks about them at home. She has also built good relationships with the other children and is always excited to go. She was a baby born in the height of the pandemic, so she had never left myself or her mum so she had no experience if separation. The team were amazing, we did short trials and then built them up and supported her through every step. I cannot thank them enough!

My son started at Bright Horizons Ampfield in September 2022 after moving house pre-covid. His previous nursery was not for him and he would be very upset at drop off and pick up. Since starting at Ampfield he settled in straight away and was happy and excited to go from day one. The staff are so friendly and genuinely care about the childrens development and wellbeing. They do so many fun activities and have their own woods which is a lovely feature! I am so thankful that this nursery has been a second family to my son, he made so many friends and his development excelled immensely since attending, from his speech to his eating habits. They really moulded him into the lovely little boy he is and I’m forever grateful to them. Couldn’t recommend this nursery enough, and thank you to the wonderful staff, each and every one of them make it an enjoyable, fun and safe place.

Our daughter has been in the Ampfield Nursery for nearly half a year. There have been different challenges that came up, not only for her, but also for her mum and me, while she was settling into the nursery. Apart from the first-time parenting challenges, we also have to learn many new things due to cultural differences. The management team and the staff have been doing a great job to help us come across all those challenges. I feel the two most amazing aspects that helped everyone to build bonds and trust are: every staff member in the nursery is passionate about growing relationships with all children in the nursery and the amount of information that is shared each day. There are also many activities throughout the year, and we often found our daughter learned something we did not know. Thank you for giving us wonderful memories in this special stage of our lives. You have provided a lovely place for our daughter to grow.

Ampfield is a really good nursery. My child loves going there and never not wants to go.
He thrives when he’s there and has learnt so much since being there. He eats different foods at nursery, which before attending he would not eat at home.

Our daughter has now been attending Bright Horizons Ampfield for 1.5 months and we couldn’t be happier with her progress. She is happy, settled and seems to be thriving in the baby room! The staff are so friendly and always there to help with any questions or concerns and our daughter has created some really lovely bonds with a few members. We feel very lucky that she is able to attend this nursery!

My child has recently been attending Bright Horizons Ampfield Day Nursery. The welcome was amazing and he settled straight away. He goes to the ‘nature nursery’ they offer, which is an amazing addition to this nursery. Spending all day outside with a team that are so enthusiastic, his day is engaging, busy, and fun. The confidence he has gained has been beyond our expectations. He also can’t wait to go back, referring to it as his ‘forest school adventures’. A great team and wonderful experiences on offer.