Welcome to Lily Pad Brackley

At Lily Pad Day Nursery Brackley, our space is divided into three main areas: our youngest children, the Butterflies, the middle years, the Frogs, and our oldest children, the Otters. Each of these spaces are specifically designed and equipped to support and inspire your child during their age and stage of development.

Our indoor spaces have everything your child needs to help support them as they leap into learning. Whatever it may be that they take an interest in, there is a place and a space for them to enjoy. From areas to make lots of noise and get messy, to cosy, calm corners.
We are also lucky enough to have our dedicated hall space. It is an open area in the centre of the nursery that we often use for indoor physical activities such as ball skills, music and movement, and parachute play.
There are three different age groups at Lily Pad, we call them our ponds. Each group have access to their own secure outside area with age appropriate equipment. When it’s not too cold we like to keep the doors open so the children can move freely between their inside and outside areas.
At the rear of the nursery we have our playground that is perfect for running around, jumping off logs, or getting creative in our mud kitchen. We also have a fairy garden perfect for imaginative play. At Lily Pad, we believe being in the great outdoors is an essential part to a fun filled day.
Zoe is a dedicated Nursery Manager with over 25 years of experience in early childhood education. She is passionate about creating a warm and nurturing environment where every child feels valued and supported. Throughout her career, she has focused on maintaining high standards of care while supporting and developing a strong, motivated team.
Building positive relationships with families is central to her approach, and she is committed to ensuring the nursery is a safe, inclusive, and inspiring place where every child can flourish.
Outside of work, Zoe is a proud parent of three children, enjoys playing netball, and values spending quality time with her family.
We are open Monday to Friday, 52 weeks a year (excluding public holidays).
You can book as many sessions as you require (but no less than 1.5) and if you need to start your day a little bit earlier, breakfast club might be just what you need.
+ Breakfast Club: 7:30am – 8:00am
+ Full Day: 8:00am – 6:00pm
+ Morning Session: 8:00am – 1:00pm
+ Afternoon Session: 1:00pm – 6:00pm

In addition to the above, we also offer the following hours for Otters only:

+ School day: 9:00am – 3:00pm (with the option to add an hour either side: 8.00am – 9.00am and/or 3.00pm – 4.00pm
We are happy to help in any way that we can. If you would like to enquire about a place for your child please click here.

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Our Ponds

The Butterflies

From 3 months to 20-24 months

At Lily Pad, our baby provision, called The Butterflies, is divided into two dedicated rooms: one for our youngest babies and one for our older babies. The younger babies enjoy a calm, quiet space filled with tactile and messy activities, while the older babies enjoy all the above with an increased focus on developing their emerging walking and physical skills.
There is a dedicated sleep area, and babies have their own secure garden with equipment tailored to their needs, where they can safely explore the outdoors and enjoy fresh air and nature.
Our baby room is led by caring, qualified, and experienced Practitioners who have a strong understanding of child development, especially for children from birth to 2 years. Each baby is assigned a Key Person who builds a close relationship with both you and your child, ensuring individual needs are met and supporting your child’s personal, social, and emotional development.
We work closely with you to follow your baby’s routines around feeding, sleeping, and nappy changing, helping to make the transition from home to nursery smooth and comfortable. Mealtimes are special moments where babies eat together to encourage social interaction. Through the Famly App, you can receive updates on feeds, nappy changes, and sleep times to stay connected with your baby’s day.
To help support your babies emerging communication, we provide extracurricular Sing and Sign sessions which you can choose to opt in or out of.
Our activities focus on our four core areas of learning: Life Skills, Discovery, Communication and Relationships - foundations essential for all future learning. Our practitioners plan experiences that nurture these areas while fostering your child’s natural curiosity and development.

The Frogs

From 20-24 months to 30-36 months

Our Toddler Room, known as The Frogs, is where the serious exploration begins! And that’s why our environment is full of resources that invite experimentation and encourage toddlers’ natural desire to “do it myself.” It also supports early friendships and social skills. The space is warm and welcoming, where your child feels safe to play, sleep, and explore. They have their own dedicated outdoor garden they can access freely, plus daily use of a larger playground for more energetic activities.
The Frogs, is led by caring, qualified, and experienced Practitioners who understand the big changes toddlers go through between ages two and three. This is a time of huge developmental growth, and our team supports your child every step of the way.
Each toddler has a Key Person who builds a close relationship with you and your child to meet their individual needs and support their personal, social, and emotional development.
We work with you to follow your child’s home routines for toilet training, feeding, and sleeping. When your child is ready we support them with toilet training to help them become confident and independent.
To help support our Frogs we provide optional extracurricular Boogie Mites and Rhythm Time sessions for those families that choose to opt in.
Our activities focus on our four core areas of learning: Life Skills, Relationships, Communication and Discovery — foundations essential for all future learning. Our Practitioners plan experiences that nurture these areas while fostering your child’s natural curiosity and development.

The Otters

From 30-36 months to big school

Our Pre-School Room, known as The Otters is thoughtfully designed to encourage active learning, exploration, and creativity. Children can move freely between the indoors and their own secure garden. Plus they use the larger playground where they can run, take safe risks, and enjoy outdoor play like cooking something delicious in the mud kitchen.
The Otters, is led by experienced Practitioners, including qualified Teachers who bring structure to support your child’s growing abilities. They understand how young children learn and develop, with a strong knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
Each child is supported by a dedicated Key Person who builds a close relationship with you and your child, ensuring their individual needs are met and their personal, social, and emotional wellbeing is nurtured.
We encourage independence in our Otters group and our approach combines the very best aspects of both teaching and care. The children often add to their Learning Journey, a keepsake folder full of your child’s progress throughout their time as an Otter.
Although more structured, the focus is still on active play, exploration and creative thinking. The children have lots of opportunities to play in the home corner, run in the garden and get stuck into all things messy!
The Otters enjoy a number of optional extracurricular activities including: Rhythm Time, Rhythmic Gems, Tiny Toes Ballet and Boogie Mites.
They also head out into the local community, often to the local care homes where they enjoy classes with the residents.
Our approach blends learning with care, keeping things fun, active, and creative. While the day has more structure, children still learn through play.

Your child will bring home a Lily Pad book to enjoy with you, helping them build early reading skills. We explore letters, sounds, and numbers through games, songs, and activities that make learning memorable. The Otters take part in ‘core skills’ on a daily basis to develop and reinforce the skills they will need as they develop and grow.

Group time for stories, singing, and sharing helps build confidence and communication. Everything we do is designed to support your child’s development and get them ready and excited for their next step, starting school.
Our activities focus on our four core areas of learning: Life Skills, Relationships, Communication and Discovery — foundations essential for all future learning. Our Practitioners plan experiences that nurture these areas while fostering your child’s natural curiosity and development.
We take a holistic approach to school readiness, helping children build the confidence, independence, and skills they need for a smooth transition to school. This includes supporting social development, self-care skills like toileting and using cutlery, communication, curiosity, and a love of learning.

You can feel reassured knowing your child is happy, making progress, and well-prepared for their next big step when the time comes.