About the building

The Nursery utilizes a very attractive flint school which was built in 1911. This replaced Reading’s first Catholic school of 1840 built on the site of Reading Abbey, which once equalled the size of Westminster Abbey. The school bell is from the pre 1911 building. St. James School as it was known, adjacent to St. James Church on Forbury Road, once educated 240 pupils’ aged 3 – 15 years. Gradually numbers declined so that it ceased to function as a school in 1990.

Applications were made to use the premises for offices, but an alternative bid to provide much needed childcare was preferred. This was initially for thirty six children, opening in the September of 1991. During the first six months, the number of children rose from one to thirty five, so the Nursery was re-registered in May 1992 for forty eight children, this time under the Children’s Act 1989. In January 1995, the Nursery had it’s final re-registration to take its maximum number of children, ninety five in total.

Our Nursery has a defibrillator in place. We believe this is such an important piece of kit to have to hand in the case of a medical emergency, all staff have received training in how to use a defibrillator.

We offer the children weekly music & movement sessions with ‘Wiggle Waggle’, weekly sports sessions with In2Sports and weekly French lessons with La Jolie Ronde.

Wiggle Waggle with Miss Joanna

All children thoroughly enjoy their weekly music and movement session with Miss Joanna. The sessions involve action songs, movement, drama, singing, rhythm… and all whilst having the most invigorating fun possible. The children use a wide range of activities and stimulation by means of different props, pictures, lights and instruments. They simply LOVE it!

uSports

uSports exists to provide as many children as possible the opportunity to have a positive experience with a variety of sports at a young age. We are passionate about ensuring children develop in a fun, safe and happy environment whilst educating them not only in sports but as young people. These sessions are linked to the EYFS and are thoroughly enjoyed by the children. uSports | Sports Coaching | Based In Berkshire

Community Walks

The children also spend time on walks in our local community visiting the local Forbury Gardens, Reading Library and visiting the local shops to buy ingredients for cooking activities, as well as more structured activities to the local theatre and farm trips.

Testimonials

Forbury Gardens Day Nursery is a fabulous Nursery. The staff are amazing! The variation of activities offered to the children could not be better.

Forbury Gardens Day Nursery provides an excellent level of care and attention for each individual child, the staff team are all really supportive and provide a great range of activities for the children.

Communication between staff and parents is brilliant. The entire team of staff are extremely professional. Frankly I love the Nursery, my children couldn’t be happier.

Our other nursery locations

Newbury Gardens Day Nursery
Newbury Gardens Day Nursery opened in October 2013 and is the third to open within The Forbury Group. Situated in Newbury town centre, the building is set in beautiful grounds, with three outdoor play areas and caters for five childcare rooms on three levels. We welcome all families to visit us and see what we have to offer.
View more
Berkeley Gardens Day Nursery
Berkeley Gardens Day Nursery is the second nursery to follow from Forbury Gardens. It opened in July 2011, and is located in Reading. We received a 5 star rating from Reading Borough Council for food safety and a silver award from Chiltern training Ltd for continuous support for our staff training towards their Diplomas in child care.
View more
Waingels Gardens Day Nursery
Waingels Gardens Day Nursery is our newest nursery, opening in April 2018. Set in Waingels College grounds, you will be able to find us in a spacious purpose built, one story building, with a large, secure outdoor play area. We will have ample parking for parents to drop off their child and a fabulous park on our door step to enjoy through out the summer. Please come and visit us to see what we can offer.
View more
Woodley Gardens Day Nursery
Woodley Gardens Day Nursery opened in 2017. We are set in a large 2 story tudor building, in a quiet residential area in Woodley. We offer a range of different activities every day and have a secure rear play area with bikes, scooters and a sand pit. If you want to know more, you are welcome to visit and meet our friendly dedicated team.
View more
Apply for a place Send message