Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School

Westley Lane, Sparsholt, Winchester SO21 2NB
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9.6 44 Reviews
  • Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School, Winchester
At Farley Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School, children learn and play in a unique outdoor environment. The nursery provides high-quality care and education for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years.

The nursery features the Yurt classrooms made from local and sustainable materials, and plenty of outdoor space. Activities include growing and harvesting vegetables, visiting the zoo and dairy farm at the neighbouring Sparsholt College, picnics, outdoor story time and many more opportunities to nurture each child's creativity and confidence.
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Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care
  • Sessional Day Care

Group/Owner

Person in Charge

  • Janine Hollands (Nursery Manager)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 25

Total Places for Children

  • 70

Age Range

  • from 0 years 2 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Funding & Fees

  • Full day (8:00am – 6:00pm) from £84.60

  • We want to make life simple, so our fees include infant formula, milk, freshly prepared snacks, and meals. We also provide nappies, wipes, and sun cream, or parents can bring their own if they prefer.

Opening Times

  • Monday 08:00-18:00
    Tuesday 08:00-18:00
    Wednesday 08:00-18:00
    Thursday 08:00-18:00
    Friday 08:00-18:00

When Closed

  • Bank Holidays & Christmas

Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School Reviews (44)

9.6

Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School has a Review Score of 9.6 (9.637) out of 10, based on 14 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School has 44 reviews.

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Review from Catherine S (Mother of Child) published on 14 November 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Farley Sparsholt Nursery is nothing short of extraordinary. From the moment my daughter joined, the level of care, understanding, and dedication from the entire team has been outstanding. My daughter is currently under review for an epilepsy diagnosis, and the staff have shown such compassion, patience,
and attentiveness, ensuring she always feels safe, valued, and included. In their magical yurt-based setting, surrounded by fields and animals, children are free to explore, imagine, and discover. The yurts provide a calm, sensory-rich space, while outdoor learning sparks endless curiosity. Since joining, Arwen has flourished - growing in confidence, communication, and independence. The team nurture every child as an individual, encouraging them to learn and thrive at their own pace. Farley Sparsholt isn't just a nursery - it's a truly inspiring community that cultivates happy, curious, and confident young learners.
Reply from Finlay Seoudy, Regional Marketing Executive at Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School
Thank you so much for sharing such thoughtful feedback. We're truly pleased to hear how supported he has felt and that the team have helped her feel safe, included, and confident. It's wonderful to…read more
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Review from C L (Mother of Child) published on 10 November 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Wonderful setting with fantastic staff. Our little one is in the baby room and has developed so much since starting here and it encourages him to be independent and confident all whilst having the support of the lovely team. We get great handovers and hear all about what our son has been doing during
the day. They have really worked with us on areas we have required such as naps and his speech development. Sometimes the use of the app can be lacking but I know signal plays a factor!
Looking forward to seeing the new setting in full use once the fires are turned on now we are moving into the colder months!
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Review from Alice E (Mother of Child) published on 5 November 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I could not recommend this nursery more. My two boys absolutely love it. The care from the staff is outstanding, everyone is so kind and caring and go the extra mile for all the children. The children very clearly have strong bonds with all the staff and my boys run through the gate to give whoever
is waiting to greet them a cuddle. They always take the time at handover to explain what the children have been up to and how their day has been. We also get lots of photos and updates through the day.
The children often get to head down to the farm to see the animals and feed the cows. They pick and eat their own fruit and vegetables they've grown, they spend all day outside in the fresh air and are surrounded by fields with tractors and horses. I could not imagine a more idyllic place for my boys to spend their younger years.
If you are considering this nursery, you will not be disappointed. Thank you Farley for being so wonderful!
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Review from J P (Mother of Child) published on 29 September 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 3.0 out of 5
This nursery has a lot of potential but, unfortunately, also many areas requiring improvement.
The general effort to be an "outdoor nursery" is good and with the newly renovated area and refurbished yurts the setting will hopefully be more comfortable for the children than in previous years.
We
had several concerns during our time there, mostly centred around the quality of care from the staff and generally poor communication. There always seemed to be a high number of agency staff. This meant that the permanent members of staff were often stretched, having to spend most of their day providing personal care rather than coordinating activities for the children. Handovers were also particularly poor with little/no information about key information such as food eaten or toileting.
There are some absolute gems that I hope the nursery make an effort to retain: Kirsten, Jessie and Abby in particular, with a lot of effort being put in by the manager Janine.
Reply from Finlay Seoudy, Regional Marketing Executive at Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School
Thank you for your feedback, and were sorry for the concerns you experienced. Were always looking at how to make things better, and the recent refurbishments to our outdoor areas and yurts are part of…read more
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Review from I S (Father of Child) published on 9 May 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Amazing setting. Fantastic staff. Children gain so much confidence, and they love the outdoors. Better than being stuck indoors like other settings. Lots of new developments at the moment and lots of new facilities.
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Review from K H (Mother of Child) published on 6 May 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I wished to write a review of Farley Sparsholt and their care of the children and the experience we receive as parents. The nursery is currently undergoing significant ground works and changes to the site, which are very much needed. These changes have caused great disruption to the site, but never
once have the children not been thought of. The way the Manager and the team have adapted and developed the children's daily routines have been superb, with the children always being thought of despite it being very different at the moment. The current journey Farley is on is so exciting, and I cannot wait to see what the final results will be. If you're reading this as a new parent or considering a nursery setting for your child, Farley, in every regard, is absolutely wonderful.
Reply from Jessica Griffin, Marketing Executive at Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School
Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful words. It means the world to our team to know that, even through all the renovations, our children and families feel supported and cared for. We're so…read more
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Review from A T (Father of Child) published on 31 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our daughter absolutely loves going to Farley, Sparsholt. The staff, the yurts, the outdoor space, everything is excellent. The updates/photos on the app always show her having lots of fun. Our daughter is in Top Conkers (pre-school year) and has grown up so much over the past 3 years at Farley. She
is happy, friendly, confident, independent, and inquisitive - her time at Farley has given her a great start and she's more than ready to start school this year.
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Review from Amy M (Mother of Child) published on 31 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter loves Farley at Sparsholt... she is absolutely thriving! My son also adored the nursery who is now doing brilliantly at school, but wishes he could go back to nursery!
My daughter has the freedom to play independently, use her imagination which has brought on her use of language and is
encouraged to explore her natural surroundings and get muddy! She has friends of all nursery ages and adores the staff. She talks about the staff at home and they show her great care and respect. My daughter tells me she has a lot of fun at nursery!
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Review from S H (Mother of Child) published on 28 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Farley Sparsholt is a unique and very special place. Our daughter has been there for 2 years now and absolutely loves it. She is thriving and has the best time every day. She loves being outside, getting muddy and dirty, and always comes home with a smile on her face.


Aside from the unique yurt-based

set up, what makes it such a wonderful place is the staff. Every single member of staff is so enthusiastic, friendly and welcoming. They are always smiling even at the end of the day when they've been out in the wet and cold all day! They have a fantastic manager and has done wonderful things with the nursery since she started almost a year ago, after a turbulent 6 months for the setting. She has an open door policy, is always happy to chat and nothing is too much trouble. I would highly recommend Farley Sparsholt to anyone, and we look forward to our second child starting there later in the year
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Review from Alice S (Mother of Child) published on 20 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
An absolutely wonderful environment for my little girl. She is thriving and her confidence has increased so much because of the fabulous staff and unique environment. Management are top tier and willing to help with anything. Would highly recommend
Reply from Jessica Griffin, Marketing Executive at Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School
Thank you so much for your lovely feedback! We're thrilled to hear your little one is thriving and growing in confidence. Your kind words about our team and environment mean a lot, and we're so…read more
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Review from Sam H (Father of Child) published on 20 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We have both our kids at this nursery - one in the "top conker" pre-school yurt, and one just started in the babies yurt. We honestly couldn't be happier with everything.


The outdoor setting is really amazing - the kids love being in the sandpit, on the field, sliding in the mud, etc. They come home

smiling every day, and the oldest has been asking to go more frequently!


The staff are what really make it, though. Genuinely every member of staff is amazing, from the manager and the management team through to every single person in every yurt. While it's obviously always difficult sending your baby off to nursery, we honestly haven't really worried at all about our youngest starting, because we're so confident in how brilliant everyone is. And she has settled beautifully!


We recommend Farley to all our pregnant friends and family, we honestly couldn't recommend it more highly.

Reply from Jessica Griffin, Marketing Executive at Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! It's amazing to hear how happy both your children are and how much they're enjoying their time with us-mud slides and all! We're especially grateful for…read more
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Review from S K (Mother of Child) published on 15 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our children have thrived here. Enjoying the unique outdoor environment whilst also getting the specialist knowledge from the nursery workers. The way that the syllabus is incorporated into the outside learning environment is really great and lets our children be children.
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Review from R H (Mother of Child) published on 15 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We couldn’t recommend Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School highly enough! Our daughter is absolutely thriving there and very happy. We’re always impressed with all the staff and the creative activities they do with the children. It’s such a unique environment, we feel so lucky! We’ve already put
our second child’s name down, even though they are still a few months away from being born.
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Review from Danielle F (Mother of Child) published on 14 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Farley Nursery School Sparsholt what can I say. The staff are so enthusiastic and welcoming. Being faced with the horrendous British weather on a daily basis getting wet and cold alongside the children, they are always still smiling at the end of every day.
The love, care, kindness and cuddles they
provide to the little ones more often than not go beyond what they are paid for.
Farley really is one big happy family and the thought of our Farley experience coming to an end and embarking on the school journey with my youngest is sad but I know she has had the best experience and preparation for school.
A huge shout-out to 6 of the staff members. These individuals have really made our journey extra special over the 7 years we have been at Farley and we will more than miss you all. You are a fab team and we are so grateful to have found such a wonderful unique nursery for our little people.
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Review from R H (Mother of Child) published on 1 November 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter has recently started at Farley and as a first-time mum the prospect of putting her into nursery was rather daunting, however, she has settled in so well and the staff were so diligent at taking time to update me on her day and clearly care for her so well. I see pictures of her happy and
smiling and when I pick her up and drop her off she's clearly having a fantastic experience. I can see her confidence growing and little friendships forming. Not only can I see how much she loves her days there, but all the children always appear to be having so much fun and loving the outdoors. It's so refreshing to see.
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Review from E B (Mother of Child) published on 31 January 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We have loved our experience with Farley nursery at Sparsholt. My partner's little girl had 3 wonderful years with them and she still talks about her fabulous experiences daily! We now have our youngest there and she goes in with a smile and leaves with one- we love the photo updates to see how she
is enjoying her day and she genuinely has developed a love for the outdoors .. and she comes home pooped and ready for bed (its a win all round!). Each and every staff member is caring, patient and so kind and I have full faith that our girl is being looked after brilliantly. We love it!
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Review from C S (Father of Child) published on 31 January 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Farley is a wonderful caring Nursery, the staff are wonderful, the facilities are excellent and they're extremely flexible to the individual needs of your child. If you want your child to spend more time outside being at one with the world, this is the place for you!
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Review from L B (Mother of Child) published on 31 January 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Both of our children attend Farley, Sparsholt and absolutely love it. We moved them from another nursery at the end of last year and haven't looked back. The staff are exceptional - caring, engaging and enthusiastic. The outdoor learning environment is fantastic and the opportunities and activities
available are just brilliant! Could not be happier that our children go here.
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Review from Louis M (Father of Child) published on 27 January 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Both of our sons have luckily attended Farley over the years and our youngest is now in his last year within the Top Conker Room having worked his way up through all 3 Yurts. The team Farley are exceptional in all they do. They always do the best for the children and both children and staff are always
happy and always beaming a smile no matter what the British weather throws. The team have really supported us and been really flexible in everything that they do. The staff, who are all fabulous Farley family helped developed our boys into confident, independent, caring young individuals with great friends which is an absolute joy to watch. If I could sum up Farley and what they do in one world it would be exceptional. Well done all involved. We are so grateful to each and everyone involved. And the Cheese and Wine parent's evenings are great fun too.
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Review from Gemma I (Mother of Child) published on 24 January 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Farley Sparsholt is the perfect nursery for our energy-filled, inquisitive nearly 2 year old. Starting forest nursery at 11months old, before he could walk, was questioned by some friends, but the staff made him so welcome from the word go and activities are always age/ ability appropriate. From the
start he has gone in in the morning happily, he now trots in and barely looks back and when I collect him after a full day at 6pm he wants to keep on playing. Staff always have a smile on their face and it's unusual to hear or see kids upset when you enter the yard at the end of the day. No matter the weather, they seem to have a great time and have the ability to spend plenty of time outside whilst never getting too cold. I am amazed on a regular basis by the creative things they get upto. I feel so lucky that we managed to get a space there, what a way to start out as a child! I often wish I could stay and play as opposed to heading off to work!
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Current Review Score: 9.6 (9.637)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.6 (9.637) out of 10 for Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.7 out of 5 from 14 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 4.9 out of 5 from 13 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  1. 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months. The Average Rating of 4.708 for Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School is calculated as follows: ( (137 Excellents x 5) + (18 Goods x 4) + (8 Satisfactorys x 3) + (5 Poors x 2) ) ÷ 168 Ratings = 4.708
  2. 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5'). The 4.929 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School is based on 13 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    1. 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 4
    2. 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 70 number of registered child places is 14. 13 Positive Reviews ÷ 14 = 0.929
  3. When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.
  4. If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Child Vacancies

Please contact us for latest vacancies.

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Awards / Recognitions (6)

Meet the Team (1)

Janine

Janine Hollands

Job Title: Nursery Manager Joined: 2024

Every day at Farley we encourage children to be curious and imaginative in our wonderful outdoor learning environment. In doing so, they soon develop a real love of learning and a curious mind.


Our experienced team come with a wealth of early years learning insight. We know that every child is different with their own story to tell, so we make sure that your child learns in a way and at a pace that’s right for them.


Seeing is believing at Farley Sparsholt so do come along and say hello. We’re looking forward to welcoming you to our magical setting.

Frequently Asked Questions about Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School

What is the Age Range of Children that Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School accepts?

Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School accepts Children aged from 0 years 2 months to 5 years 0 months.

What Days & Hours is Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School Open?

Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School is open: Monday 08:00-18:00, Tuesday 08:00-18:00, Wednesday 08:00-18:00, Thursday 08:00-18:00, Friday 08:00-18:00.

How many Children does Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School have capacity for?

Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School has capacity for a total of 70 Children.

How far is Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School to the centre of Winchester?

3.6 mile(s) as the crow flies, distance by road may be significantly further.

Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of daynurseries.co.uk. Please contact Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. Farley, Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School has an Enhanced Service - more info.