The Willow On The Farm Nursery
OutstandingBirth to 5Long established
A pre-school in Banbury for children from birth to 5, open sessions in term time, often mornings. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in June 2025. Open since 2017, with 32 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Oxfordshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Oxfordshire from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
OX15 5DQWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
Ofsted inspector, 24 June 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Leaders and staff want the very best for the children in their care. They understand that young children have an impressive capacity to learn, so long as learning is pitched at exactly the right level and teaching is of a very high quality. Leaders plan a curriculum that is detailed, ambitious and designed to meet the needs of the children who attend. There is as strong a focus on children gaining lots of knowledge as there is on children gaining skills and positive attitudes to learning.
The quality of teaching is consistently excellent. At the heart of the curriculum is a focus on children's social and language development. Staff treat children with courtesy and kindness at all times. They help children name, understand and manage their emotions through a focused programme of activities that introduce children to the words they need to describe their feelings and a range of strategies to manage them. Children learn from this to describe how they feel in different ways and show huge empathy towards the feelings of others.
Staff's expectations for children's behaviour are as high as those for children's learning. Staff consistently model good manners. They are hugely respectful in their interactions with children. For example, as children arrive, staff ensure that their first conversations are with them, rather than with parents. Children are greeted with a warm handshake, and staff ask the children how they are feeling and if there is anything they want to share with them. Behaviour throughout the nursery is excellent, and children show they feel totally at home in the nurturing and calm environment.
- 24 June 2025Outstanding Safeguarding: Yes
- 21 November 2019Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for The Willow On The Farm Nursery
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Is there a place for my child's age? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.