Oxford News
Oxford prep school launches full-time nursery for toddlers
Chandlings Prep on Bagley Wood Road, near Kennington, announced the launch of its all-year-round nursery scheme, which will open in September 2026.
It will run alongside the school’s existing term-time nursery, providing families with greater flexibility while maintaining Chandlings’ established nurturing Early Years environment.
A spokesman for Chandlings Prep said: “The nursery is designed to help young children develop confidence, curiosity and a love of learning from the very beginning.”
Located within 60 acres of countryside just five miles from Oxford, the nursery emphasises nature, outdoor learning, and child-led discovery.
The provision includes outdoor learning, swimming, PE, library, drama and languages as part of the curriculum.
The spokesman said: “This holistic approach reflects Chandlings’ commitment to balancing play, exploration and learning in a setting where childhood is celebrated and each child is known and valued.”
The new all-year-round nursery will operate for 50 weeks of the year, offering greater continuity and convenience for parents.
The spokesman added: “The introduction of the All-Year-Round Nursery offers families extended childcare across 50 weeks of the year, providing greater continuity and convenience for parents while preserving the same high-quality provision and sense of community.”
Chandlings Prep said the scheme upholds its focus on nurturing every child’s early education with play-based learning and outdoor experiences.
The nursery emphasises play, exploration and learning.
The Prime Minister is prepared to “explore every option” to keep Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers in jail, a Government source told the Telegraph on Friday.
The Government has so far resisted pressure to exempt the two killers from its early release scheme, which starts in October in a bid to tackle prison overcrowding.
Mr Burnham said earlier this week he had “pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing” by excluding sentences for “rape, serious child sex offences and other grooming offences” from eligibility.
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Some 5,000 people are expected to be released early under sentencing changes, down from 6,000 after the exemptions announced as part of an urgent review of the scheme.
But under current plans, Cole and Bowers remain eligible to be freed halfway through their 13-year sentences after they were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 following Pc Harper’s death in 2019.
Downing Street has been contacted for comment about Mr Burnham reportedly weighing up options to block their release.
PC Harper was 28 when he sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019.
He died after getting caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and dragged down a country road as three teenage suspects fled the scene of the burglary.
The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not be eligible for release.
Dame Mary Berry has lived in Henley‑on‑Thames, Oxfordshire, with her husband Paul Hunnings since 2019.
She joined the BBC show as a judge alongside Paul Hollywood when it launched back in 2010 and stayed until 2016, before the programme moved to Channel 4.
Now, the 91‑year‑old food writer and presenter has been discussing work on the garden at her Henley home during an appearance on the Grow, Cook, Eat, Arrange podcast.
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Dame Mary explained that she and Mr Hunnings had decided to buy larger yew trees rather than wait years for smaller plants to grow.
The former Great British Bake Off judge said: “Evergreens, a yew is, we put hedges in a yew. And obviously you should buy evergreens like a yew. I suppose about two foot high and wait.”
Dame Mary then made clear why waiting was not a realistic option for her.
“Well, I’ll be in heaven then, so we had to buy them fairly big, I suppose they were about four foot because we needed them to get to the top of the tennis court netting,” she said.
The TV star and her husband moved to Henley to be closer to family after downsizing from their former home in Buckinghamshire.
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In a previous interview, Dame Mary said of her decision to move: “We didn’t want to move too far from our friends, and Henley is only a 35-minute drive.”
She added: “The town is beautiful. It has the river, and there are lots of interesting walks to do. As the years go, we will be able to walk into the town, and it will be nice to not have to get the car out.”
Dame Mary remains a familiar face on television and has continued to share her love of gardening as well as cooking.
Speaking at the Hay Festival earlier this year, she encouraged young people to “work hard and follow your dreams”.
Her garden in Henley includes a greenhouse, pond, beds and roses, while she has said she grows produce including red onions, lettuce and carrots.
Fire services were dispatched to Cowley Road just before 6pm yesterday evening to tackle the blaze.
Photos show the fire behind residential gardens, with black smoke billowing high.
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At least two fire engines were dispatched to the scene with multiple firefighters working to put out the blaze.
Photos sent to this newspaper show fire engines moving into position and the blaze itself seen from behind a garden.
It’s currently not known how the fire started or its exact location.
Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has been contacted for more information.
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