The Dream Nest Oaklands Named One of the UK’s Top 20 Nurseries for 2025–2026

The Dream Nest Oaklands has been named one of the UK’s Top 20 Nurseries in the 2025–2026 Nursery Excellence Awards.

We are proud of it. But we are prouder of where it came from, because this is not an award a nursery can enter, pay for, or talk its way into. It is calculated from what parents said about us — quietly, in their own words, over the course of a year.

For families weighing up nurseries near us right now, we thought the most useful thing we could do was explain exactly what the award measures, what it does not measure, and what sits behind it at our Oaklands setting.

What the Nursery Excellence Award Actually Measures

The Nursery Compare Excellence Awards recognise twenty nurseries across the UK each year, based on parent reviews submitted up to the 30th of May. Importantly, the awards acknowledge excellence rather than ranking the winners in order — there is no first place. The twenty settings are recognised together. You can see the full 2025–2026 winners list for yourself.

To be eligible, a nursery must:

• Hold a verified profile on the directory
• Be selected on its review scores as they stood on 30th May
• Have received a minimum of five reviews during the twelve months to 30th May
• Remain compliant with all relevant regulatory standards

In other words, it is a threshold you reach by being consistently good enough, for long enough, that enough families volunteer to say so. That is a slower and less glamorous route than a marketing campaign, and we prefer it that way.

What Our Families Told Us

Reading back through the reviews, the same handful of things come up again and again, and none of them are the things nurseries usually put on a brochure.

Parents wrote about the outdoor space — the room to run, the safety of exploring nature properly rather than in a token corner of a car park. They wrote about a manager who answered every question without hurrying anyone along. They wrote about children who settled, then grew confident, then started talking about their key worker at home. One parent mentioned barely getting a wave goodbye at drop-off, which is, if you are a parent, the highest possible compliment.

And they wrote about communication: knowing what their child had eaten, played and learned, every day.

“The communication is outstanding. I always know what my child has eaten, played, learned. They feel like genuine partners in her development, not just childcare providers.”

— Priya K., The Dream Nest Oaklands parent

What Sits Behind the Award

A garden that is genuinely a classroom

Oaklands sits in Englefield Green, and the outdoor space is the reason many families choose it. There is significantly more room for active play and nature exploration than most local settings can offer, and we use it in every season. Puddles, leaves and frost are not obstacles to the day’s plan — they are the plan.

Children grow vegetables and flowers, climb and balance, take managed risks, and build the gross motor foundations that later turn into the fine motor control needed for writing. Mud kitchens and water tables do more for language development than most people expect.

A key worker who knows your child properly

Every child at The Dream Nest has a key worker: one consistent adult who holds their story. That person builds the secure attachment your child looks to for comfort, tracks their development through observations and an individual learning journal, and acts as your main point of contact for daily handovers and progress conversations. We have written a fuller explanation in our guide to what a key worker does at nursery.

“Every child deserves to feel secure, encouraged, and understood. That is why The Dream Nest exists.”

— Sapna Niraula, Founder of The Dream Nest

Three rooms, three stages

Oaklands takes children from 3 months to 5 years across three rooms, each built around what that stage of childhood actually needs.

Practical Details for Local Families

The Dream Nest Oaklands is on Wick Lane, Englefield Green, Egham, TW20 0XN. You can reach the team on 01784 479484 or at Oaklands@thedreamnest.co.uk.

We are open Monday to Friday, with full days running from 7:30am to 6:00pm and shorter morning and afternoon sessions available. We accept both 15-hour and 30-hour funded childcare for eligible families.

What an Award Should — and Should Not — Tell You

We would rather be honest about this than oversell it.

An award like this one is a useful signal. It tells you that a reasonable number of families, over a reasonable stretch of time, were happy enough to say so publicly, and that the setting has stayed compliant with its regulatory obligations. That is worth something when you are comparing options from behind a laptop at eleven at night.

What it cannot tell you is whether this particular nursery is right for your particular child. No award can. That answer comes from standing in the room, watching how staff speak to children when they think no one is evaluating them, and noticing whether your child’s shoulders drop or rise.

So treat the badge as a reason to shortlist us, not a reason to skip the visit. If it helps, we have written a practical guide to how to choose a nursery near Windsor — including the questions worth asking every setting you see, ours included.

Thank You

This award belongs to the Oaklands team, who earned it one ordinary day at a time, and to the families who took a few minutes to write about us. We do not take either for granted.

Further Reading

• Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework — GOV.UK. The statutory standards every registered early years setting in England must meet.
• Childcare Choices — GOV.UK. Check which funded hours and childcare support your family is eligible for.

Related Reading

• How to Choose a Nursery Near Windsor
• What Does a Key Worker Do at Nursery? A Parent’s Guide
• What Is EYFS? A Simple Guide for Parents
• How to Prepare Your Child for Their First Day at Nursery