History

1. Woodley Nursery School was the only Local Authority nursery school. It opened in Church Road in 1946 and moved to its present site in the 1980s.
2. It was awarded Early Excellence status in 2003.
3. There are 107 Early Excellence Centres in Great Britain and there will be no further designations.
4. It became Wokingham's first Children's Centre in 2007.

The Ambleside Centre offers

• Support services for parents and carers
• Effective early identification and intervention for children in need
• Access to adult education and training
• Raising standards amongst other providers, including those in the private and voluntary sectors, by contributing to training and documentation of good practice

1. To provide a local service, responsive to the needs of families with children who are under five in the community, including affordable childcare, early years education, information and a range of support services operating in a joined-up way.
2. To provide an integrated, joined-up and inclusive service that assists the all-round (holistic) development of children, helping them to fulfill their potential.
3. To be a model of partnership and co-operative working across services, sectors and providers, as well as encouraging excellence in other early years and childcare settings.
4. To help local people access effective parenting training and support in the community, without fear of the negative perceptions that can be associated with asking for this sort of support service.
5. To develop high quality training which can be used by other early years practitioners to continuously improve their own practice and to make information about early years education and childcare training easily available.
6. To ensure that this integrated service is accessible to all children, both within the Centre itself and also in the services provided from it.