Nuffy Bear Day Nursery Surbiton

Weekly swimming for preschool children gives Nuffy Bear Day Nursery Surbiton a clear connection to its health-club setting. Based at Surbiton Fitness & Wellbeing Gym on Simpson Way, it welcomes children from 3 months to 5 years, with separate Baby, Toddler and Pre-school rooms. The age groups have their own spaces.

At its 24 January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall. Everyday independence and attentive relationships were prominent in January 2023: older children managed their lunch routines, while younger children received help with sharing and taking turns. These are useful details for parents who value practical confidence alongside play.

Full-day, morning and afternoon sessions give families different attendance patterns. Swimming is an additional attraction for older children, although the January 2023 findings also raised questions about babies' outdoor experiences and learning about different faiths and cultures.

Rooms and Ages

Baby accommodates children aged 3 months to 2 years, Toddler takes those aged 2 to 3 years, and Pre-school serves children aged 3 to 5 years. There are three nursery rooms, separating the youngest children's space from that of children approaching school age.

Loose parts and open-ended materials support learning led by children's interests. Rather than restricting play to a single intended use, this arrangement gives children scope to decide what to make and how to use the resources. Books, toys and activities sit alongside outdoor space for fresh-air play.

Learning and Activities

The nursery follows the early years foundation stage, the framework for children's learning, development and care: play and everyday routines support communication, physical development and social skills. In January 2023, babies experimented with brush marks using water, while preschool children shaped scented dough into ships. Different materials gave each age group ways to explore and create.

Language also ran through the January 2023 day. Younger children heard songs and stories, and preschool children practised putting their feelings and needs into words. The practical value was immediate: language helped children explain themselves during play and relationships, rather than being confined to a separate activity.

Swim with Nuffy adds weekly swimming during term time for children aged three to five, taught by a Swim England swimming instructor. This is a group-wide offer repeated at the Surbiton branch. It brings a recurring water-based activity into the preschool experience alongside room-based learning.

Outdoor and Community Life

In January 2023, older children used an outdoor area daily, with climbing frames and wheeled equipment giving them ways to practise movement. Babies had less consistent access to equally varied outdoor experiences. That difference matters: fresh-air play for the youngest children needs its own plan, rather than relying on provision designed for older children.

Community experiences in January 2023 included bus journeys to a theatre and shopping for snack ingredients. A nurse and the fire service also visited. These experiences connected children's questions with real jobs and everyday tasks, taking learning beyond the nursery rooms.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has an assigned key worker, with daily feedback for parents, newsletters and parent evenings. Together, these provide both short updates about the day and opportunities to discuss development over a longer period.

The settling recommendation is to allow two weeks for a child to become familiar with their key worker. This makes settling something to plan around, rather than assuming every child will adjust at the same speed. In January 2023, key people comforted children after sleep before helping them return to play, illustrating how care continued through the quieter parts of the day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) good, with the special educational needs coordinator working with the local authority and preparing school transitions ahead of time. For families needing additional support, the important detail is that coordination extended beyond the room and included the move to school.

In January 2023, staff learnt words from children's home languages during settling. However, children had fewer opportunities to explore unfamiliar religious beliefs, cultures and family customs. This was an area for improvement, alongside the outdoor experience for babies.

Meals and snacks are freshly prepared, with their design supported by a nutritional therapist. The nursery also supports children's transition to school.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Simpson Way, Long Ditton, Surbiton, KT6 4ER. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, across the year; closures cover bank holidays and a week at Christmas. The nursery sells full-day, morning and afternoon sessions, so the opening window should be distinguished from the attendance pattern a family books.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded childcare is accepted alongside paid sessions. Materials and consumables have a separate charge, with the charging structure distinguishing full days from morning and afternoon attendance. Families should obtain a current written quotation that separates their childcare pattern and extras.

• Babies outdoors. In January 2023, the youngest children had a narrower outdoor experience than older children. On a visit, ask how babies now use the outdoor space and what activities are planned for them.
• Learning about other lives. January 2023 improvement priorities included unfamiliar cultures, faiths and religions. Ask for recent examples of how this learning reaches children across the age groups.
• Settling time. The recommended two-week settling period deserves space in family plans. Discuss how those visits will fit around work and the child's usual routines.
• Session costs. Full-day and morning or afternoon bookings carry separately listed materials and consumables charges. Ask for a written breakdown covering funded hours and the separately charged materials and consumables.

Nuffy Bear Surbiton suits families seeking full-day care or shorter morning and afternoon attendance, with separate age-group rooms and weekly term-time swimming for preschool children. Its January 2023 picture combined practical independence, language-rich play and close relationships with clear improvement priorities. For parents of babies, the outdoor question deserves particular weight; for older children, swimming adds a concrete reason to consider this health-club setting.