Queens Baby Nursery

Water play, fruit squeezing and a garden apple tree give Queens Baby Nursery a recognisable character: early learning built around things small children can touch, change and investigate. This Buckhurst Hill setting concentrates on babies and young toddlers, with capacity for 27 children aged 3 to 24 months. Its narrower age range makes the move to the next nursery stage an important part of the family’s choice.

At its July 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found that children made exceptional progress, with individual help addressing gaps in their learning. The detail behind that judgement matters: children experimented with water, practised using their hands and listened to adults throughout their play. Learning began with ordinary actions rather than formal lessons.

Eylog, the online learning journal, connects nursery experiences with home. Parents can see updates and contribute their own observations, giving them an active part in the conversation about their child’s development.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS brings learning, development and care together: for babies, that means building communication, movement and understanding through play and everyday routines. In July 2024, turning taps and transferring water between containers gave children opportunities to practise hand movements and explore how much a container could hold. These were manageable experiments for very young children.

Fruit offered another practical activity. In July 2024, children squeezed citrus fruits, using their fingers and hands to extract the juice. Adults kept talking during activities and repeated words so children could hear and try them again. Physical exploration and language developed side by side.

French singing and counting also featured in July 2024, alongside puppets and coloured scarves. Children watched, shared resources and joined in with clapping and waving. This gave language activities a playful form, with movement and objects helping to hold their attention.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar provided a link between a story and something happening in the garden in July 2024. Children heard about a butterfly’s life cycle, watched caterpillars develop and helped release the butterflies. The book became a starting point for observing living things, rather than an isolated story session.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large garden supported movement in July 2024. Children balanced on stepping stones and carried water and other materials around the outdoor space; children who were not walking could reach a building activity and handle large bricks. Adults supported access to activities and supervised children as they attempted small steps. Different stages of mobility were part of the same outdoor day.

Growing food gave children another reason to spend time outside in July 2024. They planted and watered seeds, watched fruit, vegetables and herbs grow, and picked apples for a snack. Conversations connected the food they could see with eating and health. An apple’s seeds then offered a further starting point for learning about growth.

The youngest children were also involved in familiar routines in July 2024. They chose activities, helped put play materials away before lunch and fed themselves. Independence was practised through small tasks within the day, giving children something achievable to do for themselves.

Relationships and Communication

Eylog lets parents follow nursery life through their phones and add observations from home. That two-way exchange is useful at an age when changes in communication, movement and interests can happen quickly: something noticed at home can become part of the nursery conversation, and nursery experiences can be continued by families.

In July 2024, children became familiar with staff and formed close relationships as they settled. Adults helped children who were learning to walk reach activities and responded to everyday care needs. The account gives a concrete picture of care alongside play, rather than treating physical development as a separate lesson.

Moving on was gradual in July 2024. Children visited their next nursery with familiar friends and key staff, with settling spread over time. For a setting devoted to the baby stage, that continuity matters: the next move involved relationships as well as a change of surroundings. The current team’s work also includes transition to Queens Nursery.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding arrangements effective. Daily care at that time included reminders about sun hats, renewed sun cream after water play and regular drinks, with children learning to recognise their own cups. These details show how health routines were woven into an active outdoor day.

Sleep followed the morning’s activities in July 2024, after children had eaten lunch. Families choosing baby care need to consider that rhythm alongside their child’s own feeding and sleeping habits, especially during the settling period.

Queens Baby Nursery is at Queens House, Queens Road, Buckhurst Hill, IG9 5BX. Enquiries can be made by email to bn@children-first.info or by telephone on 0208 505 5100.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. Parents choose between different sessions, so the opening window should be considered alongside the attendance arrangement they intend to book.

The attendance plan requires at least 3 days, including a Monday or Friday. The nursery operates for 51 weeks, with Bank Holidays, a festive closure and a staff training day affecting the annual calendar. Reducing a child’s attendance requires 2 months’ notice, which matters if a family expects its working pattern to change.

Funding and Paid Extras

Meals and snacks are included in the fee, as are nappies and wipes. The same fee structure includes trips, special events and daily specialist teachers until a child receives three-year-old funding; that funding condition concerns an older stage than this baby nursery’s age range. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Two-year-old funding is not accepted. For families planning the next stage of care, that is a practical distinction to keep separate from the baby nursery’s private childcare arrangements.

Fees are paid in advance by standing order, with payment due by the first working day of the month. Absence through sickness does not attract a refund. These terms make the booked attendance plan a continuing financial commitment, even during weeks when a child cannot attend.

• The move beyond baby care. The nursery concentrates on children aged 3 to 24 months, and transition to Queens Nursery forms part of the team’s work. During a visit, discuss how the timing and settling arrangements would work for your child.
• A regular attendance commitment. The minimum is 3 days, including Monday or Friday, and reducing attendance requires 2 months’ notice. This suits families able to maintain a consistent pattern; compare it with your likely working week before booking.
• Sleep during an active day. In July 2024, children slept after lunch following a morning of play. During a visit, ask how your baby’s individual sleep routine would fit into the nursery day.

Queens Baby Nursery suits families seeking care specifically for the baby and young toddler stage, with hands-on play, outdoor exploration and a way to share observations through Eylog. Its July 2024 Outstanding judgement gives weight to that choice, while the examples of water experiments, growing food and supported movement make the character of the provision easy to understand.

The practical fit rests on a regular attendance plan and a willingness to plan the next nursery move relatively early. Families choosing among the different sessions should weigh the minimum-day commitment alongside the opening hours. This is a baby-stage choice with transition built into the decision.