St Marys Church of England Nursery

Box-built dinosaur homes, paint experiments and counting sea creatures give this Chigwell nursery a practical, playful character in its September 2025 account. At its 25 September 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good overall and found safeguarding effective.

St Marys Church of England Nursery has 40 places in total. Children attending in September 2025 were aged two to four; the setting's character at that point centred on shared play, close relationships and preparation for school.

In September 2025, accessible resources on open shelves let children choose materials and develop their own ideas. Adult-guided activities drew on their interests and seasonal subjects. The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, the inspection-time examples included conversation, creative play and practical problem-solving.

A dinosaur-building activity showed how those elements could work together. Children decorated boxes, worked out how to add bridges and hiding places, and persisted with their designs. Paint mixing prompted predictions about colour, while discussion of texture, shape and size connected creative work with observation.

The garden offered space for running in September 2025. At a water tray, children explored toy sea creatures and counted their collections, bringing movement, imaginative play and early mathematics into the same account of daily life.

In September 2025, settling arrangements helped staff learn about children before they started. Children turned to their key person for comfort and assistance, giving families a concrete picture of how reassurance worked. Planning also included preparation for the move to school.

Communication needed more depth. Daily exchanges and some information-sharing were in place in September 2025, but conversations about continuing progress needed to become more routine so parents could support learning at home. Staff also sometimes moved on before children had enough thinking time or encouragement to develop an answer. Speech and language support was therefore a clear improvement priority.

Regular supervision and training supported staff in September 2025. The remaining leadership task was to make shared evaluation and support between colleagues a more established part of everyday work.

The address is St Mary's Church Rooms, High Road, Chigwell, Essex IG7 6QQ.

In September 2025, opening hours were 9.15am to 12.15pm on Monday and Friday, and 9.15am to 2.45pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, during term time. That timetable gave families shorter opening days at either end of the week and longer ones in the middle.

Government-funded early education was provided for eligible children in September 2025. This was an eligibility-dependent arrangement, rather than an entitlement for every family.

• Language support. September 2025 practice sometimes gave children too little time to think and respond. Ask how staff now build pauses and follow-up conversation into activities.
• Progress conversations. In September 2025, daily communication was stronger than routine discussion of development. Ask how progress reviews connect nursery learning with activities at home.
• Team development. Shared evaluation and support between staff needed strengthening in September 2025. Ask how supervision and training now translate into consistent practice.

This suits families drawn to hands-on creative play and a key-person approach to reassurance, with the September 2025 term-time timetable providing the practical context. The dinosaur construction and water play give substance to that picture. The decision points are equally specific: language support, regular progress conversations and consistent teamwork deserve attention alongside the Good judgement.