Collingham Gardens Nursery

An extensive garden shaped much of children's life at this small Bloomsbury nursery when Ofsted visited in November 2022. Children investigated worms beneath tree stumps, built stamina outdoors and turned cardboard boxes into imaginative travel props. Ofsted judged the provision Good, with all four assessed areas also Good.

The setting at Henrietta Mews, off Handel Street, has capacity for 24 children aged two to four. Its scale and garden-led inspection picture may appeal to families seeking a close community and substantial outdoor time.

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the educational framework: play, conversation and routines develop communication, physical skills, personal and social development, early literacy and mathematics. In November 2022, staff extended children's ideas through open questions and descriptive language. Children listened closely to stories, shared news and held meaningful discussions.

Outdoor discovery was the clearest feature. Children examined worms, developed physical stamina and formed friendships in the large garden. Indoors and outside, cardboard boxes became props for family-day travel play. Practical mathematics appeared naturally too: children counted one another in line, showed their ages on their fingers and discussed weights in kilos.

This was not learning separated from daily life. In 2022, children put on their own wellington boots, served portions, carried plates, cleaned spillages and looked after toys. Those routines built coordination and responsibility, although inspectors asked staff to give children more opportunity to manage personal hygiene such as wiping their own noses.

Relationships gave the 2022 provision its warmth. Children exchanged stories with friends and staff, and a strong sense of belonging ran through the report. Practitioners joined play rather than directing it from a distance, then added vocabulary or a question when it could move an idea forward.

Support for children with SEND was strong at the inspection. Leaders used additional funding, staff followed advice from external professionals and individual strategies helped children work towards identified targets. This gives families a useful model to discuss against their child's current plan and the team now in place.

Safeguarding arrangements were effective in November 2022. Staff understood signs of harm, reporting routes and whistle-blowing, while recruitment checks and daily risk assessments supported the system. Later compliance actions in 2023, 2025 and 2026 were all recorded as met after the provider responded, leaving no current action disclosed in the published record. The latest, in June 2026, concerned risk assessment and mealtime hygiene; leaders strengthened assessments and retrained staff before the action was closed.

Collingham Gardens Nursery is at Henrietta Mews, off Handel Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1PH. It cares for children from 24 to 60 months and has capacity for 24.

The registered service is full day care. The nursery can provide its current fees and exact attendance patterns, alongside details of how funded hours, meals and non-food consumables are handled. These points need to be understood together before comparing the overall package and likely household cost.

• Current outdoor risk controls. The garden was the great strength of the 2022 inspection, while the resolved 2025 action concerned outdoor provision and risk assessment. Daily checks now need to cover the garden and equipment; the answer matters because children previously spent most of their day there.
• Mealtime hygiene in practice. Ofsted closed the June 2026 action after strengthened risk assessments and staff retraining. Responsibilities during meals and the day-to-day checking of the revised process are central points for a visit.
• The attendance and cost package. Exact sessions, current fees, funded-hours delivery, meals and consumables are points for direct discussion. Each affects whether the practical package fits a family's week and budget.

Collingham Gardens Nursery's strongest documented qualities are unusually substantial outdoor experience, conversational teaching and a close sense of community. The November 2022 inspection also found effective safeguarding and strong SEND practice, but families should weigh that dated quality picture alongside the more recent, resolved compliance actions.

It is best suited to families seeking full-day care for a two-, three- or four-year-old, especially where garden time, independence and a small overall capacity matter. The decisive visit questions are how the garden's current risk controls work and how the 2026 mealtime changes have settled into daily practice.