Early Start Late Finish

Early Start Late Finish is registered as out-of-school day care, not as a day nursery. The January 2018 graded inspection judged the provision Good; the June 2024 follow-up found registration requirements met and the actions raised in 2023 successfully addressed.

This is a mixed-age, out-of-school setting where the 2018 inspector saw children choosing resources independently and socialising across age groups. Play had a practical streak: children tested toy cars and wooden figures on ramps, made stories with people figures and explored celebrations, artefacts and food. Children had also helped choose new resources, including a pool table and karaoke machine. These examples point to choice, conversation and shared play rather than a conventional nursery-room model.

Activities described in 2018 that complemented children's school learning. It also identified a clear improvement point: whole-group activities needed review so younger children could participate more consistently.

The 2018 evidence records strong relationships with parents and consistent school-collection arrangements. Those routines supported children's security, while daily football and dancing added physical activity.

Safeguarding evidence should be read by date. The 2023 visit required improvements in paediatric first aid, safeguarding knowledge and staff supervision. By the June 2024 follow-up, those actions were successfully addressed: staff had completed training and understood risk indicators and reporting routes. The same visit noted supportive, caring staff, alongside an inconsistency in how well meals and snacks promoted healthy eating.

The provider is registered at the Scout Hut, Alverston Gardens, South Norwood, SE25 6LR, with capacity for 32 children. Families need to obtain a current written quotation and confirm accepted ages, attendance patterns, funded entitlement, food charges and consumables directly. For any children within the Early Years Register, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory framework: in parent terms, it organises learning and development through play across areas including communication, physical development and personal, social and emotional development.

• Age and attendance fit: Ask which school years are currently accepted and which days and session patterns can actually be booked.
• Food practice: Ask what is served now and how the setting has responded to Ofsted's June 2024 observation about healthy eating.
• Younger children: Explore how whole-group routines now keep the youngest children involved, an improvement point from the 2018 inspection.

Early Start Late Finish has a specific proposition: out-of-school care built around independent choice, friendships and active play. The strongest current regulatory signal comes from the June 2024 visit, when the earlier actions had been resolved. It may suit families seeking school-age group care, but the unpublished ages and attendance patterns make a direct enquiry essential before judging whether it fits morning, afternoon or wraparound needs.