Hungry Caterpillar Day Nursery, West Twyford

Tyres, construction blocks and crates turned into pretend vehicles give West Twyford's October 2023 nursery day a practical, playful character. Hungry Caterpillar Day Nursery, West Twyford has capacity for 40 children, with an age range of 3 to 60 months, at West Twyford Primary School on Twyford Abbey Road.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 19 October 2023 and judged safeguarding effective, while identifying literacy sequencing as an area needing improvement. Full days and shorter sessions sit alongside a funded-only attendance model, with different booking rules and charges.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the statutory foundation for children's learning and care. In parent language, that means developing communication, physical skills and early learning through experiences suited to children's stage of development; paid enrichment adds to that foundation rather than replacing it.

In October 2023, songs and shared stories ran through the day, and staff used play and meals to introduce words and keep conversations going. Learning was not confined to a planned activity. Younger children experimented with flour and soft toys, while older children transformed crates into imaginary emergency vehicles and ice-cream vans. These examples show how ordinary materials became starting points for exploration and pretend play.

Attention and listening were central to the October 2023 learning plans, with more explicit maths and literacy work in preschool. The literacy sequence needed adjustment: children were attempting tiny letter shapes before developing the preceding skills. For parents, the useful distinction is between practising a finished task and building the abilities needed to tackle it.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outside in October 2023, children moved tyres and large blocks together and investigated a spider with staff. The physical equipment supported shared projects as well as movement, while the spider prompted discussion about caring for a living creature.

Celebrations also connected learning with children's backgrounds. By October 2023, a Caribbean day had formed part of Black History Month activities. This was a specific example of cultural learning through an event, rather than evidence of a recurring timetable.

Familiar adults mattered to babies in October 2023. Babies sought cuddles, and staff helped them practise standing and walking; individual care plans addressed younger babies' needs. Those are useful examples of how care routines and early physical development met within the nursery day.

At the October 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that the SENCo coordinated with families, staff and professionals and arranged timely referrals, but, on occasion, some children with SEND lacked effective ways to participate in the activities offered to their peers. The improvement required further staff training. Coordination alone was not enough: access to the actual activity mattered too.

School preparation in October 2023 included teachers visiting children and practice with self-care, such as putting on coats. These are tangible preparations for a different daily routine. The nursery occupies premises at West Twyford Primary School, but attending does not guarantee a Reception place; families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is West Twyford Primary School, Twyford Abbey Road, London NW10 7DN. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with closures for bank holidays, Christmas and five training days.

Standard full days run from 8am to 6pm. Half days run from 8am to 1pm or 1pm to 6pm, and an extended morning option runs from 7.30am to 8am. Without funding, the minimum booking is two full days or three core days each week. Core-day timing needs clarification before choosing that pattern, as discussed below.

The funded-only model is more restrictive. Attendance is on Mondays and Fridays: the 15-hour entitlement can be taken as two morning sessions from 7.30am to 1pm, two afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm, or a mixture. The 30-hour option uses two full days, from 8am to 6pm. These sessions cannot be exchanged, and extra hours or sessions cannot be added to a funded-only booking.

Additional residual sessions each term make up the difference between the funded hours attended in the regular pattern and the full entitlement. That matters when comparing a stretched offer with a term-time timetable: the regular weekly pattern is only part of the arrangement.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both private childcare and funded childcare are offered. The 15-hour and 30-hour funding options are stretched over 51 weeks. Packages combining funding and paid hours use two full days for the 15-hour option or three full days for the 30-hour option, with private hours charged separately from the funded entitlement.

Essentials & Enhanced Provision (EEP) brings together meals, personal care items and additional learning experiences and resources. Standard private fees include food, refreshments and consumables such as nappies, wipes and sun cream; on funded hours these are separate charges. For funded-only attendance, EEP is optional: families can decline it, supply personal care items daily and have their child take an alternative activity when paid enrichment takes place. Some special events can be paid for individually.

Freshly cooked meals and refreshments are included with standard private fees; funded-only families opting out of meal charges receive nursery-made packed-lunch-style food for lunch and tea, with breakfast given at home. The nursery's policy prohibits food from home because of allergy and storage constraints, and opting out of meals for a full day may lead to a shorter session being offered.

For standard private bookings, a non-refundable registration charge secures a position on the waiting list, while a deposit secures an offered place. The deposit is returned when the child leaves but forfeited if the offered place is not taken up. Joining the funded-only waiting list requires neither charge.

Monthly invoices separate the charges, with payment due in advance on the first of the month. Funded-only terms require a month's written notice to leave or opt out of EEP. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Core-day timing. The minimum-booking terms give core days as 8am to 4pm, while the daily fee table gives a later start time. Resolve the start time in the written booking agreement before building a work schedule around three core days.
• Literacy and inclusion. The October 2023 findings raised premature letter tracing and occasional uneven access to activities for children with SEND. On a visit, ask to see how early writing skills are built and how activities are adapted for your child's needs.
• Funded-only attendance. Mondays and Fridays, fixed sessions and termly residual sessions shape this option. Ask how the residual sessions would fit your family calendar before selecting it.
• Food and daily supplies. Declining funded-only EEP means bringing personal care items each day, while outside food remains prohibited. Families managing allergies should confirm current food practice and discuss the meal alternative and any effect on session length.

West Twyford suits families seeking either full-day attendance or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, including those whose routines fit the Monday-and-Friday funded-only model. The October 2023 picture combines hands-on play, conversation and close baby care with weaknesses in literacy sequencing and occasional shortcomings in SEND participation. The practical choice rests on the attendance pattern and the distinction between inclusive private fees and separately charged funded extras.