Crews Hill Day Nursery and Pre-School

Chickens, open fields and a pond give Crews Hill a recognisable character: nature is part of the nursery’s setting, rather than an occasional destination. Gardens serve every age group, while a wildlife zone adds another place for children to explore living things. For families who value outdoor space, these are substantial reasons to consider this Enfield nursery.

Crews Hill Day Nursery and Pre-School has 75 places in total for children aged three months to five years. At its August 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and judged safeguarding effective. Later safeguarding-related regulatory action also matters to the assessment, alongside that dated grade.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the framework for children’s learning, development and care: everyday play, conversation and exploration support their developing skills. Here, indoor activities can include creative play, stories and problems shaped around children’s interests. That gives learning a connection to what children already want to investigate.

Alongside this framework, Family First’s group-wide commitments include Confident Communicators, which emphasises children expressing themselves in ways that work for them, and Explorers of Our World, which connects outdoor experiences with independence. These are group commitments; the gardens and animal care are the concrete branch features that give the nature emphasis substance.

In August 2023, older children used a story spoon to choose their next book, with books readily accessible in a well-equipped reading space. Familiar songs and rhymes also featured in language activities. Choosing the story gave children an active part in the experience rather than leaving every decision to an adult.

Outdoor and Community Life

The grounds offer several different outdoor settings, including fields, a pond and a wildlife zone. Children help care for the chickens, giving life cycles a practical context. Nature walks and gardening may also form part of their experiences; these are possibilities within the offer, rather than a fixed timetable.

In August 2023, the Crews Hill market stall brought conversation and number work into selling eggs, vegetables and cakes. Children also discussed the baskets needed for collecting eggs and negotiated responsibilities around chicken care. These examples connected learning with a real task and gave children decisions to make together.

A key person is assigned to each child and provides regular updates to parents. This gives families a consistent relationship through which to share information and follow their child’s day. Warm relationships and communication are central to the care arrangements.

In August 2023, staff took account of individual sleeping and settling routines, and supported babies as they explored independently. Children could use a feeling pebble to communicate emotions to their key person. For a child still developing spoken language, an object offered another way to begin that conversation.

Support for additional needs also had practical mechanisms in August 2023: a SENCo worked with staff, assessments helped identify learning gaps, and individual plans were developed with parents and other agencies. The important detail is the route from noticing a need to planning a response.

Ofsted’s October 2024 action required leaders to understand allegation-reporting responsibilities under local safeguarding procedures; further actions following its June 2025 visit concerned oversight of concerns, staff supervision and training, and its recorded outcome following the response on 7 July 2025 confirmed those safeguarding and welfare actions were met.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens on weekdays from 7.30am to 6.30pm. It operates across the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas. That calendar matters for families arranging childcare beyond school terms.

Getting There

The address is Theobalds Park Road, Enfield, EN2 9BD. Onsite parking and a buggy store support the practical side of bringing a young child and their equipment.

Meals are cooked at the nursery each day, using seasonal ingredients. This puts food preparation onsite rather than relying on delivered meals.

• Participation for quieter children. In August 2023, confident children sometimes took over shared activities, while younger or less-confident children needed earlier support. During a tour, ask how practitioners help a quieter child take part in chicken care and group learning.
• Time to answer. The August 2023 improvement points included giving children longer to think before responding to questions. Ask how staff make room for a child who needs extra processing time.
• Safeguarding leadership. October 2024 brought an allegation-reporting action, followed by further safeguarding-related actions in June 2025 that were subsequently recorded as met. Ask how leaders now oversee concerns, reporting and staff supervision.
• Attendance and costs. The weekday opening window is long, and the nursery closes for Christmas and bank holidays. Discuss the booking pattern that fits your working week, and request a current written quotation covering funded hours, food and consumables.

Crews Hill suits families who want substantial outdoor space and practical contact with nature, alongside year-round weekday childcare. Its chickens, varied grounds and key-person arrangements give parents concrete reasons to consider it. The Good judgement dates from August 2023; the later regulatory actions make present leadership practice an essential part of the decision.