Educastle Nursery

Weekly cooking, yoga three times a week and professionally delivered weekly music sessions give Educastle Nursery a practical, active character. Food preparation involves instructions, ingredients and hygiene; movement sessions bring clapping, dancing and role play into the week. These are concrete additions to the everyday play programme, rather than a curriculum name left to explain itself.

At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The strongest practice centred on conversation, relationships and imaginative play, with two clear areas for further work: mathematical language and children's independence in personal care.

Educastle has capacity for 16 children aged 12 to 60 months at its Turin Road address in London. Full-day and sessional care are offered across the year. For parents, the useful distinction is between the overall offer and the detail of how a child's booked attendance will work.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, this means building language, physical skills and independence through play and routines, rather than treating learning as a sequence of formal lessons.

Cooking takes place weekly. Children practise hygiene routines before preparing food, listen to instructions, discuss ingredients and help make a simple dish before eating it at snack or teatime. Counting and measuring also feature in these activities. The practical value is clear: an ordinary task gives children reasons to talk, follow a sequence and use their hands with a purpose.

Yoga runs three times weekly, adding movement and relaxation to the programme. Music, Dance & Movement includes weekly sessions delivered by professionals, with warm-ups, clapping, dancing and role play. Cooking, music and movement therefore have recurring places in the week; they are more than occasional special activities.

In September 2025, staff used picture books and songs to introduce words, then modelled language that children could repeat. Natural materials and paint gave children opportunities to explore and make marks. The emphasis was on joining in and talking about the experience, with adults extending play through questions.

Outdoor and Community Life

In September 2025, outdoor play included a slide and bicycles, giving children opportunities to practise balance and coordination. Mud, water and sand supported imaginative play: children made pretend birthday cakes and created a car wash for toy vehicles. These examples show how physical activity and make-believe could sit alongside conversation in the nursery day.

Events exploring cultures and religions also formed part of the September 2025 programme. Staff modelled sharing, turn-taking and respectful behaviour during play and routines. For children learning to be part of a group, those everyday exchanges matter as much as a planned activity.

Relationships and Communication

In September 2025, key-person relationships drew on information from parents about individual children's needs. Staff shared learning priorities and offered ideas for continuing activities at home. This gave families a connection between what their child was practising at nursery and what they could encourage beyond it.

Parents can raise feedback through an online form, email or conversations with staff. That provides several ways to bring up a concern or propose a change, including a written route for families who want to set out the detail carefully.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children made good progress and that staff worked with parents and other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, using additional funding for sensory resources and individual help. The important detail is the mechanism: support was shaped around the child, with families and other professionals involved.

In September 2025, children practised handwashing around meals and outdoor play, but adults did not consistently extend this to drying hands independently or using tissues themselves. This is a useful distinction for parents: participation in a routine is only part of learning to manage it independently.

Staff provided nutritious snacks in September 2025. The nursery also holds a silver award from Healthy Early Years London, a scheme recognising healthy eating practices.

Preparation for school centres on developing skills and making the transition easier. The September 2025 play examples included following instructions, discussing creations and managing familiar routines, all relevant to becoming more independent in a group setting.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 28a Turin Road, London N9 8BT. Educastle offers full-day and sessional attendance and operates across the year, Monday to Friday. Its calendar includes closures for bank holidays and Christmas, so year-round care still requires planning around those breaks.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email at info@educastle.co.uk or by telephone on 0730 1221 231. These give prospective parents a direct route into the joining process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered under the stated entitlement of 15 or 30 hours free childcare from 9 months. That funding description does not change the nursery's accepted age range of 12 to 60 months. Additional private childcare hours are also offered.

The activity programme carries no extra charge. That matters for comparing the overall attendance package: recurring cooking, yoga and music activities sit within the nursery offer rather than being presented as separately priced additions. Families should obtain current prices in a written quotation.

• Opening hours. Two different weekday opening windows are given. This remains an unresolved practical conflict; establish which applies to your intended full-day or sessional booking before committing.
• Everyday mathematics. In September 2025, adults did not consistently bring language about number, shape and measurement into routines. At a visit, look for how staff extend counting songs and cooking activities into ordinary conversation.
• Personal independence. September 2025 practice left room for children to do more of their own hand-drying and nose-wiping. Discuss how staff now encourage these small but useful personal-care steps.
• Funded attendance. Funded hours and additional private hours are both offered. What attendance pattern would your funded entitlement cover, and how would meals and non-food consumables be handled within your written quotation?

Educastle suits families considering either full-day attendance or shorter sessional care who value recurring practical activities. Weekly cooking and professionally delivered music sessions give the programme substance, while yoga adds another regular opportunity for movement.

The September 2025 strengths in language and relationships deserve weight, alongside the specific improvements needed in mathematical conversation and personal-care independence. The choice rests on both sides of that picture, with the opening-hours conflict a practical point to settle before booking.