Jelly Bean Nursery

A story about feelings, signing alongside speech, and play that turns pollution into something children can investigate: Jelly Bean Nursery’s character comes through in the detail of its nursery day. At 285 Silver Street in London, it takes children aged two to five and has 27 places in total.

At its May 2026 inspection, Ofsted awarded Strong standard in all six assessed areas, including achievement, inclusion, and curriculum and teaching, and confirmed that safeguarding standards were met. Those are separate judgements, rather than an overall grade. The practical offer combines term-time attendance with several funded session patterns, including mornings and afternoons.

Rooms and Ages

In May 2026, the pre-school room combined direct teaching about numbers with construction play in which children exchanged ideas and took turns. This gives a useful picture of the balance between adult teaching and opportunities to work things out with other children.

Younger children explored counting through songs and rhymes during the same month. Across the nursery, language practice included conversations, books and introducing unfamiliar words into play. These are concrete examples of how learning fitted into ordinary activities, rather than being confined to a separate lesson.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the required framework for children’s education and care: here, its learning translated into play, communication, movement and learning to manage feelings. In May 2026, children recognised their names on carpet-time mats and explored the sounds in familiar words. Naming a seat and sounding out a name made early literacy part of a routine they already understood.

The Colour Monster, a story used to explore emotions, gave children a shared starting point for talking about feelings in May 2026. Younger children identified emotions; older children practised ways to manage them. Makaton supported communication alongside speech, helping children express what they needed and take part in conversations.

One messy-play activity that month involved lifting plastic and other materials out of water with small nets. Children discussed the pollution and worked together to remove it. The task connected investigating a problem with doing something practical about it.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor resources in May 2026 included skateboards, equipment for climbing and games with balls. Before carpet time, stretching also prompted discussion about breathing and how lungs work. Physical activity therefore provided material for conversation as well as movement.

Work to extend the outdoor area into a nature space had begun by May 2026. It was a development in progress, rather than a finished facility.

Pre-Nursery Sessions are term-time stay-and-play groups for toddlers accompanied by parents or carers, running on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 11am. Practitioners lead songs, stories or rhymes and talk with adults about supporting development at home. This is a separate, paid opportunity for families to play together in the nursery.

At its May 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), made excellent progress and that staff adapted support to individual needs while working effectively with speech and language therapists and healthcare professionals. The practical mechanisms behind that finding matter more than a broad promise of inclusion.

In May 2026, key people used familiar signs and visual prompts to support children between activities. Visual timetables and timers also helped children understand what would happen next. For a child who finds changes difficult, these examples show how a routine could be made easier to follow.

In May 2026, staff gathered information about children’s interests, needs and family circumstances as part of the enrolment process. Staff also shared strategies that families could use at home, linking nursery support with everyday family life. Older children practised washing their hands independently, while conversations about food and toothbrush packs sent home connected health routines across the two settings.

Healthy packed lunches were encouraged in May 2026, with families supplying lunch. Some funded arrangements charge separately for snacks and non-food consumables such as art materials and learning resources; fully funded places are also offered.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, and attendance is term-time. Opening hours and booked sessions are different measures: families should match their chosen pattern to the time they actually need covered.

Funded mornings run from 9am to noon and afternoons from noon to 3pm. Other funded day patterns run from 9am to 3pm, 9am to 2pm, or 8am to 3.30pm. The timetable includes five-session morning, afternoon and 9am-to-3pm patterns, a three-session 9am-to-2pm pattern, and a two-session 8am-to-3.30pm pattern. The funded timetable also includes single-session morning and 9am-to-3pm options.

Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the online registration form. Where a requested start cannot be accommodated immediately, the nursery places the child on a waiting list and tells the family their queue position.

Getting There

The address is 285 Silver Street, London, N18 1NQ, near the North Circular and A10 roundabout. Silver Street Rail Station is the nearest station.

Funding and Paid Extras

Private paid childcare and funded childcare are both offered, with funding delivered during term time. The funding arrangements include 15 hours of Government funding per week from the term after a child turns three, and working parent/Terrific Two funding of 15 or 30 hours per week from the term after a child turns two, subject to eligibility and an eligibility code.

Some funded arrangements carry separate charges for snacks, non-food consumables and additional services and activities beyond the basic funded offer; the nursery also offers fully funded places without these charges. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the fees and funding information explains the charge structure.

Invoices are issued each term, with half-termly payment possible. The nursery booking payment contains an administration charge and a portion credited to the first invoice; it is non-refundable if the family decides against taking the place.

• Choose the funded pattern carefully. Mornings, afternoons and several longer day patterns have different attendance schedules. At a visit, discuss how the chosen timetable fits your child’s routine and your working day.
• Outdoor development. In May 2026, the nature-space extension was underway. Ask to see how that work now fits alongside the existing opportunities for active play.
• Support beyond settling. The May 2026 next step was to sustain high standards while seeking a more substantial impact for children facing barriers to learning or wellbeing. For a child needing support, discuss the individual goals and how progress towards them will be reviewed.
• Understand the payment structure. Some funded arrangements carry additional charges, while fully funded places are also offered; the nursery booking payment is non-refundable if you decline the place. Review the written breakdown before committing.

Jelly Bean Nursery suits families seeking term-time mornings or afternoons, as well as those considering its longer funded day patterns. Its May 2026 assessment gives a strong basis for considering it, while the concrete examples of signing, emotional learning and adapted routines make the account of care useful rather than abstract.

The choice turns on whether those attendance patterns fit the family and whether the chosen funded arrangement carries additional charges or is fully funded. For children who benefit from visual routines and coordinated support, the May 2026 examples offer clear points to explore in deciding whether this is the right setting.