Kids & Co Day Nursery

A nine-child maximum in the Penguin Room and outdoor space stretching from a covered patio to a growing area give Kids & Co Day Nursery a clear identity: age-group rooms indoors, with substantial room for play outside. This Blackheath setting accepts children from 9 months to 5 years at 41 Westcombe Park Road, London SE3 7RE. The youngest room's cap is a useful starting point for parents weighing the scale of baby care.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and reported good progress for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That judgement needs to be read alongside later, repeated action concerning allergy management and mealtime safety, most recently in July 2026. The actions taken are described below. They matter to the choice.

Penguin, Turtle, Dolphin and Shark are the current room names. Their overlapping age bands extend from babies to children preparing to leave for school, while Forest School provides outdoor learning through activities led by adults and chosen by children. Attendance agreements run from a minimum of two days to five days each week.

Rooms and Ages

Penguin Room takes children from 9 months to 2 years, with a maximum of 9 children. Turtle Room covers 18 months to 3 years and has a maximum of 10. These are room caps, rather than a statement about how many children attend on any particular day.

Dolphin Room serves ages 2.5 to 4 years, with a maximum of 14 children; Shark Room takes children from 3 to 5 years, with a maximum of 10.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, including communication, movement, relationships, early literacy and number work. Activities are planned for different ages, with games and play as the main teaching methods. The practical emphasis is on children doing things: talking, making, counting, exploring materials and learning to manage feelings alongside other children.

In January 2024, communication and emotional development were central to the curriculum. Practitioners used questions and conversation to extend children's ideas, with learning carried forward between age groups. Books were accessible across the rooms; preschool children invented stories for an adult to read back at group time and practised recognising letters and writing their names. These examples show learning built into play and shared activity rather than a day organised around tests.

Outside providers delivered sport, dance and Spanish in January 2024. Children also encountered transport through trips to a station and the river, while firefighters brought a fire engine to the nursery. These were concrete experiences to talk about afterwards, connecting new vocabulary with something children had seen. Their frequency should not be assumed.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor provision has several different purposes. The Patio Area has overhead cover, the AstroTurf Play Area has an all-weather surface, and the Walled Garden sits alongside Forest School and the Seasonal Growing Area. A log traverse and Mud Kitchen add opportunities for balancing and hands-on play. This is more useful than a single undifferentiated outdoor space: children can move, investigate and make things.

Forest School is accessible during the day, with both adult-directed activities and children's own choices included in planning. Parents supply wellington boots for sessions and suitable clothing for wet weather. Outdoor play is therefore part of the practical routine, including the clothes families need to send.

In January 2024, children investigated frozen soil, felt frost and searched for worms with practitioners. Adults brought counting and size vocabulary into the experience. Indoors and outdoors, climbing, balancing and construction equipment supported movement, while drawing and magnetic boards gave children opportunities to use their hands with increasing control.

Relationships and Communication

Tapestry, the nursery's digital learning journal, gives parents access to observations about their child and allows them to contribute comments and experiences from home. Entries can combine images, video, notes and assessments. That creates a shared account of learning rather than communication travelling in only one direction.

Development reports are issued every six months, and assessment rests on practitioners' observations rather than testing. Between ages 2 and 3, the child's developmental assessment involves the parent, key worker and health visitor. When children leave, an achievements report goes to the next setting, together with relevant educational or welfare information. This gives the receiving adults information to build on.

In January 2024, practitioners knew their key children and offered reassurance while they settled. Support for children learning English included visual prompts, words gathered from home languages and recordings of parents speaking. The special educational needs coordinator worked with families and other professionals to organise support around emerging needs. These are dated examples of the mechanisms used, rather than a promise about every child's experience today.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Two January 2024 improvement points remain useful questions about daily practice. Children had opportunities to do things for themselves, but these were uneven: some poured drinks while others used bottles. Resources also needed to become more accessible and better represent the children attending. Both points concern ordinary moments that influence independence and belonging, rather than simply the number of activities offered.

Meals are cooked daily on the premises by the nursery chef, with a four-week menu rotation adjusted for the seasons. Dietary needs are discussed at enrolment, but families managing allergies should give the later mealtime findings particular weight.

In February 2026, actions addressed safe meals for children with allergies and staff responsibilities during mealtimes; the subsequent outcome recorded those actions as met. In July 2026, Ofsted recorded further non-compliance followed by corrective action: stronger allergen risk assessments, leadership oversight of meals and allergens before service, room reminders and records, and procedures for notifying significant events. The July outcome describes action taken to put matters right, but the recurrence gives those mealtime controls particular importance for allergy-affected families.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 41 Westcombe Park Road, Blackheath, London SE3 7RE. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with closure on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas. Those closures need to sit alongside a family's work calendar.

Agreed attendance is between two and five days weekly. Additional attendance days depend on staffing ratios and carry extra charges.

A completed registration form and a non-refundable registration charge put a child on the waiting list. At the front of the waiting list, families are offered alternative days if their specified days cannot be accommodated. Accepting a place involves completing the admissions documents and paying a refundable deposit, which is lost if the family withdraws before the child starts.

Withdrawal or a reduction in days requires two calendar months' written notice by email to the business manager. Payments can be made by bank transfer or Tax-Free Childcare. Families can contact the nursery by form, telephone or email.

Funding and Paid Extras

The Government Funded Free Early Education Entitlement is offered from the term after a child's third birthday. The nursery applies to Royal Greenwich on the family's behalf, and funding is reflected in the monthly invoice.

Parents supply nappies and any special wipes their child needs; ordinary baby wipes are provided by the nursery. That distinction is useful when preparing a child's bag. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Allergy controls after repeated action. February and July 2026 outcomes describe corrective work on meals and allergens. At a visit, ask how leaders check a child's meal before it is served and how the room reminders and records are used in practice.
• Moving between overlapping rooms. Penguin and Turtle overlap, as do Dolphin and Shark. Ask how room allocation and settling into the next group are decided for your child, and how the key person supports that change.
• Independence and belonging. January 2024 improvement points concerned uneven opportunities to manage everyday tasks and access to resources representing children. Ask to see how those two aspects now work across the rooms.
• The whole attendance cost. The agreement has a two-day minimum, a registration charge, deposit conditions and two calendar months' notice for reducing days. Request a written quotation explaining meal and consumable charges, including their treatment during funded hours, before accepting.

Kids & Co suits families seeking regular attendance across the year, whether for two agreed days or a five-day week, and parents who value room caps, varied outdoor spaces and a learning journal they can contribute to. The Penguin Room's maximum and the covered patio, growing area and Forest School give families tangible features to weigh.

The January 2024 Good judgement is a positive reference point, but repeated mealtime and allergen action in 2026 deserves equal attention in the decision.