Under 5's Project

A sensory retreat connected to Daisies, communication workshops and a toddler room organised around children's interests give Under 5's Project at St. Mary's Church a recognisable character. This is the Greenlaw Street setting in Woolwich, London SE18 5AR, with capacity for 26 children in total. Its strongest decision value lies in the practical detail of its inclusion provision and its different play spaces.

At its March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and identified support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) as a strength. That judgement belongs to the nursery at that date. Today's arrangements include a dedicated SENDco and inclusion manager, specialist support and Early Talk Boost, a programme delivered through children's communication workshops.

Buttercups Jr and Buttercups serve the younger children, while Daisies provides preschool provision. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings sit within a term-time model. The sensory spaces and language work deserve as much attention as the timetable when deciding whether this setting fits your child.

Rooms and Ages

Buttercups Jr & Buttercups is presented as a combined toddler room for children aged 18 to 36 months, with ten children in each session; its In the Moment planning responds to children's individual interests and needs, including how the room is arranged. That gives parents a concrete session size to weigh, rather than an impression of smallness. Autumn Treasure Bags are one example of activities that involve families in their children's nursery day.

Daisies caters for children aged 3 to 5, with a daily maximum of 16; hands-on activities and carefully arranged resources respond to children's interests, while the adjoining Chatterbox Room contains sensory toys, soft play and projector lighting. The connected spaces give preschool children access to both active exploration and a quieter sensory retreat. Chatterbox also has a role in exploration and focused work, rather than being simply an extra playroom.

These are room measures, separate from the nursery's whole-setting capacity. They should not be read as a statement about how many children attend together across the entire setting.

Learning and Activities

EYFS guides the planning: children develop language, physical skills and relationships through play, alongside early reading, mathematics, creative work and learning about the world. The framework supplies the educational foundation. The practical question is how children encounter those areas during an ordinary day.

Across the project, open-ended play and natural materials are part of the approach. Children can choose activities themselves as well as join adult-led work, with opportunities for construction, pretend play, stories and making marks. Working alone or alongside others allows different ways into an activity. Children can follow their own ideas through open-ended resources and self-chosen activities.

Early Talk Boost adds a more targeted communication strand at St. Mary's. Its workshops are delivered by staff in the preschool and inclusion team, linking language activities with the people already supporting children's development. For parents whose child needs help communicating, this is a specific intervention to discuss alongside everyday conversation and play.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Gardening club runs on Wednesdays when the weather permits. Children help with planting, watering and weeding, and herbs are maintained for use in nursery classes. Those repeated jobs give outdoor learning a practical purpose: plants need attention beyond the day a seed is planted.

Both project sites have fenced outdoor areas with safety surfacing, used daily except in heavy rain. Chalk and water can be used for making marks, while the space supports larger movements such as climbing and running. Outdoor time therefore extends both creative activity and physical play. It is part of the nursery day, rather than a separate occasional outing.

Relationships and Communication

Settling-in sessions are planned around the child and family. A start date is arranged together, followed by a tailored introduction to nursery life. This gives the settling process a structure while allowing it to respond to the individual child, rather than treating the first day as a single fixed event.

In March 2022, children had developed close relationships with their key persons. Staff combined conversations with parents and online updates, giving families a view of children's learning and ideas they could use at home. These are dated observations about everyday relationships, rather than a claim that the same staff or arrangements remain unchanged.

The project uses Blossom Educational for photographs, observations, milestones and communication about children's days. For families, the useful detail is the combination of information about activities and a way to exchange messages. Longer discussions with practitioners can be arranged by appointment, giving more substantial concerns their own time.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A dedicated SENDco and inclusion manager at each nursery works outside the usual room deployment, concentrating on children needing additional support. At St. Mary's, a specialist support worker assists with individual support, interventions and sensory activities. These are identifiable roles with different responsibilities, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

In March 2022, staffing plans gave children receiving individual support continuity, and sensory tasks were used to respond to particular behavioural and developmental needs. At the same inspection, Ofsted identified a need for more precise support and greater challenge for children learning English as an additional language. That improvement point matters alongside the positive inclusion judgement: support for SEND and support for additional-language learners are different questions.

Chatterbox provides a current physical resource for sensory exploration and relaxation. The St. Mary's manager also holds the designated safeguarding lead role.

Children do not have to be toilet-trained before joining. Practitioners work with parents on toilet training, allowing care and growing independence to develop together. The daily routine also makes space after lunch for children who need a nap, alongside play for those who do not.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at St. Marys Church, Greenlaw Street, London SE18 5AR. Its St. Mary's booking patterns are morning sessions from 8am to 1pm, afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm, and full-day care from 8am to 6pm. Both half-day patterns require a minimum of two sessions per week. That distinction matters for families seeking a regular shorter day as well as those needing the full window.

The project operates for 38 weeks during term time, with optional holiday clubs offered separately. Holiday clubs cover half-term breaks other than Christmas, with summer provision also included in the programme. Families planning care across the year need to distinguish their ordinary nursery pattern from those separate holiday arrangements.

Applications use a registration form, with the start date and settling sessions planned afterwards. The St. Mary's tour form provides a branch-specific enquiry route. Joining questions are set out below, where they can be considered together with the room arrangements.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and private sessions are offered. The funding options described are 15 hrs funding for working parents and 15 hours ‘Together for two’s funding, subject to their respective eligibility criteria. Delivery is term-time over 38 weeks. Families splitting funding with another provider must allocate at least 10 funded hours per week to Under 5's Project.

For funded places, a separate contribution is requested towards breakfast, snacks or tea, together with consumables and sun cream. This is distinct from the funded childcare itself. Parents provide a packed lunch at St. Mary's; hot lunches belong to the Woolwich Common offer.

Private fees are invoiced in advance through Blossom, with monthly billing. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the fees page sets out the St. Mary's session structure. A family comparing attendance patterns needs to consider both the booked hours and the funded-place contribution, rather than treating funding as the entire cost arrangement.

• The youngest starting age. Buttercups Jr's dedicated description starts at 18 months, while the St. Mary's fee band starts at 8 months. These give different starting ages. At a visit, ask which room and care arrangements would apply to your child's age.
• Language support. The March 2022 improvement point concerned challenge and targeted support for children learning English as an additional language. Ask how current planning addresses that need, alongside the Early Talk Boost workshops.
• Term-time care. Ordinary provision runs for 38 weeks, while holiday clubs are separate and exclude Christmas. Compare that pattern with the weeks your family needs covered and discuss the holiday booking arrangements during your visit.
• Your child's support plan. The dedicated inclusion role and Chatterbox Room offer concrete points for discussion. Ask how settling, individual support and sensory activities would fit your child's day and how progress would be shared with you.

Under 5's Project suits families seeking regular morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day care within a term-time pattern. Its strongest practical attractions are the toddler session size, the connected Daisies and Chatterbox spaces, and the named communication and inclusion provision.

The Good judgement from March 2022 provides a dated quality anchor, while the additional-language improvement point keeps the assessment balanced. For parents comparing settings, the useful test is how the room, settling plan and support roles fit their own child. Here, there are specific arrangements to discuss, rather than only broad promises about care.