Little Londoners Day Nursery

A vegetable patch beside the Growing Community project, outdoor play through much of the day and projects shaped by children's questions give Little Londoners Day Nursery a clear character. This is a setting where investigating, making and choosing feature heavily in the day. Its outdoor space is central to that offer: children can move between indoor activities and a garden equipped for climbing, imaginative play and exploring nature.

At its May 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found that its curriculum helped children sustain concentration and develop their language through conversation and engaging reading. That judgement gives weight to the practical detail behind the approach, rather than leaving families with a philosophy alone.

Little Londoners has capacity for 20 children aged two to five. Based at St. Michael & All Angels Church on Fountayne Road, it combines a small whole-setting capacity with named activities including Play Phonics, a weekly workshop that teaches sounds through drama, movement, listening and visual techniques. The capacity is a total for the nursery, rather than a measure of the number sharing an activity.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the foundation for learning: children develop communication, physical skills and confidence through play, alongside early reading, mathematics and creative work. These are everyday experiences, such as talking about books, exploring quantities with objects and experimenting with colours and textures. Little Londoners adds its own project work and specialist sessions to that foundation.

Children help decide the subjects of mini projects through discussion and mind maps. Staff use observations of their interests to develop investigations, then help children choose materials and ways to express what they discover. A project might run for a week or two, or continue across a term. This gives an interest room to develop beyond a single activity, while keeping children's ideas involved in the planning.

The balance is between play children initiate and learning introduced by adults. Decisions are part of the experience: children contribute to themes, consider how to represent their ideas and explore through direct experience. For parents who value an active role for their child, that is a more useful description than a curriculum label. The learning approach sets out how these projects work.

Several additions have a clear practical purpose. Play Phonics uses a weekly drama workshop to introduce sounds through different ways of participating. Jus Ball FC brings a trained coach and activities involving rhythm, body percussion, coordination and memory games. Its contribution extends beyond kicking a ball: movement and memory games are part of the programme.

LL Cookery Club runs weekly, with children preparing sweet and savoury food to share with their families. Pouring, mixing, weighing and cutting put practical skills alongside counting. Weekly Yoga adds a different kind of movement session, while Forest Explorers gives Wednesdays an outdoor emphasis, including in wet weather. Together, these sessions offer several routes into learning for children with different interests.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Outdoor Classroom has mud kitchens, climbing structures and small spaces for den play, alongside resources for miniature imaginative worlds. Children can use the indoor and outdoor areas through most of their day, and waterproof clothing is provided for both children and adults. Outdoor learning therefore has equipment and a daily routine behind it, rather than depending only on fine weather.

Alongside the neighbouring Growing Community project, children have their own vegetable patch and access to a pond. Growing food gives them something living to observe over time. In May 2024, children investigated insects in the grounds, followed the life cycle of stick insects they had named and took pleasure in fruit they had helped grow. Those examples show how the garden can connect curiosity with something children have done themselves.

Local experiences extend the same approach beyond the nursery. Children visit libraries, buy fruit at a market or greengrocer and post letters; fire-station visits happen occasionally. Pet-shop outings include bus travel. These are recognisable everyday activities, giving children opportunities to connect their learning with shops, transport and services in their community.

Workshops also address reducing waste, reusing materials and recycling. In May 2024, children made paper from recycled materials, providing a practical example of that theme. The emphasis is on doing and investigating: a child can see a material change through their own work, rather than encounter recycling only as an instruction.

Familiar routines and close relationships featured in daily life in May 2024. Staff knew children and their families well, and parents valued the connection between home and nursery. Children chose resources and activities for themselves, while everyday tasks such as washing and drying their hands gave them opportunities to practise independence. These small responsibilities matter alongside organised learning sessions.

At the May 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, described close work with families and external agencies to support children with SEND, and judged children exceptionally well prepared for school. The support finding was about action: staff identified needs and worked with others to arrange help, rather than relying on a general statement about inclusion.

In May 2024, adults demonstrated considerate behaviour through their own interactions and encouraged children to share and cooperate. Snack and lunch routines gave children opportunities to try unfamiliar foods and talk with adults and other children. School preparation also included the independence developed through choosing activities and managing ordinary personal tasks.

An in-house chef prepares fresh food each day, with breakfast, lunch and tea complemented by snacks in the morning and afternoon. Fruit and vegetables are organic, with local sourcing where possible.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 47 weeks of the year. A minimum booking of two days applies, and the charging structure covers bookings of two, three, four or five days. The annual opening calendar matters for families planning care around work: it should be considered alongside the number of weekdays booked.

The nursery's address is St. Michael & All Angels Church, Fountayne Road, N16 7ED. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0208 806 7686 or 07915966412, or by email at info@littlelondonersdaynursery.co.uk. The setting accepts children aged two to five, so its offer is centred on toddlers and preschool children.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is incorporated into the charging structure for three- and four-year-olds, with eligibility beginning in the term after the child's third birthday. The entitlement described is 570 hours a year, usually taken as 15 hours weekly over 38 weeks. Monthly childcare charges spread the cost across the year; that billing arrangement should be distinguished from the attendance pattern for funded hours.

Additional activity sessions carry separate charges, linked to the number of weekly sessions. Families should obtain a current written quotation for their booking, including the funded deduction and activity charges. The fees page explains the two-day minimum and the structure of monthly charging.

• A two-day minimum. The booking rule requires at least two days, within a 47-week opening year. Compare that commitment with the weekly care you need and the closure calendar before choosing a pattern.
• Outdoor choice. Children can use indoor and outdoor areas through much of the day, with waterproof clothing supporting wet-weather play. During a visit, discuss how staff help a newly settled child participate in this free-flow routine.
• Activities and the quotation. Additional sessions are charged separately according to weekly attendance. Review how the named activities fit your child's booked days and the written quotation.
• Settling and everyday supplies. For a child joining the two-to-five age group, ask how settling is organised and what the quotation covers for meals and non-food consumables, including during funded hours.

Little Londoners suits families seeking regular weekday childcare from age two, with an emphasis on outdoor exploration, practical projects and children's choices. The vegetable patch, community experiences and weekly drama and cookery sessions give that approach substance. Its May 2024 Outstanding judgement provides a strong inspection position.

The two-day minimum and separate activity charges are the practical considerations to weigh alongside that appeal. For children who enjoy making, moving and investigating, there is plenty here to engage with, both inside the nursery and in the surrounding community.