Pembury Nursery & Pre-School

Volcano experiments, children acting out their own stories and an allotment gave Pembury's September 2021 nursery day a recognisable character: learning connected words with things children could investigate for themselves. At its 14 September 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, including its education, behaviour, personal development and leadership.

Today, Pembury Nursery & Pre-School has capacity for 69 children aged six months to five years at 15 Pembury Road, London E5 8LU. That whole-setting figure is useful for understanding its scale; it is not the size of an individual group. The learning and care examples below describe September 2021 practice, keeping that dated assessment separate from today's attendance arrangements.

Full-day bookings and five-morning or five-afternoon plans give families different ways to organise attendance. The important practical distinction is between choosing full days within a week and committing to a half-day pattern across the working week.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday parent language, play, conversation and practical experiences help children develop their skills alongside their care routines. Pembury's September 2021 activities show how that could take shape through a child's interests rather than a disconnected sequence of tasks.

During that month, an interest in volcanoes became a science experiment, with staff building on earlier learning and introducing language about eruptions and lava. Children also discussed what to do when an experiment failed to produce the expected result. The example brought investigation and conversation together: children had something concrete to explain, question and try again.

Books had a substantial place in the September 2021 day. Staff used puppets and props during storytelling, while helicopter time let children invent stories and perform them. These were different routes into language: listening to a story, imagining what happens next and putting an idea into words for other children.

Physical activity had its own practical variety in September 2021. Baby yoga involved movement and balance, while older children skipped and could borrow bicycles through the bike-loan scheme. These examples matter because they describe different experiences for younger and older children, rather than treating physical play as one activity for every age.

Outdoor and Community Life

An allotment supplied a tangible outdoor learning space in September 2021. As the growing season ended, children explored decay and change and considered their next planting. That connected a place they could use with changes they could observe over time.

Food also became an activity children and families could share that month. Through master chef classes, the nursery chef worked with parents, children and staff on preparing healthy food. Cooking therefore extended beyond eating a meal: families were involved in learning how to make one.

At the September 2021 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding, a strong key-person arrangement that helped children settle, close monitoring of learning with action on gaps, and effective communication that involved parents in their children's development. Together, those findings describe both the relationships supporting children and the way staff followed their learning.

In September 2021, familiarisation methods supported new starters and children preparing to leave for school. Staff and managers exchanged information with families and involved them in continuing learning at home. For parents, the useful connection is between what happens during nursery attendance and what they understand about their child's next steps.

Mealtimes in September 2021 were sociable and orderly, and children also learnt about tooth cleaning and health. Those examples connect care with everyday habits: eating together and understanding why a familiar routine matters. Preparation for the next stage of learning also formed part of the September 2021 experience, alongside the familiarisation work for children moving on.

Sessions and Attendance

Pembury's address is 15 Pembury Road, London E5 8LU. It opens Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, across the year, with a Christmas closure.

The all-year-round booking plans include full days running from 8am to 6pm, mornings from 8am to 1pm and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. Morning and afternoon plans are each for five sessions a week. Full-day plans range from two to five days, with a minimum of two consecutive days that includes Monday or Friday.

That minimum is consequential. A family wanting only isolated midweek full days would need a different arrangement from the standard full-day plan. Half-day attendance also means choosing a regular weekly pattern, rather than assuming that a morning or afternoon can be booked individually under those plans.

Funding and Paid Extras

Pembury offers fee-paying childcare and funded-hours plans. The funding categories include Working Parent funded hours, the Two Year Old Offer, Universal funded hours and Extended Entitlement funded hours. Eligibility conditions apply; working-parent funding requires a valid eligibility code, while the two-year-old offer depends on eligibility through the local authority.

For all-year-round attendance, funded entitlement is stretched over 51 weeks: the 15-hour schemes deliver 11 hours a week, and the 30-hour scheme delivers 22. This changes how families should compare an entitlement with their actual weekly booking. A term-time entitlement and an all-year-round attendance plan do not describe the same weekly hours.

Breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks are included in the stated booking fees, including the plans with funded hours. A signed Parental Declaration is required for children receiving government or local-authority funding and must be submitted before the term starts; failure to submit it may lead to funding being withdrawn and private charges applying.

Acceptance of a private-place offer brings a non-refundable registration charge and a deposit, including when a child transfers from a free funded place to a private one. The deposit is returned if cancellation is at least six weeks before the agreed start, but retained for a later cancellation; at the end of attendance it is credited to the fees account. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Green LEYF is an optional charge supporting sustainability programmes.

• Full-day minimum. The standard plan requires two consecutive days including Monday or Friday. Take your actual working-week pattern to a visit and discuss how it fits those terms.
• Baby care in practice. Pembury accepts children from six months, and baby yoga featured in September 2021. At a visit, ask how the youngest children's group size, sleep arrangements and settling routine work today.
• Funding across the year. Entitlement is stretched over 51 weeks for all-year-round bookings. Compare the funded portion with your chosen sessions and complete the declaration before the term begins.

Pembury suits families seeking either regular full-day attendance or a five-morning or five-afternoon pattern, provided the full-day minimum fits their week. Its September 2021 Outstanding judgement is supported by memorable examples of science, storytelling, movement and shared cooking. The practical decision rests on matching those dated strengths with the child's current care needs and the precise booking plan the family intends to use.