The Bath House Children's Community Centre

Lantern roof windows, a former public bath house and a preschool room with a RIBA London 2016 award give The Bath House Children's Community Centre an unusually recognisable home. This charitable, not-for-profit nursery in Hackney also gives parents a role in its governance: parents of attending children sit on its board of Trustees. Family involvement extends beyond conversations about a child's day.

At its March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, with improvements required in staff deployment and the support and coaching given to practitioners. It has 77 places in total for children aged 1 to 5, while its named nursery groups cover the stages from 1 to 4. The combination of creative play, a kitchen preparing meals on site and age-specific outdoor arrangements gives families concrete reasons to consider it.

Short Day and Long Day bookings can be combined, with an earlier Breakfast Club and a term-time option for Sunshine children.

Rooms and Ages

Bunnies Group, for children aged 1 to 2, centres its day on relationships and sensory exploration, using treasure baskets, painting and a soft play area, with its own outdoor space.

Rainbow Group, for ages 2 to 3, combines smaller group activities for conversation and turn-taking with cooking, yoga and outdoor bikes and scooters.

Sunshine Group, for ages 3 to 4, gives greater emphasis to collaborative play and self-care, with materials such as pine cones and corks indoors and planting, large construction and body-boards outdoors.

The building is arranged on a single level, with roof windows bringing light into the playrooms; older children use the outdoor area at the rear. Separating the youngest children's outdoor space gives their physical play a setting of its own. Parents comparing baby provision with preschool provision can therefore look at the actual environments each age group uses, rather than treating the nursery as one undifferentiated space.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning and care: children develop communication, movement and social skills through play, alongside early reading, mathematics and creative activities. Bath House's curriculum approach puts these areas into everyday contexts. Children make their own books with adults recording their words, use counting in practical activities and explore environmental care through reused materials and refilling soap bottles.

Choice has a substantial place in the day. Children select activities for much of their time, while adults join their play, talk with them and help extend their learning. This matters for families who want children's interests to shape activities, alongside planned adult input. Writing can begin with a child's own story or a shopping list; mathematical language can arise through objects, actions and daily routines.

Rainbow children make bread, smoothies and snacks, and visit the local market to buy fruit and vegetables for cooking. The connection is practical: ingredients encountered beyond the nursery become something children handle and prepare themselves. Sunshine children use fiction and information books, conversation and supported research to pursue questions, while key workers plan for individual learning needs as school approaches.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play includes movement as well as imaginative activity. Sunshine children have scooters, a slide and ball games, alongside sand, water and a home-corner area. These offer different ways to participate, from energetic movement to construction and pretend play.

In March 2022, children cared for indoor plants and used quieter enclosed corners as well as open activity spaces. Older children also made props for stories, including an underwater scene for sea creatures. These examples show how the environment and children's own creations contributed to activities at that time, rather than relying solely on ready-made toys.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts with information about the individual child. Bunnies families complete a detailed questionnaire, and a key worker takes responsibility for supporting both child and parent, following wellbeing and learning. The settling timetable can be adapted to the child's needs, so the relationship comes before an inflexible schedule.

The parent pack provides for visits before the start date and asks parents to be on call if needed for at least the first week, or longer for younger children. Familiar comfort items can accompany a child. That arrangement has a practical consequence for parents returning to work: settling needs time in the family calendar as well as a nursery start date.

Communication combines formal discussion with an ongoing account of activities. Development records are shared each term, and parents have individual meetings with the key worker twice a year. The Famly app carries photographs, videos, assessments and observations through a secure login for each parent. These channels give families both snapshots of the day and opportunities for a longer conversation about development.

Parents can also help with daily activities or become involved through the management committee as Trustees. The nursery expects adults to challenge prejudiced attitudes and use respectful language, giving its community ethos an explicit place in everyday practice.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged safeguarding effective and highlighted SEND support as a strength, including individual responses and collaboration with families and other professionals. Current arrangements include a SENCO who works with staff and families, alongside links with the Hackney Education Special Educational Needs team. These are specific routes for coordinating support, rather than a general promise about inclusion.

Rainbow staff work with parents on toileting plans when children are ready, and children can rest or sleep when needed. Sunshine preparation for school includes expressing ideas, listening to others, working together and managing personal care. The emphasis is on everyday independence and relationships, not an admissions advantage.

There were weaknesses as well as strengths in March 2022. During movement between areas, especially when some children slept after lunch and others remained awake, staffing arrangements did not consistently sustain learning support. Practitioners also wanted more scope in supervision discussions to consider workload and wellbeing; further coaching was needed to develop practice and sharpen individual planning. Those findings deserve attention alongside the positive judgement.

The cook prepares lunches and snacks in the nursery's large kitchen; lunch menus rotate over four weeks, with breakfast and snacks following a two-week cycle and substitutions possible according to deliveries and seasonal produce. The parent pack sets out a nut-free policy and asks families to keep staff informed about allergies.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 76 Shacklewell Lane, London E8 2EY. Main nursery hours are 9am to 6pm: Short Day runs from 9am to 3pm and Long Day from 9am to 6pm, with the two patterns combinable. Breakfast Club runs from 8.30am to 9am for an additional charge, with breakfast included.

Year-round attendance follows a 48-week pattern, and Sunshine also offers term-time attendance over 39 weeks. Closures include Christmas, late summer, bank holidays and staff training days. A shorter daily booking and term-time attendance are different choices, so families need to match both the daily finish and the annual calendar to their work arrangements.

Applications use a registration form emailed to the nursery to join its waiting list. September is the principal intake, and siblings of children already attending have first priority. For that intake, children must have reached the relevant group's entry age by 31 August: 1 for Bunnies, 2 for Rainbow and 3 for Sunshine. Enquiries can also be made by telephone on 0207 923 7754.

Getting There

Dalston Kingsland, Rectory Road and Dalston Junction are nearby Overground stations, and local buses include services 149, 236 and 488. Bike storage is available, and nearby street parking is on Shacklewell Row.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery offers 30 hours funding for eligible working parents and 15 hours funding from the term after a child's third birthday. The 30-hour entitlement is stretched across the year to 24 hours each week, with a minimum booking of four Short Days; that funded pattern carries no extra charges. Sunshine term-time attendance also has funding spread over its attendance period.

Private hours and additional sessions are charged. Lunch is included in private nursery fees, while parents supply nappies and wipes when needed. Breakfast Club is a separate paid addition with breakfast included. Families receive current prices in the nursery's written quotation; its fees page sets out the attendance and funding structure.

The contract requires a deposit and a non-refundable administration charge, with a reduced deposit for parents who are studying. Ending attendance requires two months' written notice, while reducing a booking requires one month's written notice. Fees remain payable when a child is absent. These terms matter if working patterns change or a family needs to bring attendance to an end.

• Support through transitions. In March 2022, movement between spaces and the split between sleeping and awake children interrupted consistent learning support. During a visit, ask how staff now organise that period and how supervision and coaching address individual planning.
• September entry and settling. Group entry depends on age by 31 August, and parents are asked to be on call if needed for at least the first week, or longer for younger children. Discuss the settling timetable and how it fits a return to work before agreeing a start.
• Funding and commitment. The stretched 30-hour arrangement requires four Short Days, while leaving needs two months' written notice. Compare the funded pattern, any additional attendance and the deposit terms in the written quotation before accepting.
• Food and allergies. Meals are cooked on site and the parent pack sets a nut-free policy. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food-handling practice and how their child's dietary needs will be recorded.

Bath House suits families seeking creative play, parent involvement and clear age-group progression, whether they need the Short Day or Long Day pattern, or Sunshine's term-time places. Its former bath-house premises, separate outdoor space for the youngest children and practical cooking experiences give the offer character.

The Good judgement from March 2022 should be read with the staffing and coaching improvements attached to it. For families weighing this nursery, the most useful discussion concerns how support continues across the whole day, alongside the daily and annual attendance pattern that best fits their child.