Brook Green Nursery

Weekly gardening, visiting musicians and a charity nursery with capacity for 20 children give Brook Green Nursery a recognisable character. Its own outdoor space matters too: this is a setting where growing plants sits alongside music, cooking and imaginative play, rather than a day built entirely around indoor activities.

Based in the Brook Green Family Centre in Hammersmith, it cares for children aged two to five. Parents also have a part in its organisation: a voluntary committee brings together parents and experienced professionals, giving family involvement a place in how the nursery is run as well as in children's activities.

At its September 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. That is a dated judgement, rather than a description of every aspect of today's provision. The educational improvement point concerned making outdoor nature exploration more inviting and purposeful, an important consideration for a nursery with gardening in its activity programme.

Attendance is term-time only, with morning, afternoon and all-day sessions. That combination offers different ways to use the nursery, but the holiday closures are a substantial part of the practical decision.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning and care: here, stories, conversation, practical exploration and play help children develop language, movement, relationships and early understanding of numbers. It is the common foundation for early-years provision, rather than an extra programme unique to this nursery.

Brook Green's activities give that framework concrete expression. Children experiment with colour, construct towers, hear stories and plant seeds. Counting and comparing objects bring mathematics into play; making marks and exploring books introduce literacy. These are useful connections for parents to understand: preparation for school includes learning to express an idea, handle materials and join an activity, alongside early number and language work.

Mini Scientists: Experiments & Discovery includes investigations into floating, freezing and colour mixing. The practical value is clear: children can try something, watch what changes and talk about what happened. Gardening & Nature Club adds caring for plants and exploring seasonal changes and insects, connecting outdoor activity with responsibility for something that grows.

Yoga & Mindfulness introduces breathing techniques, balance and awareness of the body. Yoga and gardening take place weekly. Sports & Movement brings energetic play together with teamwork and taking turns, while Cooking & Food Exploration includes simple preparation, measuring ingredients and exploring food through the senses. These activities add different ways to participate: movement, handling materials and conversation each have a place.

French talking groups and visits from musicians from Trinity College of Music extend the programme beyond staff-led activities. Neither needs to be turned into a claim about accelerated learning to have value: they introduce children to another language and to people making music. Library trips add another setting for engaging with books.

Outdoor and Community Life

The nursery has its own outdoor area, with opportunities to tend plants and watch birds. Excursions include the London Wetland Centre and the local fire station. These give children subjects to explore beyond the nursery itself, from the natural world to people working in the community; the trips should not be read as a weekly timetable.

In September 2023, children used climbing activities and wheeled toys outdoors, but the mud kitchen and planting areas lacked tools that would encourage fuller investigation. The improvement point was about organising the space so children could do more with it, rather than simply spending time outside. That distinction matters. An outdoor area earns its educational value through the experiences children can actually pursue there.

Family participation also has a visible place. Parents contribute through gardening, baking and reading, and the annual Family Day brings that involvement together. Cooking can be led by staff or by parents taking part with the children, offering a practical way for family skills and interests to enter nursery life.

Relationships and Communication

In September 2023, the key-person arrangement helped staff learn children's routines, interests and individual needs from the start. Children chose resources themselves and practised everyday independence, including dressing and handwashing. Those small tasks matter: a child learning to manage a coat or choose an activity is practising participation in the day, as well as preparing for later transitions.

At the same visit, Ofsted found that communication support included home languages, bilingual staff, signs and visual prompts, while daily conversations and online updates supported exchanges with parents. For families using more than one language, the useful detail is the inclusion of the child's home language during settling, rather than treating English as the only route into nursery life.

School preparation also had an emotional element in September 2023. Stories opened conversations about starting school, and school visits and photograph books helped children become familiar with what came next. This addresses the change in surroundings and routines, alongside the practical skills children need when moving on.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Mindfulness is woven into everyday learning through breathing games, sensory exploration, listening and gentle movement. These are concrete practices, rather than a broad promise about wellbeing: children have ways to pause, notice feelings and engage with their surroundings. Staff training includes safeguarding and paediatric first aid, although training arrangements alone are not a current safeguarding judgement.

Kidz Clean Kitchen supplies freshly prepared meals, and staff eat alongside the children; dietary arrangements include tailored alternatives and regularly reviewed individual plans. Families affected by allergies should discuss their child's plan and current practice before attendance, so the arrangements match their particular needs.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. The booking choices are a morning session from 8am to 1pm, an afternoon from 1pm to 6pm, or an all-day session from 8am to 6pm. The afternoon option is a separate attendance pattern, rather than an extension that must follow a morning booking.

Contracts cover 39 weeks, with children staying away during half-term breaks and the Christmas, Easter and summer holidays. The calendar also includes staff-training closures. For working parents, the distinction between a long opening day and year-round care is essential: the daily window is substantial, but the annual pattern follows terms.

Applications go by email with a completed form. A non-refundable registration charge accompanies the application, after which the child joins the waiting list; submitting the form does not secure a place. Confirmation requires a formal offer and payment of the requested deposit by its deadline. This is a defined application sequence, not an indication of current vacancies.

Getting There

The address is Brook Green Family Centre, 49 Brook Green, London W6 7BJ. Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush Tube stations are nearby transport options, and the nursery is near bus routes.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including funding for eligible two-year-olds, universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, and 30 hours for families meeting the relevant criteria. Universal entitlement provides 15 hours per week for 38 weeks per year, starting in the term after the third birthday; the nursery applies for that funding, while parents must obtain the eligibility code and confirmation for the other funding routes.

Funding is distributed across the nursery's 39-week term-time contract. That detail belongs alongside the entitlement itself: the nursery's attendance year and the way funding is applied shape the family's bill. Additional private hours are also offered, and invoices are monthly.

For fee-paying children, a two-course hot lunch is included in morning and all-day sessions; children attending on funded hours only are charged separately for lunch. Families can opt out of additional charges. The fees page sets out the charge structure, and current prices should come in the nursery's written quotation.

A deposit equivalent to two weeks is required after an offer. It is non-refundable and is credited against the final invoice when one month's notice of leaving is given. The application charge is separate from that deposit, so families need to distinguish the cost of entering the waiting list from the payment that confirms an offered place.

• Term-time coverage. Morning, afternoon and all-day attendance sit within a 39-week year. Families needing childcare through school holidays will need to plan around the closures.
• Outdoor exploration. The September 2023 improvement point concerned the tools and organisation needed for nature play. During a visit, ask how the mud kitchen and planting activities are equipped now.
• Funded-hours costs. Lunch is charged separately for funded-hours-only attendance, and families may decline additional charges. Ask how non-food consumables are handled within your proposed funded and private attendance pattern.
• Application commitments. The registration charge is non-refundable, and an application puts a child on the waiting list rather than confirming attendance. Arrange a visit before proceeding, and understand the deposit deadline and leaving-notice terms attached to an offer.

Brook Green Nursery suits families seeking morning, afternoon or all-day attendance within a term-time calendar, with parent participation and practical learning prominent in the offer. Weekly yoga and gardening, visiting musicians and cooking give the day substance beyond a generic list of activities.

The September 2023 Good judgement provides a dated quality anchor, while the outdoor improvement point deserves attention alongside the nursery's nature activities. The strongest reasons to consider it are its modest whole-setting capacity, family involvement and varied ways for children to learn through doing. Holiday coverage and the distinction between funded hours and lunch charges are the practical trade-offs.