Little Garden The Hammersmith Day Nursery & Pre-School

Daylight, a garden for digging and cycling, and a sensory room give this Hammersmith nursery a clear identity: an urban setting with space for both energetic play and quieter moments. It occupies the ground floor of a modern development at Richford Gate and cares for children from 3 months to 5 years. The physical offer matters here. Outdoor exploration and somewhere to pause sit alongside the indoor learning spaces.

At its April 2026 inspection, Ofsted awarded Strong standard judgements for achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance, with Expected standard for behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines and for children's welfare and wellbeing; safeguarding standards were met. That is a positive but differentiated assessment, with practical improvements needed in teaching manners and helping children understand everyday risks.

Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings serve different family routines, with a minimum weekly commitment that must include Monday or Friday.

Rooms and Ages

Naturally lit rooms provide the indoor base, while the outdoor area gives children opportunities to grow plants, dig, climb and use bikes. A sensory room adds a different kind of space. These are useful contrasts for children whose appetite for activity changes through the day.

The baby room's learning includes developing attachments and starting to use words; preschool learning moves towards conversation, managing emotions and belonging. The progression gives everyday experiences a purpose rather than treating school preparation as a separate final-stage exercise.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, with play and adult-supported experiences helping children build language, early mathematical understanding and independence. Hammersmith's curriculum adds an emphasis on persistence: children are encouraged to try again, with activities and resources adjusted to their needs.

The group-wide Our Commitments approach includes Confident Communicators, supporting children to express themselves in ways that work for them, and Explorers of Our World, connecting learning with nature and outdoor experiences. Alongside these commitments, the branch uses scavenger hunts, making marks and solving problems as practical routes into early literacy and mathematics. The value lies in the activity, not simply the curriculum names.

In April 2026, children investigated worms in the gardening area, comparing their sizes and counting insects. Adults extended the investigation by discussing how soil conditions affect where worms can be found. Babies explored circular patterns with staff, bringing mathematical language into play from an early age. These examples show how a child's immediate interest can become a conversation about number, shape or the natural world.

Outdoor and Community Life

During April 2026, outdoor experiences included watering plants, balancing on equipment and practising ball skills. Community outings included buying produce at the market, connecting food with places beyond the nursery. The trip day changed from week to week so children attending on different days could participate. That arrangement is especially relevant to families using part-time sessions.

Independence also ran through ordinary routines that month: children served food, poured water and cleared their plates. Those small responsibilities gave them opportunities to practise doing things for themselves, rather than leaving independence solely to planned activities.

Relationships and Communication

In April 2026, settling arrangements could be adjusted around individual children and families, including routines for children who needed longer to become comfortable in the morning. Key people provided familiar reassurance, while staff exchanged daily information with parents about sleep and weaning. For babies, that connection between home and nursery makes changing care routines easier to coordinate.

Communication that month combined daily conversations and an online app with newsletters and parents' evenings. Families could borrow books from the lending library, and children took home learning bags containing activities that changed weekly before sharing their experiences at circle time. This gave parents something concrete to join in with, beyond receiving updates about the day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that staff recognised additional needs promptly, adapted environments and routines, worked with external professionals, and supported substantial language development among children learning English as an additional language. In practice that month, signs, gestures and visual prompts helped children understand routines; familiar foods were incorporated into adapted menus, and sensory resources supported children in identifying feelings and settling themselves.

The same month's next steps were specific. Adults did not consistently demonstrate polite language, and children were not always taught why particular actions were unsafe, including positioning themselves around the slide and handling fruit while chopping. Close supervision was present, but the teaching needed greater consistency. Families should weigh both the thoughtful individual support and these everyday practice points.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 50 Richford Gate, 61-69 Richford Street, London, W6 7HZ. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks, with public holidays and a week at Christmas excluded.

Standard full-day bookings run from 8am to 6pm; mornings run from 8am to 1pm and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. Full-week bookings use the same 8am to 6pm daily window. The opening window is therefore longer than the standard booking day, an important distinction for planning work and collection.

The weekly minimum is two full days or four morning/afternoon sessions, including a Monday or Friday. A calendar month's notice is required for permanent session changes or cancellation. Bank-holiday closures still attract normal charges, and sickness or holidays do not bring replacement sessions, credits or refunds.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through the Government's Early Education Entitlement for children aged 9 months to 4 years, including the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements, and the nursery accepts 2 Help funding. The standard arrangement stretches entitlement across operating weeks. Funded hours can be taken alone or combined with privately paid attendance; additional hours are charged separately.

For private sessions, the inclusive fee covers meals and consumables apart from nappies; during funded hours, food and consumables are charged separately through the optional Essentials Package. Its consumables include suncream, wipes, nappy bags and cream, and its enrichment element also carries a separate funded-hours charge.

Parents can opt out of the Essentials Package by contacting the manager before term begins, although suitable alternatives or arrangements for collecting and disposing of consumables may be required under nursery policy. Its Enrichment Programme covers additional experiences beyond the standard early years curriculum. A written quotation should distinguish funded attendance, paid hours and the chosen extras.

Meals are prepared fresh on the premises each day using seasonal ingredients. A registration charge and a deposit refundable against the final invoice apply, with both waived for fully funded places.

• Everyday manners and risk awareness. April 2026 next steps concerned consistent adult examples of politeness and teaching children why actions can be unsafe. On a visit, ask how those lessons now feature in play, food preparation and routines.
• A Monday or Friday commitment. Two full days or four morning/afternoon sessions are the weekly minimum, including one of these days. This needs to fit the family timetable, especially where care is shared with relatives.
• Funded extras and nappies. The Essentials Package is optional during funded hours, while nappies sit outside the private inclusive fee. Ask how an opt-out arrangement would work for your child's food and care supplies before choosing a package.

Hammersmith suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, provided the weekly minimum and Monday-or-Friday condition fit. Its naturally lit rooms, outdoor growing and play space, and sensory room offer a useful mix of activity and retreat. April 2026 examples add substance: market outings, changing trip days and practical independence threaded through routines.

The strongest case is for families who value communication and learning through everyday experiences. The reservations are concrete too: consistent manners and children's understanding of risk need attention, and funded extras deserve careful budgeting. This is a nursery to assess through those practical details as well as its favourable April 2026 judgements.