Into The Woods Outdoor Nursery

A nursery day here is genuinely a day in the woods. Into The Woods Outdoor Nursery's Highgate branch operates from Queens Wood at 42 Muswell Hill Road, and its published model is fully outdoor rather than a conventional nursery room with occasional forest sessions. Its address is Queens Wood, 42 Muswell Hill Road, London N10 3JP.

The December 2024 Ofsted inspection judged every graded area Outstanding. Children were absorbed in purposeful woodland learning, willing to test their abilities and advancing securely across the curriculum. This is a highly distinctive choice for families who actively want mud, changing weather, uneven ground and woodland exploration to form the substance of nursery life.

Term-time attendance carries a two-day weekly minimum for main nursery places. Exact daily hours, session patterns and the youngest entry age need checking directly.

Learning in the woods

The woodland is the classroom. The provider describes children building dens, making leaf pictures, creating fantasy worlds, cooking in mud kitchens and caring for the environment, alongside time for child-led exploration. These are not decorative outdoor extras. They are the means through which the setting delivers the Early Years Foundation Stage, the statutory framework covering communication, physical, personal and wider learning through planned experiences and play.

Examples from December 2024 show how that works in practice. Children used natural pigments and cinnamon powder to make pictures on cloth attached to trees. Mathematical learning included matching collected stones to written numerals and counting to 20 during hide and seek. Forest walks developed knowledge of hibernation, birds and trees including oak, hornbeam and holly. Specific detail gives the curriculum credibility.

Language receives equally deliberate attention. Staff also ran daily small-group speaking and listening sessions with a recording box, alongside storytelling, songs and a wide choice of books. Children described leaves as delicate and collaborated on group stories. The implication is important: outdoor learning here is not simply energetic free play, but a planned route into vocabulary, literacy and sustained conversation.

Physical confidence and independence

Rope swings, low slacklines, climbable trees and uneven forest terrain make physical development part of the ordinary day. Children were seen judging how high they could safely climb, building core strength and learning to manage their own forest kit. Helper roles, turn-taking and older children reminding younger ones of expectations added practical responsibility.

No named room roster is published for this branch, so families should expect a shared forest setting rather than choose on the basis of a conventional baby, toddler or preschool room description.

Settling is personal and gradual. New starters received sustained attention from their key person until they felt secure, and familiarity extended beyond that one relationship because other staff understood each child well. Inspectors saw settled children with strong bonds across the setting. For a child new to spending long periods outdoors, that deliberate introduction matters as much as the curriculum.

Safety is adapted to a woodland environment rather than treated as a reason to avoid it. Each day began with staff reviewing hazards across the woodland, including risks above ground level among the trees. Children wore high-visibility vests, understood the boundary marked by blue cones and handled tools carefully. Ofsted found safeguarding effective and an open, positive safeguarding culture.

Parent communication was flexible and effective at inspection. Families were kept informed about progress, and parents were invited to share stories in different languages. Leadership support for staff development was effective in December 2024. Leaders also planned to deepen staff knowledge of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, a sensible topic for families needing individual provision to discuss directly.

Sessions and attendance

Attendance follows Haringey school terms, with a two-day weekly minimum for main nursery places. Exact daily hours, session choices and the youngest entry age need checking directly. The setting has capacity for 75 children.

Funding and costs

The nursery delivers government-funded early education, including the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, eligible working-family entitlement and funded provision for eligible disadvantaged two-year-olds. Eligibility and the fit between funded hours and the attendance pattern depend on the nursery’s current terms.

Separate categories apply for sessions, forest provision, kit and optional seasonal hot-lunch charges. Numeric amounts are intentionally omitted because families need a current, branch-specific quotation. The published Highgate arrangement allows parents to opt for hot cafe lunches on forest days in winter or continue providing a packed lunch.

• Weather and clothing. This is fully outdoor provision, not a nursery with an outdoor emphasis. Settling, clothing, shelter and severe-weather procedures are important parts of judging whether the model suits a child throughout the seasons.
• Term-time structure. Attendance follows Haringey terms with a two-day weekly minimum. Exact daily hours, session choices and the youngest entry age need checking directly before planning childcare.
• Additional charges. There are separate forest-provision and kit charge categories, plus an optional winter hot-lunch arrangement at Highgate. A full quotation should show how funded and privately paid hours apply to the chosen pattern.
• Individual support. Relationships were strong, while leaders planned to develop SEND knowledge further. Families seeking specific support will need clarity on staffing, adjustments and the woodland routine before accepting a place.

Into The Woods is for families who want nature to be the setting, not an occasional activity. The Outstanding judgement is backed by unusually concrete evidence: children counted with stones, identified woodland species, built expressive language, managed tools and boundaries, and developed strength on forest equipment.

The trade-off is equally clear. Provision is term-time, fully outdoor and carries a published two-day minimum for main nursery places. It is best suited to a child likely to thrive on active exploration and a family able to work within that term-time structure. Exact hours, available session patterns and the youngest entry age need checking directly.