Planet Tiny Toddlers

Planet Tiny Toddlers is a small, two-room setting for children from 17 months to around 2 years and 8 months at 185 Priory Road, London N8 8NB. Its strongest feature is the thought given to active toddler learning: one room supports stories, construction and shared group time, while the other is set up for art and messy play with direct outdoor access.

Ofsted rated the setting Outstanding in February 2023 across education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management, describing children as intensely curious and eager to learn.

Rooms and Ages

The Toddlers Room is really a pair of connected learning spaces. A large circle-time area sits alongside a home corner, book corner and child-sized tables for construction and puzzles. The second room takes the messier work: painting, drawing, sand and water. Children can move from there into the outdoor play area, giving energetic toddlers a useful choice between indoor and outdoor activity.

Children generally join from around 17 months. Movement from the separate baby unit is based on readiness, including confident, stable walking, rather than a birthday alone. The branch's age range ends at around 2 years and 8 months, when children can move to Planet Tiny's separately located preschool.

Learning and Named Experiences

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the areas of learning and development that guide the day. In practical terms, staff use children's interests to plan play that builds communication, physical development, relationships and early understanding of the world. The nursery also describes its Reggio Emilia approach as child-initiated play which practitioners support and extend.

Jumping Beans and Debutots are named parts of the toddler offer, linked by the nursery to early-years learning. The provider does not describe their content in the branch material, so families should ask what each involves for this age group. Hands-on experiences are much clearer: painting, shaving foam, cornflour, sand and mud sit alongside books, toy animals, building toys and art equipment.

In February 2023, children sang and danced to guitar music, investigated body maps, bones and play dough, and learned vocabulary through spices and food in the home corner. Staff also used glitter to show how germs spread and microscopes to explore bacteria and viruses. These examples make substantial ideas tangible for very young children.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor learning extends beyond free-flow access at the rear of the toddler rooms. In 2023, yoga and gardening sessions took families to a local orchard, alongside picnics and quizzes. An international day invited families to share food and dress connected to their home cultures, while a Hanukkah activity involved making bread together.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who monitors learning, supports settling and shares daily information with parents. The settling process encourages short, frequent visits before the child stays without a parent, with care then handed to the key person. A paired co-key-person provides continuity when the usual key person is absent.

In February 2023, parent partnerships included daily updates about activities and new achievements. Staff knew children extremely well and planned around individual needs. This matters at an age when close exchange between home and nursery can shape whether a toddler settles confidently.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received support from staff and other early-years professionals, creating consistency between nursery and home. Staff training included emotional wellbeing and neurodiversity. Safeguarding was judged effective, with secure staff knowledge, swift reporting, partnership with other agencies and thorough recruitment and vetting.

Hot meals are freshly prepared on site using seasonal menus on a four-week cycle. Families are asked to discuss cultural, religious, vegetarian and allergy requirements at registration. Parents provide nappies, wipes, cream, spare clothes and seasonal items such as sun cream, so these need to be included in the household routine.

Sessions and Attendance

Planet Tiny Toddlers publishes a full day from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, for 51 weeks of the year. It closes on public and bank holidays and twice yearly for staff training.

Funding and Paid Extras

The 2023 inspection recorded funded early education for two-year-olds. Eligibility depends on the family's circumstances and current national rules. Nursery fees are invoiced in advance, and families should request a current written quotation covering their intended pattern, funded hours, meals and any additional charges.

Meals are prepared by the nursery, while nappies, wipes and related personal consumables are supplied from home. That split is useful to include when comparing the practical cost and preparation required each week.

Getting There

The toddler branch is at 185 Priory Road, London N8 8NB. Planet Tiny's baby and preschool units have different Priory Road addresses, so families arranging a visit should make sure they are viewing the toddler setting.

• Attendance pattern. The published product is a full day from 8am to 6pm. Families needing shorter days should establish whether another pattern can be arranged.
• Age-limited branch. This site is specifically for roughly 17 to 32 months. A future move to the separately located preschool means another transition and a different address.
• Named activities. Jumping Beans and Debutots are listed but not explained in the branch material. Ask how often they run, who leads them and what toddlers actually do.
• Funded-hour costs. Two-year-old funded education was recorded at inspection, but families need a current quotation showing how funded hours interact with meals, extra hours and other charges.

Planet Tiny Toddlers makes a strong case for families who want a compact, toddler-specific setting with ambitious, playful learning. The two-room arrangement is sensibly organised, the direct outdoor access suits this physical age, and the inspection evidence gives unusually concrete examples of language, science, music and community work. Its February 2023 Outstanding judgement is backed by detailed findings on curiosity, relationships, inclusion and safeguarding rather than a label alone.

The best fit is for a family seeking full-day care across part or all of the Monday-to-Friday week and comfortable with a later move to Planet Tiny's separate preschool site.