Forget Me Not Nursery

Forget Me Not Nursery is a small Hornchurch setting whose strongest feature is the way close relationships sit alongside purposeful teaching. It has 19 places at 177-181 Hornchurch Road, with access from Vicarage Road, and cares for children from 12 months to five years. Ofsted rated it Good in February 2024, a clear improvement from Requires Improvement in 2023.

The open-plan Main Room has separate areas for babies and older children, but the age groups also mix during the day. That arrangement gives younger children room suited to them while allowing learning across ages. At the 2024 inspection, children settled well, formed good relationships with staff and approached them for reassurance.

Rooms and Ages

The Main Room is the centre of the nursery's room organisation. Toys and resources are within children's reach, so they can choose what to explore rather than waiting for an adult to distribute activities. Planned experiences are then adapted to children's ages, needs and interests. Children have periods with their own age group as well as shared time.

The nursery publishes Main Room ratios of at least one adult to three children under two, one to four for ages two to three, and one to eight for over-threes. These are ratios rather than promises about a fixed group size. Staff in the room are also described as having specific training in baby care and safe sleeping.

Learning and Named Experiences

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework: staff observe children's development and use what they learn to plan experiences across communication, physical development, personal and social growth, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts. In practical terms, the next activity should connect with what an individual child can do and what interests them.

February 2024 examples make that approach tangible. An insect hunt developed into close observation and conversation about insects' physical features, diets and habitats. Older children practised recognising and forming letters and sounds, while counting problems introduced simple addition and subtraction. The nursery also runs weekly baking activities with its cook.

There are limits within that positive picture. Adults sometimes directed art too closely, reducing older children's freedom to develop their own interpretations. The February 2024 improvement point called for more opportunities to express their own ideas.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play had substance in February 2024. Inspectors saw babies using challenging physical play to strengthen their bodies and confidence.

Relationships and Communication

Kind, responsive relationships were central to the 2024 findings. Children separated from parents confidently and knew they could seek cuddles and reassurance. Inspectors saw staff give sensitive support as children developed language for their emotions. Songs marked changes in routine, helping children understand when it was time to tidy, wash hands, eat, rest or play.

Parents can follow development through an online observation system. An email follows each completed observation, and parents can comment or upload observations from home. A daily communication book adds another practical route for information between home and nursery.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND support is unusually well documented. A SENCo oversees identification and provision, while each child's key person remains responsible for daily work. Individual plans, reviewed targets, planned interventions and additional-adult support can be used where needed. Current staff expertise includes Makaton, Elklan Speech and Language and the 5 P Approach, alongside links with speech and language therapy, educational psychology, occupational therapy and physiotherapy.

Children with special educational needs and disabilities received well-deployed one-to-one support at inspection, with targets informed by external professionals. The branch also has ramp access, a disabled toilet and disabled parking. These details make the offer concrete while leaving individual adjustments to be agreed for each child.

Safeguarding arrangements were effective at the February 2024 inspection. Children managed cutlery, poured water and put on outdoor clothes, but adults were sometimes too quick to wipe faces and noses. Developing children's self-care independence was the second improvement point.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery operates on weekdays throughout the year except bank holidays. Exact bookable hours and attendance patterns are a decision point below.

Getting There

The branch is at Unit 15, 177-181 Hornchurch Road, Hornchurch RM12 4TE, with the entrance on Vicarage Road. Disabled parking is part of the accessibility offer.

Funding and Paid Extras

The February 2024 inspection recorded funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Current terms need a provider-specific quotation covering funded and private hours alongside every relevant charge category.

For children with SEND moving to school, transition support includes visits at different points in the school day, a meeting with the new teacher and person-centred planning with the receiving school's SENCo. This is not an admissions advantage; the relevant admissions process still applies.

• Mixed-age organisation. The Main Room combines separate baby and older-child areas with time spent together. Ask how the day is divided for your child's age and how quieter care, sleep and focused activities are managed.
• Creative independence. Ofsted's February 2024 improvement point called for older children to have more freedom to express their own ideas in art and craft. Families can look for open-ended creative work at a showround.
• Self-care. Children showed several independence skills, but adults sometimes stepped in too quickly with face and nose wiping. This remains a useful area to discuss at a showround.
• Booking and costs. A written schedule and quotation should match the hours and funding a family expects to use, including the position on meals and consumables.

Forget Me Not Nursery suits families looking for a small setting with mixed-age contact, accessible resources and a clearly described SEND process. The Good judgement is supported by persuasive examples of warm relationships, early literacy and mathematics, outdoor physical play and responsive inclusion. The two improvement points give families specific areas to weigh.

Recorded provision includes full-day and half-day options on weekdays. Exact session boundaries, minimum attendance and current booking terms still need confirming before a family decides whether those patterns fit.