Little Learners Nursery & Preschool, Ambleside Avenue

Little Learners at Ambleside Avenue combines a clearly structured, play-led curriculum with some memorable everyday experiences. Children help care for rabbits and Billy the tortoise, while the garden gives them room for wheeled toys, natural materials and mud-kitchen play. Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its June 2024 inspection, and found effective safeguarding.

This Elm Park setting opened in 2022 and takes children from three months to five years. Its 38-place scale is relatively compact, and the published room sequence gives families a clear progression from babies through to preschool. The full-day model runs from 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays.

Rooms and Ages

Four age stages shape the day. Babies aged three to 16 months have a room designed around colour, texture and sound that can become calmer at nap time; staff aim to follow home routines during the transition into nursery. The 16-to-24-month toddler space puts physical discovery front and centre, with messy play, soft-play slides and a ball pit supporting movement and confidence.

Children aged two to three have a dedicated area for friendships, imaginative games and adult-led activity, plus shared space with older preschoolers. The preschool room, for ages three to five, uses messy-play and art-and-craft areas to develop creativity, hand control, communication and cooperation. That is a sensible sequence: the environment changes with the child rather than treating the under-fives as one broad group.

Learning and Named Experiences

The nursery works within the Early Years Foundation Stage, which means learning through play across communication, physical development, personal and social development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts. In practical terms, staff use monthly topics, children's interests and in-the-moment planning to choose activities that build the next useful skill while a child is engaged. Published developmental outcomes range from first words and self-feeding for babies to full sentences, controlled pencil or scissor use, early numeral recognition and greater self-care for preschoolers.

Animals give that curriculum unusual character. Children cared for rabbits and Billy the tortoise, learning responsibility and compassion. Babies were observed exploring foam, brushes, musical instruments and the ball pit. Across the nursery, books, songs and play-dough supported language, concentration, hand strength and social play.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play is purposeful rather than an occasional break. Children were seen to run, jump and ride wheeled toys in a well-resourced garden, then explore natural materials and role play with mud, water and kitchen equipment. The wider curriculum also publishes local walks and visits to places such as the library, post office and park, helping children connect classroom ideas with ordinary community life.

Children formed warm relationships with staff and left their parents happily at the door. Staff helped children manage feelings, build independence, tidy resources, clear plates and follow handwashing routines. Parents reported that children gained confidence, self-care and social skills. ParentZone adds a practical communication channel, with photographs, progress information and routine updates available through a password-protected app.

Support for additional needs was another strength. Staff identified individual abilities, worked with other agencies and sought extra funding where needed. Safeguarding arrangements were effective. The one formal improvement point asked leaders to strengthen support for staff training in childcare so their interactions better develop children's communication and language. Families may want to ask what coaching has followed.

Food is prepared by an on-site chef using a four-week healthy-eating menu that changes with the seasons and available produce. Children ate healthy meals suited to dietary needs, including cucumber and tomato pasta. The provider separates private-day inclusions from optional food, consumable and activity charges attached to funded hours.

Sessions and Attendance

This is a full-day nursery, open Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 6pm for 51 weeks each year. Families therefore need a full-day pattern rather than a short-session timetable. The provider asks for fees monthly in advance and publishes registration and deposit arrangements, including one month's written notice for the deposit to be returned once the account is settled.

Free settling visits are offered in the week or two before a child starts, with their number and timing tailored to the child. That gives the move into nursery a planned runway rather than a single first day.

Funding and Paid Extras

Little Learners publishes participation in universal and extended funded childcare for eligible families and stretches entitlement across its 51-week year. Eligibility and the exact weekly pattern still need confirming with the nursery. Its fees page separates funded hours from additional paid hours and optional food, non-food consumable and extra-curricular charges. The page explains an opt-out route for those optional funded-hours charges.

Getting There

The nursery is at 1 Ambleside Avenue, Hornchurch, RM12 5ES, in Elm Park. The branch telephone number published on the contact page is 01708 579 449. The branch contact page gives the practical starting point for drop-off questions.

• Full days only. The published product runs from 7.30am to 6pm; there is no evidenced morning or afternoon session. That model needs to fit both routine and budget.
• Communication coaching. The June 2024 improvement point concerned how staff in training support children's language and communication. Ask what coaching and monitoring now show in practice.
• Funded-hour extras. Food, non-food consumables and extra-curricular items are listed separately for funded attendance, with an opt-out route that requires parents to provide specified items. A child-specific cost explanation is important before agreeing a pattern.

Little Learners Ambleside is strongest for families seeking consistent weekday full-day care with an explicit room journey, active outdoor play and a curriculum grounded in children's immediate interests. The pets, mud kitchen, community experiences and structured developmental outcomes give the provision more identity than a generic childcare timetable. The findings on relationships, inclusion and independence are reassuring, while the communication-and-language action gives parents one focused follow-up question. It suits children needing a long, steady day from baby room through preschool, but not families chiefly looking for morning or afternoon sessions.