Creative Fingers Community Nursery

Christian values, a parent-accompanied settling process and an emphasis on learning through play give Creative Fingers Community Nursery its character. Acceptance and respect sit alongside recognition of different faiths and cultures. This is a preschool setting for children aged two to five, with 40 places in total.

At its October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found effective safeguarding and good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The practical examples matter: pictures helped children understand routines, while staff worked with families and other agencies to plan support. That judgement is a dated assessment, rather than a description of every aspect of the nursery today.

The Uxbridge setting operates during term time. Its weekday opening window ends at 3.30pm, making the calendar and finishing time important considerations for working families.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. In October 2022, stories and songs supported communication, making and outdoor play developed physical skills, and everyday activities offered opportunities for mathematical learning. Creative Fingers emphasises learning across seven areas of development through play and teaching. Its Christian values include tolerance and acceptance of other religions and cultures, giving families a clear starting point for understanding its ethos.

In October 2022, children explored paint, shaped dough and built with blocks. These were hands-on experiences: older children rolled dough before cutting shapes, and children talked about their paintings. Using hammers to fasten shapes with tacks added another opportunity to practise controlled hand movements. The activities connected making, conversation and physical skills.

Stories, songs and nursery rhymes were also part of the day in October 2022. Children heard repeated language and were encouraged to share ideas. However, staff sometimes moved on before children had enough time to formulate an answer. Allowing a child to finish thinking was one of the improvement priorities, an important distinction between asking questions and making space for a response.

Mathematics was the other priority in October 2022. Everyday activities could have carried learning further, including exploring measurement while making dough. For parents, the useful question is how practitioners extend a child's play with a well-timed mathematical idea, rather than simply adding a separate counting activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

In October 2022, the nursery operated from Salem Baptist Church Hall in Hillingdon. Outdoor play included a slide, sand exploration and tricycles, giving children opportunities to practise balance, movement and taking turns. Older children also built towers together, bringing cooperation into their construction play. These are concrete examples of the nursery day at that time, rather than promises about today's equipment or activity timetable.

Relationships and Communication

A key person arrangement gives each child a practitioner who works with both child and parent. Its purpose is continuity: someone takes responsibility for maintaining that relationship and supporting the child's development. Settling involves parents staying alongside their child over a number of days before leaving them at nursery. Families therefore need to allow time for participation, rather than expect an immediate independent start.

In October 2022, staff gathered information from parents about children's starting points and life beyond nursery. Daily conversations and parent meetings were used to exchange information about development. Together, these arrangements connected the child's home experiences with what happened during the nursery day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SENCO responsibilities sit within both the manager and deputy manager roles. The team also has childcare qualifications, first-aid training and DBS checks, with continuing professional development forming part of staff practice. These are concrete arrangements; the dated safeguarding judgement remains the relevant assessment of effectiveness.

In October 2022, staff used pictures to explain language and routines, and coordinated with parents and other agencies around individual needs. Children practised washing their hands and managing personal care, as well as returning cups and plates after lunch. School transition work included contact with local school staff, supporting the move to the next stage through relationships rather than implying an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 907 Uxbridge Road, Uxbridge, UB10 0NH. Opening hours are 9am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time, with closure during school holidays. The nursery accepts children aged two to five. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 07951 877840.

For families organising work around childcare, the school-holiday closure matters as much as the daily finishing time. This is a term-time arrangement, so holiday care needs to sit elsewhere in the family's plans.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes a 15-hour offer for non-working parents of two-year-olds, 15 hours for children aged three to four, and a 30-hour offer for working parents of children aged two to four, subject to the relevant eligibility conditions. Attendance is term-time. Private hours are also offered, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. There is no starting deposit and no top-up fee.

Snacks and milk are free for all children; lunch is separately charged for children using 30-hour funding, with the alternative of bringing lunch from home, while children on disadvantage funding receive free lunch when attending five hours a day, three times a week. The four-week menu includes tuna pasta bake and cheese-and-tomato pizza, and the nursery identifies allergens in snacks and lunches, including milk, eggs, gluten and fish.

• Thinking time and mathematics. The October 2022 improvement priorities concerned time to answer questions and extending mathematical learning during play. On a visit, ask how staff now use these opportunities, including measurement during dough-making or construction.
• Settling with a parent. Parents stay with their child over several days as part of settling. Discuss how that process would work for your child and how much time you should reserve before arranging an independent start.
• Term-time logistics. The nursery closes during school holidays and finishes at 3.30pm on weekdays. Consider whether that calendar fits your working hours and how you would cover the holiday periods.
• Lunch and allergies. Lunch arrangements differ between 30-hour and disadvantage-funded attendance, and bringing lunch is an alternative for the former. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food-handling practice and discuss the identified allergens before starting.

Creative Fingers suits families seeking term-time preschool care with a Christian ethos that explicitly recognises other faiths and cultures. The key person relationship and parent-accompanied settling process give its care arrangements a clear shape. They also require parents to participate in the early days.

The October 2022 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, balanced by specific priorities around questioning and mathematics. Its strongest practical fit is for families whose routines accommodate a weekday finish at 3.30pm and school-holiday closures, with funded or privately paid attendance arranged around that calendar.