The Eye Nursery

A separate nursery building within Lady Bankes Primary School’s grounds gives The Eye Nursery a clear identity: school surroundings, but its own indoor and outdoor play spaces. Caterpillars and Butterflies are its two named stages, with children moving between them as they grow. The address is Dawlish Drive, Ruislip, HA4 9SF, and there is capacity for 40 children aged 18 to 60 months.

At its July 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effective. Those findings sit alongside two practical improvement points: explaining self-help skills more fully and helping children understand how their behaviour affects other people.

The attendance options include full days and separate morning and afternoon sessions. That gives families more than one way to organise nursery care, while funded hours operate during term time.

Rooms and Ages

Caterpillars is the under-three stage; Butterflies serves children aged three and four. The nursery combines adult-organised activities with play that children choose themselves, rather than making the whole day follow one format.

Its designated building has play areas inside and outside. These are nursery spaces within the school grounds, while the provider’s clubs use the school canteen. The distinction matters when considering which part of the provision a child will actually attend.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children’s learning and care, with learning through play central to the day. Here, structured activities sit alongside free play, so children have opportunities both to follow an adult’s lead and to pursue their own interests.

In July 2024, activities included scented, coloured dough and fruit-cutting in pretend domestic play. These examples connected sensory exploration with practical tasks. Children could handle materials, practise using tools and bring familiar experiences into their play.

Books also supported language in July 2024, while mathematical vocabulary emerged through hands-on activities: comparing height using blocks, discussing quantities of rice and counting spaghetti strands. Everyday objects supplied the starting point. Numbers and words were connected to something children could handle or compare.

Outdoor activity in July 2024 included taking manageable risks with play equipment. Children also stood before their peers to share experiences from home, supported by staff. These were different opportunities to participate: one through physical play, another through speaking to a group.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with support from the staff team. Once comfortable, children help choose their key person, who follows their development using Famly, the nursery’s tracking software. This gives the relationship a practical purpose as well as a familiar adult: someone takes responsibility for following how the child is developing.

Families can request verbal progress updates. Policies are covered during the first settling session, and concerns can be raised with the room leader before going to the manager. There is a clear sequence for discussing a difficulty rather than leaving parents to work out whom to approach.

In July 2024, staff asked families about things their children found difficult at home and used those conversations when planning activities. Home experiences therefore contributed to the nursery day, rather than communication being solely a report back to parents.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The team’s qualifications span Levels 3 to 6 and include special educational needs training. Staff training also includes Attention Hillingdon, a support programme, and Elklan Level 3, which covers speech and language for under-fives. These are training credentials, rather than a promise that every child receives a particular programme.

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff worked with families and outside agencies to tailor SEND support, but asked for clearer teaching about practical self-care and the effects of children’s behaviour. In July 2024, children practised handwashing, fruit-cutting and hair-brushing through play; the weakness was in explaining correct tool use and the reasons behind healthy choices, alongside helping children understand other people’s feelings.

Collection by someone who is not usually responsible requires a prearranged password, the collector’s name and photo identification. Medication requires written administration details and a daily signature at collection. Children must remain away until vomiting or diarrhoea has been absent for 48 hours, a concrete consideration for families planning cover during illness.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Full-day and weekly full-time bookings sit alongside morning sessions from 8am to 1pm and afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm; additional ad hoc hours are also offered. The nursery terms require at least two days of childcare each week for private under-three care; accessing funding has no minimum sessions or hours requirement.

The nursery operates across the year, with closures on bank holidays, between Christmas and New Year, and for three annual training days. Bank holidays are charged at the usual session rate, except those within the Christmas closure; the Christmas closure and training days carry no charge.

Sunshine Club offers school-nursery collection from 2.30pm to 6pm for children attending 30 hours at Lady Bankes. Weekly and daily school-nursery wraparound bookings combine Eye Nursery care with 15 hours at Lady Bankes and exclude meals and funding. These arrangements are separate from the ordinary morning and afternoon nursery sessions. Attending The Eye Nursery does not guarantee a Reception place at the school; families still use the local authority admissions process.

Enquiries can be made through the nursery’s online enquiry route. Permanent changes to hours or withdrawal require at least one calendar month’s written notice, and normal fees remain payable during absence, including holidays and illness.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both private childcare and government-funded childcare are offered. The 15- and 30-hour entitlements are applied during term time, with funded hours deducted from the booking; accessing funding does not require a minimum number of sessions or hours. Families must complete the entitlement form and supply a code where applicable before starting, otherwise charges may fall to them.

Meal arrangements vary by item: breakfast is included in the price of sessions that cover the morning, while optional lunch and tea are charged separately on private and funded bookings, with packed alternatives permitted at no additional charge. Meal choices require a month’s notice to change.

Funded-only places are exempt from the deposit and family registration charge. Other bookings involve a deposit and a registration charge. The deposit is retained if the place is not taken up, except when the agreement is cancelled in writing within its first 14 days: the deposit is then refundable, the registration charge is retained and services already provided at the family’s request during that window remain payable. Deposit return at departure depends on notice and settling outstanding payments. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, with the charge structure explained on its nursery fees page.

• Explaining independence. The July 2024 improvement points concerned practical self-care and understanding other people’s feelings. On a visit, ask how staff now explain tool use, healthy choices and the consequences of behaviour.
• Term-time funding within year-round care. Funded hours apply during term time, while the nursery operates across the year. A quotation should distinguish funded weeks, private hours and separately charged meals.
• Settling and key-person relationships. Children help choose their key person after settling. On a visit, discuss how staff support that choice and help the relationship develop.

The Eye Nursery suits families seeking either full-day attendance or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, with a separate nursery building inside school grounds. Its child-involved key-person arrangement and Famly development tracking give care and communication a defined structure.

The July 2024 Good judgement provides a dated quality benchmark, balanced by clear improvement points around independence and behaviour. For families combining funded and private care, the decisive practical detail is the separation between term-time entitlement, additional hours and meal charges.