Riverside Community Day Nursery

A garden with a rolling hill, vegetables to grow and water children can access themselves gives Riverside Community Day Nursery a practical, hands-on character. This charitable, non-profit nursery occupies a purpose-built setting within the grounds of Cavendish Primary School in Chiswick. It has capacity for 26 children, with an accepted age range of 15 months to five years.

At its July 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Riverside Good overall and identified two teaching priorities: giving children longer to consider questions and making learning intentions more precise for individual children. Those points matter alongside the physical setting. A well-equipped garden is useful, but the adult interaction around an activity matters too.

Attendance choices include full and part-time day care, flexible sessions and term-time playgroup provision.

Rooms and Ages

The baby and toddler area accommodates up to three children aged 15 to 24 months, with play resources supporting their development in a divided part of the main nursery space. This youngest group deserves attention: its stated cap is a more useful guide for parents than the whole nursery's capacity. Children move into the main nursery room between 22 and 24 months.

A separate room changes purpose during the day, accommodating smaller-group activities, quiet time and afternoon sleep. That gives rest a space apart from the main activity area. Child-sized bathroom fittings also make the environment usable for children practising everyday self-care.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning and care; here, stories, imaginative play, conversation and physical exploration give children ways to practise those skills. Activities respond to children's developmental interests, with seasonal topics adding different experiences indoors and outdoors.

Colourstring musical sessions introduce rhythm, melody and early music experiences. The weekly routine also includes singing, movement and opportunities to experiment with instruments. News time gives children a turn to discuss their experiences, while a quiet book area supports both independent browsing and reading with an adult.

In July 2022, adults brought counting into stories, using fingers to help children connect spoken numbers with a visual example. They also joined pretend play rather than leaving children to develop it alone. However, questions sometimes followed too quickly for children to formulate an answer, and activity objectives could be too general to address the knowledge an individual child needed next.

Outdoor and Community Life

The front garden has a sandpit, a balancing beam and a small rolling hill, offering different ways to test movement and balance. A muddy area contains logs and tools for exploration, while a water butt supports water play. Staff with forest school training plan outdoor activities involving problem-solving and independence.

Growing food adds another practical thread: children can encounter tomatoes, carrots and strawberries in the growing area. It connects an outdoor activity with something familiar at mealtimes. The garden therefore supports more than energetic play; it also gives children materials to investigate and plants to observe.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person responsible for maintaining their development record. EYLog, a digital tracker for observations and progress, gives parents access to that information. It creates a shared reference point for home and nursery, rather than relying entirely on a brief conversation at the end of the day.

Parents have two development meetings each year, plus an annual progress report. Meetings include discussion of next steps, and families can speak with another member of staff when their key person is working a different shift. The arrangement gives both planned opportunities for discussion and a route for everyday concerns.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO works with families and staff around individual needs, and the team includes a designated safeguarding lead. Practitioners hold childcare qualifications and have paediatric first-aid training. These are concrete elements of the staffing structure, rather than a general promise about care.

At its July 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and reported that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities participated in activities and progressed well, with indoor and outdoor spaces arranged to support their inclusion. That is a dated assessment of practice, not a substitute for discussing a child's current needs.

In July 2022, children helped prepare for meals and older children supported younger ones with pouring drinks. Today, self-service drinks and snacks remain part of the routine, giving children small, repeated opportunities to make choices and practise independence. Afternoon sleep takes place in the separate multipurpose room.

Sessions and Attendance

Day Care includes full and part-time arrangements, with sessions beginning at 8am and ending at 6pm. Flexible bookings last between three and ten hours. Day care operates across 50 weeks, closing for bank holidays, a two-week Christmas break and occasional training days.

Pre-school Play Group follows term time and shares the day-care children's activities and routine. Holiday sessions may be requested, subject to availability. The two arrangements serve different needs: extended attendance across the year or playgroup attendance organised around school terms.

Getting There

The address is Edensor Road, Chiswick, London W4 2RG, behind Cavendish Primary School; the nursery gives W4 2RY as its sat-nav postcode. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by email.

Sharing the school grounds does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still need to follow the local authority admissions process, so nursery attendance and the school application should be treated as separate decisions.

Funding and Paid Extras

Riverside offers up to 15 funded educational hours weekly for eligible children and 30 hours for eligible working families, with funding delivered over 38 weeks. Eligibility conditions apply, and families using the working-family entitlement must supply an eligibility code and reconfirm their details every three months.

Hours beyond the funded entitlement attract additional fees. The food arrangements allow payment for nursery food or parent-supplied food subject to the nursery's food policy and a daily food charge; the terms also describe voluntary charges covering food, cooking activities, birthday cakes and trips. Families should obtain a current written quotation for their chosen attendance pattern, using the admissions and fees page for the charge structure.

A cook prepares meals in the nursery kitchen, with breakfast, snacks, a hot lunch and tea forming the day-care menu. Dietary requirements can be accommodated.

• The youngest children's transition. The baby and toddler area takes up to three children, with movement to the main room between 22 and 24 months. During a visit, discuss how that change is prepared for and how the child's key person supports it.
• Teaching interaction. The July 2022 priorities concerned thinking time after questions and clearer learning intentions. Ask for examples of how staff now adapt an activity to an individual child's next steps.
• Food and funded attendance. Food payments and parent-supplied alternatives sit alongside charges for additional hours. A written quotation should distinguish these choices for the attendance pattern you intend to use; families managing allergies should also confirm current food practice.
• Different closure calendars. Day care runs across 50 weeks, while playgroup follows term time. Match the calendar for the chosen provision to your work commitments, including Christmas, bank holidays and training closures.

Riverside suits families considering either full or part-time day care, flexible shorter bookings or a term-time playgroup. Its strongest practical attractions are the small stated cap for the youngest area, a separate space for sleep and quiet activities, and a garden children can use for growing, water play and movement.

The July 2022 Good judgement provides a useful quality reference, with specific teaching improvements to discuss. For parents who value everyday independence and regular access to their child's development record, the current routines and EYLog arrangements give the choice substance.