Kido Clerkenwell

A converted church hall, tall windows and a garden with raised beds give Kido Clerkenwell a clear physical character. Herbs and vegetables make the outdoor space useful for more than running about: children can explore how plants grow alongside their imaginative play. This is a nursery with room for both indoor discovery and outdoor activity.

Based at St Clements Hall on Central Street, it accepts children from 3 months to 5 years. At its 17 August 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children, including those with SEND and those learning English as an additional language, made good progress. That judgement belongs to that date.

Full days and morning or afternoon sessions support different family routines. French and Spanish activities, project work and communication through the Kido app add practical reasons to consider the nursery beyond its setting.

Rooms and Ages

The baby, toddler and preschool rooms occupy the converted hall, where skylights and tall windows bring in daylight. These separate spaces give families a clear outline of how the nursery accommodates different stages, from early infancy through to the years before school.

Outside, raised beds contain vegetables and herbs, while an outdoor role play area provides space for pretend games. Gardening and imaginative play give children different reasons to use the garden, rather than making outdoor time solely about physical exercise.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS framework sets the foundation for learning and care: children develop through play, conversation, movement and activities matched to their stage. Kido's curriculum sits alongside that framework, with Development Matters used to guide assessment. Project-based learning invites children to explore topics through practical activity, while French and Spanish sessions take place during the week.

STEM projects introduce scientific and engineering exploration through play. The group-wide Explorer Day programme adds activities that encourage investigation and discovery through play. These additions make the learning offer more specific than a general promise of preparation for school, although they should not be read as guarantees of later attainment.

In August 2023, children experimented with dough, constructed with blocks and played with toy cars. Stories and songs sat alongside activities involving colour, shape and size. Staff used observations of children's interests and existing knowledge to plan what came next, connecting adult planning with the things children wanted to explore.

Questioning needed more care. In August 2023, staff sometimes moved on before children had enough thinking time to answer. For parents, the important distinction is between an adult asking questions and a child having the space to develop an answer.

Outdoor and Community Life

In August 2023, garden activity included digging and tending vegetables and herbs; children also practised jumping, running and balancing. Growing produce and later eating it connected outdoor experiences with everyday meals. That is a concrete example of learning crossing from one part of the day to another.

The current curriculum includes exploring the local community, with parks, libraries and cultural places forming possible destinations. These outings extend learning beyond the nursery, while the garden provides an outdoor setting within the nursery itself.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is planned around the individual child. Parents share information about their child's needs and routines, then work with the key person and management on an appropriate plan. This gives the family a role in shaping the transition rather than fitting every child into the same settling timetable.

The Kido app carries updates about toileting, sleep and meals, and parents can send secure messages to the team. Conversations at collection and drop-off provide another channel. The two serve different purposes: routine updates keep parents connected to the day, while direct discussion allows them to raise something that needs attention.

In August 2023, families received daily feedback and developmental updates through an app, but some did not understand their child's next learning goals. The improvement required was specific: parents needed clearer information about what to practise at home. Frequent communication alone did not settle that question.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In August 2023, staff worked with parents when concerns arose about development or learning. Care routines also included warm interaction during nappy changes and rest periods, while children practised independence by serving food and water at lunch. These examples show how everyday care and opportunities to do things independently sat together at that time.

Nursery Kitchen prepares the food, with breakfast, lunch, snacks and afternoon tea offered; the nursery provides nut-free meals and adaptations for dietary requirements. Vegetarian, pescatarian and vegan choices are offered, while Halal and Kosher meals are excluded.

Kido Club is a group-wide online resource offering activities tailored to children's learning goals. It gives families another way to connect learning at home with nursery activity, alongside communication with their child's practitioners.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is St Clements Hall, 141 Central Street, London, EC1V 8AP. Core opening hours run from 8am until 6pm on weekdays, with charged extensions allowing attendance from 7.30am until 6.30pm. Extended hours require advance booking and agreement.

Full-day sessions run from 8am to 6pm. Morning sessions cover 8am to 1pm, and afternoons run from 1pm to 6pm; half-day bookings and ad hoc sessions are also offered. Ad hoc sessions and extended hours are subject to availability and must be booked ahead; written cancellation notice of 24 hours is required.

Opening spans 51 weeks, with a Christmas closure, public bank holidays and two training inset days. Fees are averaged into monthly payments, and bank holidays, inset days and closures remain payable. This matters when comparing the annual childcare commitment with the days a child actually attends.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery accepts 15 and 30 funded hours and stretches the entitlement across the year. Additional private hours are charged separately. Meals, snacks and milk are included in fees, as are nappies and wipes; the funded attendance arrangements also include food and hygiene essentials without an additional charge for those items.

Optional incidental charges apply to curriculum enhancements for children over three, and families may opt out through the manager. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The useful comparison is the whole booking pattern, including private hours, any extensions and the chosen enhancements.

A deposit is credited towards the final invoice subject to the leaving-notice terms; fully funded places require no deposit. Leaving or changing the booking pattern requires two months' notice. These terms make future changes to attendance a planning decision rather than an immediate adjustment.

• Learning conversations. In August 2023, children sometimes needed more time to answer questions. During a visit, ask how practitioners now allow children to think before responding.
• Home learning. Some parents lacked clear next-step information in August 2023. Ask to see how an individual learning goal is explained alongside the Kido app's routine updates.
• Food and allergies. Meals are included and food from home is prohibited under the nursery's allergy and handling policy. Families managing allergies should confirm current meal adaptations and daily procedures before joining.
• The annual commitment. Stretched funding, payable closures and two months' notice affect the booking as a whole. Review these together with the proposed full-day or half-day pattern.

Kido Clerkenwell suits families seeking either full-day attendance or morning and afternoon sessions, with year-round opening and separately charged extensions. Its converted hall, garden planting and language activities give it a recognisable character, while individual settling plans and app communication offer useful continuity between home and nursery.

The August 2023 Good judgement provides a dated assessment of quality. The reservations are equally specific: children's thinking time and parents' understanding of learning goals deserved improvement. Those are useful points on which to assess the nursery's current practice.