King Square Community Nursery at Rahere House

Weekly Forest School sessions, a community management committee and direct access from adjoining rooms to outdoor play give King Square Community Nursery at Rahere House a clear identity. This is childcare with a substantial family participation requirement. Parents help shape how it runs, and that involvement forms part of their agreement with the nursery.

At its October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found safeguarding effective, with strong support for children’s emotional development and learning. That judgement needs to be read alongside a later finding: following a regulatory telephone call on 19 March 2026, Ofsted recorded a failure to notify it of a significant event, in an outcome dated 2 April 2026 which confirmed that the provider remained registered.

At Rahere House on Central Street in Islington, the nursery has 40 places in total and accepts children aged 3 months to 60 months. Both attendance across the year and term-time placements are offered, with shorter funded sessions as well as longer days.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care: play, conversation and practical experiences help children develop across its areas of learning. King Square adds a recognisable weekly programme. Mini Football introduces coaching for young children, while drama sessions use role play linked to learning activities. Those additions give movement and imaginative play their own regular place in the week.

Weekly Forest School sessions bring learning into natural spaces, with regular outings to woodland and other green areas. This matters for a nursery beneath a high-rise block, where access to nature extends beyond the immediate play space. The programme gives children opportunities to be physically active in a different environment. The learning and activities page explains these additions alongside the nursery’s other recurring activities.

Stories have a similarly concrete rhythm. Library staff bring story time into the nursery on alternate Wednesdays, and children go to the library on Fridays. Hearing stories from visiting adults and taking part in library outings make books part of both nursery life and the wider community.

In October 2022, babies explored yoghurt and uncooked vegetables through sensory play, noticing how their actions could leave marks. Other children worked on making houses to protect themselves from wind, choosing materials, joining pieces and adding decoration. These examples show the practical character of learning at that time: children could experiment with an idea and work through the steps needed to realise it.

Outdoor and Community Life

The building sits on one level, with its rooms on the ground floor. Two adjoining day-care rooms each connect directly to the outdoor play area. That layout gives outdoor activity a physical connection to the indoor day, rather than treating it solely as an outing elsewhere.

Garden and park activity continues in colder weather for shorter periods, so families supply suitable outdoor clothing. Spare clothes, waterproof layers and a sun hat are part of the practical preparation. Children have a navy and pale-blue clothing colour code, with footwear chosen to allow running and climbing.

In October 2022, community outings included parks, shops, restaurants and the library; journeys further afield included classical concerts and woodland activities. These were experiences beyond the nursery’s rooms, introducing children to places and activities they might return to with their families. The current weekly library and Forest School arrangements give that outward-looking character a continuing, specific form.

Relationships and Communication

A key person provides a point of continuity for children and families. Each child has an online journal containing the key person’s observations, sharing experiences and development with parents. For families, this creates a way to follow the child’s day beyond a brief conversation at the end of a session.

The staff team includes a teacher, nursery education workers and support workers. Parents have a separate role in governance: once their child has a place, they can vote for management committee members or stand for election themselves. The committee makes decisions about finances, policies, recruitment and fundraising. Participation therefore reaches beyond helping at an occasional event.

In October 2022, children helped prepare tables for lunch and followed established rest routines, including lowering their voices around sleeping friends. These everyday tasks gave children opportunities to practise independence and consideration. They are useful examples of the nursery day at the time of that visit, rather than a promise about every child’s routine today.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND support has a defined structure. The SENCO coordinates provision and works with families, practitioners and outside professionals through a cycle of assessment, planning, action and review. Short-Term Plans set individual goals and the strategies for reaching them, with an agreed review arrangement. This gives families a concrete process for discussing a concern and following what happens next.

With parental permission, referrals can involve speech and language services, occupational therapy, child psychology or family support. Children with a diagnosed special educational need receive daily time with the SENCO to work on targets and therapists’ recommendations, alongside a keyworker overseeing their wellbeing during the session. The nursery can also direct families towards Little Leaps and Chatterpillars, local speech and language groups.

Priority Early Learning SEND (PELSEND) funding supports children with complex needs through places allocated by a professional panel. The funding pays for an additional staff member who works with key persons on children’s individual targets. Other funding bids can support individual work or specialist small groups. These are mechanisms for planning support, rather than a general assurance that every need will be met in the same way.

Preparation before a child with complex SEND starts may include training, a risk assessment, adaptations or a health care plan. Families and relevant agencies receive updates while this work takes place. When moving to another setting, support can include a visit with a parent and key person, photographs to introduce the new surroundings, and a meeting with receiving staff and other professionals. Transition is treated as a planned handover.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Rahere House, Central Street, London EC1V 8DE. Opening hours run from 8am until 6pm, Monday to Friday. Across-year placements cover 49 weeks, with closure for two weeks towards the end of August and one week around Christmas; bank holidays and five annual INSET days are additional closures. Term-time children do not attend during school holidays.

Eligible two-year-olds can take their 15 funded weekly hours as five morning sessions from 9am to noon, or five afternoon sessions from 1pm to 4pm. Another pattern combines two days from 9am to 3pm with one morning or afternoon half-day. These are specific weekly arrangements, rather than an unrestricted choice of short sessions.

The working-parent entitlement is delivered as three days from 8am to 6pm, or five days from 9am to 3pm. Additional paid hours can extend childcare around funded attendance. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 020 8187 0345.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes early learning for eligible two-year-olds and the 30-hour working-parent entitlement, with both delivered over 38 term-time weeks. Working-parent funding covers eligible children aged 9 months to 4 years. Eligibility and the nursery’s attendance arrangements are separate matters: the funding does not turn an across-year placement into year-round free childcare.

Chargeable hours use bands linked to family gross income and whether a child is before or after the term following their second birthday; a separate out-of-borough rate also applies. Fees include a small donation towards additional curriculum activities. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Parents supply packed lunches; extended-day children also receive breakfast, snacks and tea, while part-time children receive a snack. Families provide sun block, and the dietary policy requires written details of permitted and excluded foods when a child starts.

For Reception applications, families use their home local authority’s application process. The nursery’s SEND transition work supports preparation and information sharing; families still make the school application separately.

• Parent participation is an obligation. Families must attend at least three management committee meetings each year, and attendance or participation can affect their child’s place. Discuss how this requirement fits work and caring responsibilities during a visit.
• The April 2026 notification finding matters. The 2 April 2026 outcome recorded a failure to notify a significant event. Ask how notification responsibilities are now allocated and monitored.
• Funded patterns and holiday cover differ. The funded offer runs for 38 term-time weeks, while across-year placements have their own closure periods. Match the morning, afternoon or longer-day pattern to the childcare you need across school holidays.
• Support and dietary planning need individual discussion. Children with complex SEND may require preparations before their start date, and families supply lunches and written dietary information. At a visit, discuss your child’s support plan and confirm current allergy practice.

King Square suits families who want regular woodland learning and library activity, with a practical SEND planning process and a direct role in nursery governance. It serves parents seeking morning or afternoon funded sessions as well as those using longer days or term-time core-day patterns. That flexibility is meaningful, but it operates through defined weekly arrangements.

The adjoining rooms and their outdoor access give the setting a clear physical character. The failure to notify a significant event, recorded in the 2 April 2026 outcome, also matters to the decision. For a family comfortable with committee participation and able to plan around the closures, this is a community nursery with concrete expectations on both sides.