Chelsea Pre-Prep School & Nursery

Six classrooms, a performance stage and a private garden give Chelsea Pre-Prep School & Nursery room to make imaginative play a substantial part of the day. The large hall changes its use through the year, while the garden has space for sport and outdoor learning. This is a nursery with an emphasis on making, exploring and performing, rather than simply moving children between table activities.

At its December 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding overall and across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. That judgement belongs to that visit. The current setting has capacity for 60 children aged two to five, at St. Andrews Parish Church on Park Walk in Chelsea.

Attendance is term-time, with morning, afternoon and full-day sessions, and a September intake. The combination of shorter sessions and days extending into the afternoon gives families several ways to arrange attendance, subject to minimum patterns.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the foundation for learning and care: children develop language, physical skills, relationships and independence through play and everyday experiences. Alongside it sits the group-wide Rocket Approach, which combines practical enquiry with projects that adults and children explore together. Its emphasis is on children asking questions, trying ideas and revising what they make. The changing hall and outdoor spaces give that approach somewhere concrete to happen.

Chelsea also uses practical everyday tasks as learning opportunities. For older children, the group-wide Rocket camp adds environmental citizenship, rewilding and connections with nature. These are additions to the EYFS, rather than a replacement for it. Families drawn to practical learning have more to weigh here than a curriculum name alone: the approach is tied to making choices, investigating questions and working with others.

In December 2021, stories became starting points for imaginative play, with children acting out narratives and joining in songs and rhymes. Younger children's speech was supported by adults repeating their words and using Makaton signs alongside them. In the mud kitchen, recipe cards prompted conversations about ingredients. These examples show how books, language and outdoor play were connected during that inspection period.

The Rocket Programme gives afternoons a more explicit subject pattern. Monday's Writer’s Corner develops early writing and mark making through children's own stories; Tuesday's Maths Mastery explores number, patterns and problem solving, including financial ideas through sustainability. Wednesday's Sustainable STEAM uses practical projects to test and improve ideas across creative and technical disciplines. Thursday's Early Reasoning Skills brings verbal and non-verbal challenges into playful activities. The sequence gives parents a concrete picture of what extending a morning can add.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden is used for outdoor learning as well as sport. In December 2021, children practised balance using bridges and stepping stones, and explored changes in reflections through baubles suspended from trees. Recycling bins and efforts to reduce plastic in lunch packaging also brought sustainability into familiar routines. Environmental learning was attached to objects children could handle and decisions they could understand.

Chelsea has collaborated with Little Village and Felix project. Those connections sit alongside its environmental work, giving community involvement a place in the account of children's learning. They should be understood as collaborations, rather than a promise of a particular activity every term.

Clubs extend the choices for children who already attend a full day. Mindfulness club uses yoga and reflection; Lego club brings construction into engineering, architecture, robotics and animation. Outdoor club combines active games, nature crafts and teamwork, while Games Club uses puzzles, board games and treasure hunts. Club groups are limited to eight to ten children. That is a club limit, separate from the nursery's overall capacity.

Relationships and Communication

In December 2021, adults knew children's interests and next learning steps in detail, and children sought comfort from familiar staff when they needed it. Parents received progress updates and weekly activities to continue learning at home. The useful point is the connection between nursery experiences and home life: parents were given something practical to do, rather than only a general account of the day.

Parent meetings also have a place in Chelsea's calendar. Autumn Term Parent/Teacher Meetings were scheduled in November 2025, followed by Spring Term Parent/Teacher Meetings in March 2026. These were past opportunities for discussion, rather than upcoming appointments. Alongside the earlier inspection examples, they show a pattern of making time for conversations about children.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2021 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified exceptional progress from children's starting points, including for children with SEND and those learning English as an additional language, with assessment leading to extra support where needed. This is a dated judgement about practice, rather than a present-day guarantee for an individual child.

Lunch is part of the afternoon routine, with children practising independence and eating together. Parents are asked to supply a healthy packed lunch, following the nursery's nut-free and sesame-free requirements; V&ME lunch services are another route mentioned for families. Shared meals therefore have a social purpose as well as a practical one.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is St. Andrews Parish Church, 43 Park Walk, London SW10 0AU. Opening hours are 8.30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. The current session pattern is more specific than that opening window: mornings run from 8.30am to noon, afternoons from 12.30pm to 4pm, and full days from 8.30am to 3.15pm.

An annual September intake sits within attendance across autumn, spring and summer terms. Minimum attendance patterns apply. Morning extensions with lunch and half-term holiday clubs are also part of the offer, so a family's regular term-time pattern and holiday arrangements deserve separate attention.

The 2025–2026 attendance schedule illustrates how age and funding status affected the minimum commitment. For first-year children aged two to three, the afternoon-only minimum was three afternoons; for first-year children aged three or over receiving MFE, it was four afternoons. Funded first-year morning-based attendance required one full day alongside four mornings, while funded second-year attendance required two full days alongside three mornings. These are dated arrangements, useful for understanding the booking structure rather than assuming the same minimum applies to a new intake.

Sibling families receive priority, followed by families who register earlier. Registering interest does not guarantee an offer. General enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 0207 352 4856 or by email at office@chelseapp.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

For 2025–2026, MFE was applied to the relevant attendance packages for children aged three and over, with the remaining hours charged privately. The distinction matters: funded entitlement and a family's complete attendance package were separate parts of the arrangement. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Parents provide packed lunches. Clubs are separately charged and are restricted to children already staying for a full day; they are an addition to attendance rather than a substitute for it. The term dates and fees page sets out the attendance packages and club charging structure.

• Attendance commitment. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions sit within a term-time model with minimum patterns and a September intake. At a visit, establish which combination and minimum applies to your child's age and funding position for the intended start year.
• Club collection times. The club descriptions finish at 4pm, while the 2025–2026 fee schedule gives a 4.05pm finish. Resolve the collection time before adding clubs to a full-day booking.
• Individual care and the complete package. Lunches come from home and additional hours and clubs can carry charges. How would settling, a key person, any allergy or SEND support, and non-food consumables be arranged for your child?
• Registration priority. Siblings come first, followed by earlier registrations, and registering interest does not guarantee an offer. Use the tour to judge the setting before making that commitment.

Chelsea Pre-Prep suits families seeking term-time mornings, afternoon-only attendance or a mixture of mornings and full days, with practical projects and imaginative play carrying much of the learning. The garden, performance space and explained afternoon programmes give the educational offer substance. Its December 2021 Outstanding judgement is a strong historical reference point.

The decision turns on fit: whether the attendance commitment works for the family and whether enquiry, creative work and environmental projects suit the child. For parents who value those experiences, Chelsea offers a clear educational character and several genuinely different session patterns.