Miss Daisy's Nursery School, Knightsbridge

Storytelling, cooking and physical play give Miss Daisy's Nursery School, Knightsbridge its character. In November 2024, children acted out stories, made blini and practised balance in an indoor soft-play area. These are useful glimpses of a day that brings language, practical skills and movement together.

At its November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children made good progress, while asking staff to match learning activities more closely to individual needs. That last point matters. An appealing activity needs to help each child practise the skill they are ready to develop.

Based at St Simons Church on Milner Street, London SW3 2QF, the nursery has capacity for 65 children aged two to five. Its attendance options include mornings, afternoons and full days during term time. Capacity describes the whole setting, rather than the number of children sharing an activity or room.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning and care: play and everyday activities develop communication, physical skills and growing independence alongside early educational skills. It is the foundation of the nursery day, rather than an extra programme families buy.

In November 2024, shared stories became starting points for conversation and imaginative play. Children discussed characters, retold plots and then acted them out; building houses and bridges in the garden extended that storytelling into construction. Books were used actively, with opportunities to speak and make things rather than simply listen.

Practical tasks also gave children something purposeful to do with their hands. During the same month, children prepared fruit for snacks, while dough and sand activities exercised their fingers. A road drawn on a wall became a surface for moving toy cars, linking a familiar interest with coordination practice. These examples show how ordinary materials can serve different areas of learning.

Cultural experiences had concrete form. In November 2024, pretend Thanksgiving dinner featured in role play, and children cooked blini, Russian pancakes. Food became a way to explore family traditions as well as a practical activity. The examples are more informative than a broad promise of cultural awareness.

Outdoor and Community Life

In November 2024, regular forest-school sessions gave children opportunities to explore, play and try manageable risks outdoors. Indoors, the soft-play area offered another setting for balancing and coordinating movement. Football warm-ups involved moving their bodies in different ways, adding organised movement to the physical experiences observed that month.

The important educational caveat sits alongside these appealing examples. In November 2024, activities sometimes pursued several learning aims at once, so some children moved on before earlier skills were secure. For parents, the useful distinction is between a busy timetable and a sequence of experiences suited to their own child's next step.

Relationships and Communication

In November 2024, staff helped children deal with feelings and disagreements through explanation and encouragement. Children were reminded to request a turn instead of taking another child's toy. This made expectations understandable in the moment, giving children words and actions to use during everyday play.

Communication with families had several routes in November 2024: daily updates, parents' evenings and open days supported an exchange about children's development. That combination gives parents opportunities both for brief everyday information and for a longer conversation. It also makes home knowledge relevant to what happens at nursery.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SEND policy applying to Knightsbridge provides for a SENDCo in each nursery and a key person who reviews a child's development. Where additional support is needed, the key person, SENDCo and parents agree outcomes and a plan, then consider its effect together. Support is organised through an assess, plan, do and review cycle, rather than a general promise that every need will be met.

Plans are reviewed after six to eight weeks of provision. Parents receive the plans so that suitable strategies can also be tried at home. When a child moves to another setting, the policy provides for communication with that setting and sharing information, including one-page profiles. This is continuity of support, with the child's needs carried into the next stage.

Sessions and Attendance

Knightsbridge's morning session runs from 8.30am to noon, the afternoon from noon to 3.30pm, and the full day from 8.30am to 3.30pm. The branch fee schedule states a Friday closing time of 12.30pm. Families therefore need a different Friday afternoon arrangement from the rest of the week.

Booking combinations start with five mornings and include patterns adding afternoons. This serves families choosing a morning routine as well as those adding longer days. The nursery operates during term time and closes for school holidays, which makes holiday care a separate planning task.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with 15 Hours Funded and 30 Hours Funded options in the Knightsbridge fee schedule, subject to eligibility. Private hours beyond the funded entitlement are charged separately. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

During funded hours, meals and snacks carry a separate voluntary charge; nursery supplies, including crafting and educational materials, also carry voluntary charges. Parents can decline any or all of those extras. Enrichment participation is optional, and children who do not participate continue with EYFS activities.

A non-refundable registration charge and a deposit apply outside funded-entitlement-only arrangements; neither is required for children taking only their funded entitlement. Deposit repayment requires the appropriate leaving notice and return of the Deposit Return Form within two years of the child's final day, and remains subject to the contract's retention or deduction conditions for unpaid invoices, fees in lieu of notice and specified contract termination circumstances. These distinctions matter when comparing a funded-only arrangement with a booking that adds private hours and extras.

• Individual learning steps. The November 2024 improvement point concerned activities being insufficiently precise for each child's next learning need. During a visit, ask for an example showing how an observation becomes a specific activity and how staff establish that a skill is secure.
• Friday and holiday cover. The Knightsbridge schedule closes Friday attendance at 12.30pm, and the nursery operates during term time. A morning booking and a booking with added afternoons both need to fit around those breaks in coverage.
• Funded extras. Food, supplies and enrichment have voluntary charges during funded hours. Ask for a written quotation distinguishing the funded booking from private hours and the extras you choose.

The nursery suits families seeking term-time mornings or five mornings combined with additional afternoons. Its November 2024 picture of story-led play, practical food preparation and physical activity gives parents concrete reasons to consider it.

The balance is clear: appealing experiences sit alongside a specific need for more precise individual planning. Families should weigh that educational question together with the early Friday finish and the distinction between funded childcare and chosen extras.