Queensberry Nursery

Museum outings, a Victorian building and a nursery day that includes music, movement and practical independence give Queensberry Nursery its South Kensington character. The address is 24 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2DR. It has capacity for 64 children, with an accepted age range of 7 to 60 months.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with children making good progress, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The detail matters: babies' home routines shaped their care, older children practised everyday tasks, and outings helped bring learning beyond the nursery.

There is a clear educational emphasis alongside care. Letter recognition, creative play and music feature in the Pre-Prep Department, while the youngest children have messy play and sensory experiences. Full-day and part-time booking patterns serve different family routines, although part-time arrangements need prior agreement.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room gives each baby an individual bed and soft toys, making personal rest arrangements a concrete part of the provision. Babies and toddlers also have equipment and toys for exploration, with messy and creative play extending to the youngest children.

From age 2, the Pre-Prep Department combines letters and numbers with painting, craft, play dough, songs and movement, alongside practical skills such as dressing and eating. This puts early learning beside tasks children can use immediately, rather than treating preparation for the next stage as reading and writing alone.

For children aged 4 to 5, the day includes small-group phonics and writing, child-initiated learning and outings in the morning, followed by role play, maths, art and music later on. Activities are paced to individual needs. The combination gives families a concrete picture of how more structured learning sits alongside play.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, the day brings together language, early maths, physical activity and learning through play. Songs, creative work and practical tasks sit beside the more structured activities for older children.

In January 2024, vocabulary games involved describing objects and learning unfamiliar words through pictures, while number songs and shape-matching supported early maths. Growing seeds introduced how living things develop. These were tangible ways of connecting words and ideas with something children could handle or observe.

There was also a useful independence thread in January 2024. Children cleared their lunch plates, helped put bedding away and practised managing shoes and coats. Taking turns in group games made social learning part of everyday activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

Stanhope Garden and the patio provide settings for movement activities, including running, hopping and jumping with coaches. The building also has a garden, giving outdoor life a place alongside the indoor programme.

In January 2024, children visited a local park daily for climbing, balancing and other movement, and made regular museum outings to explore subjects such as animals. A sports coach led organised ball games. These experiences added physical challenge and real-world examples to the nursery day; their frequency belongs to that inspection period.

Relationships and Communication

Individual routines receive attention from the start. Close contact with parents is part of the care arrangements, with home values and traditions considered when meeting children's needs. An individual bed in the Baby Room is a practical expression of that personal approach.

In January 2024, staff followed babies' routines from home to help them settle. Parents received updates through secure messages and everyday conversations, with written diaries for babies covering routines and development. Communication also supported shared work on potty training and behaviour, so it extended beyond an account of what a child had done that day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In January 2024, staff development included training about autism and children's behaviour, while individual meetings gave practitioners opportunities to discuss their work and support needs. These are concrete support mechanisms rather than a blanket promise about provision for every child.

The January 2024 improvement points concerned the pace of adult questioning and children's understanding of healthy eating. Staff sometimes moved on before children had enough thinking time, and a balanced menu had not been matched by sufficient teaching about why eating well matters. Both are useful distinctions: food provision and food education are separate parts of care.

The Autumn - Winter Menu spans four weeks and includes snacks, lunch and tea, with vegetarian alternatives such as tofu dishes and bean-based meals. In January 2024, a nursery chef prepared the food.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Full-day sessions use that same window, while the Pre-Prep Department also offers a half-day option; morning and afternoon part-time arrangements require the nursery's agreement, with afternoon agreement in writing.

Permanent bookings have no minimum session requirement. They do, however, carry substantial notice terms: changes require a complete quarter for children aged 7 to 30 months, or a complete term for those over 30 months, and depend on the nursery agreeing the change. Booked part-time sessions cannot simply be exchanged for another session during the same week.

The nursery opens for 49 weeks each year, closing over Christmas and on England's public bank holidays. It operates across the year rather than following school terms. Contact is by telephone or email.

Getting There

South Kensington and Gloucester Road Underground stations both serve the area on the Piccadilly, District and Circle lines. The Science Museum and Natural History Museum are nearby, connecting the location with the museum outings that feature in nursery life.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered alongside privately paid care. Funded bookings must be reconfirmed with the manager each term, and parents are responsible for the required eligibility paperwork and government reconfirmation.

A non-refundable registration charge accompanies the application, and a deposit follows acceptance of an offer. Its return depends on the contract's conditions, including correct notice and the required attendance period; it is lost if the child does not take up the offered place. Fees are paid ahead of attendance, quarterly or termly according to the booking, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Ending the agreement requires written notice: at least three complete calendar months for children aged 12 to 30 months, or a complete term for those over 30 months. Families should weigh that commitment alongside their expected attendance pattern.

• Part-time finishing times. Morning terms give an 8am start but use the ambiguous finish wording 1pm-3.30pm, and both morning and afternoon arrangements require prior agreement. Which exact hours would your proposed booking cover?
• Thinking time and food education. In January 2024, adult questioning sometimes moved too quickly, and children needed more help understanding healthy eating. On a visit, ask how practitioners now allow time for answers and connect meals with learning.
• The complete funded-care quotation. Funded sessions need termly reconfirmation. Ask which entitlement and attendance pattern would apply, and how meals and non-food consumables would be treated in your written quotation.
• A lasting booking commitment. Permanent hours require a quarter's or term's notice to change, depending on age, and deposit refunds have conditions. Consider how those terms fit foreseeable changes to work or family routines before accepting an offer.

Queensberry suits families seeking either an 8am-to-6pm full day or an agreed half-day or part-time pattern, with a nursery experience that combines creative activity, practical independence and learning beyond the building. Its strongest character comes from the museum connection, the outdoor movement programme and the progression from babies' personal routines to older children's structured learning.

The January 2024 Good judgement provides a dated quality benchmark, rather than a claim about every aspect of today's practice. The main decision is how well the educational day and agreed session pattern fit your child, alongside a contract that asks families to plan changes well ahead.