Oranges & Lemons Nursery School

A secret nature garden, mud kitchens and weekly woodland learning give Oranges & Lemons Nursery School a clear outdoor character. Based at Forward House on Park Road in Kingston upon Thames, it combines a substantial garden with sessions in Ham Wood. Children can grow food, observe seasonal changes and help develop a bug hotel: outdoor time has things to investigate as well as space to play.

Ofsted's report card for the inspection beginning on 28 November 2025, with additional evidence gathered on 2 March 2026, carries no overall grade. Achievement, behaviour and routines, welfare, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance each received the area judgement Strong standard. Safeguarding standards were met.

The nursery welcomes children aged 2 to 5 and has 30 places in total. Its term-time attendance options include morning, afternoon and full-day sessions, with an Early Bird option and Lunch Club alongside them. This is a setting for families seeking preschool learning with substantial outdoor activity and a choice of attendance patterns.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation stage provides the framework for learning indoors and outside, covering seven areas including communication, physical development, mathematics and creative expression. In everyday terms, children learn through play as well as activities guided by adults. This is the foundation of the nursery day; the woodland sessions, specialist teaching and other activities build on it.

Children have opportunities to work individually, in small groups and in larger groups. That gives the day different scales: some experiences involve sharing ideas with several children, while others allow an adult to concentrate on one child's interests. Planning takes account of differing needs and rates of development rather than expecting everyone to follow an identical path.

Weekly visiting specialists teach yoga and sport. Cooking, gardening, drama, dance and music also form part of the curriculum, giving children practical, physical and expressive ways to take part. These additions matter because preschool learning need not depend solely on sitting, listening or answering questions.

In November 2025, staff used questions and repeated key ideas to extend learning. One example involved children exploring pomegranates through smell, taste and observation, with adults introducing vocabulary. Stories also provided opportunities to connect language with mathematical ideas. These are useful examples of how ordinary experiences can become conversations, rather than separate subject lessons.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School, here delivered through weekly outdoor learning activities, takes place in the nursery's grounds and Ham Woods. The outside-learning programme also includes weekly Forest School activities in Ham Wood. The practical attraction is the combination of a familiar garden and woodland experiences beyond it, rather than relying on occasional outings alone.

The garden is used daily and contains play apparatus. Its secret nature garden brings another kind of activity: growing fruit and vegetables, observing nature and caring for the environment. Mud kitchens and the bug hotel give children things to handle, change and return to over time. The outdoor space also carries learning from inside, so garden time is part of the curriculum rather than a break from it.

Sports Day is an end-of-year event held in the outdoor area, which also hosts sports sessions during the year. Visitors include the Police, Fire Brigade, Doctors and Dentists, alongside parents sharing hobbies or skills. These encounters introduce people and interests beyond the nursery's usual staff and activities; the visits do not all carry a fixed frequency.

At the November 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that key-person relationships supported children's security, children including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities made strong progress, and staff worked closely with parents and health professionals to arrange individual support. For families considering additional needs, the important detail is the combination of everyday relationships and access to specialist advice.

In November 2025, communication support included signing and visual prompts alongside speech. Staff adapted teaching and reviewed children's development together, while targeted training helped them respond to individual needs. This gives a concrete picture of support: changing how an activity is communicated, rather than expecting a child to manage the same presentation as everyone else.

Parents were involved in discussions about learning and received information about their child's progress. Staff also worked with external partners when families needed help establishing routines at home. The connection between home and nursery therefore extended beyond updates about activities to practical support with daily life.

Health was part of learning too. In November 2025, children practised managing personal needs, using equipment safely and developing healthy habits such as toothbrushing. Adults planned physical activities around gaps in children's development. These examples show the kinds of independence being worked on alongside language and early learning.

All staff have enhanced DBS checks and paediatric first-aid training, and attend continuing professional development. These are arrangements for staff preparation and care; the dated safeguarding judgement remains the basis for assessing safeguarding effectiveness.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8.40am to noon, afternoon sessions from 12.15pm to 4pm, and full-day sessions from 8.40am to 4pm. Early Bird runs from 8am to 8.40am, while Lunch Club runs from noon to 12.45pm. The options allow families to choose between a shorter session and a day spanning both morning and afternoon.

Attendance is term-time. Families can combine different sessions and add sessions on an ad hoc basis. That flexibility is useful where a child's usual pattern needs an occasional addition, although it should not be read as a promise of a place on any particular day.

Getting There

The address is Forward House, Park Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT2 5LY. Enquiries can be made through the contact form.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery offers the funding described as 2 year/3 year and 30 hours Funding. Its attendance model is term-time, so families considering funded childcare should weigh that pattern alongside their need for care during school holidays.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The sessions and fees page sets out the attendance options and withdrawal terms: leaving requires a term's notice, or payment of a term's fees instead. That is a substantial planning consideration if work arrangements or the child's childcare pattern may change.

• Term-time fit. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions offer different lengths of day, but all sit within a term-time model. Families needing care during holidays should factor that into their decision.
• Withdrawal commitment. A term's notice, or a term's fees in its place, applies when withdrawing a child. Consider that commitment before choosing a regular pattern.
• Settling and daily essentials. For a child joining this outdoor-led setting, ask how settling is organised and how meals and non-food consumables are handled within the chosen session and funding arrangement.
• The next step for inclusion. The November 2025 next steps called for leaders to pursue a greater impact for disadvantaged children, children with additional needs, those connected with children's social care and others facing barriers. Families for whom this matters should discuss how support will be planned around their child.

Oranges & Lemons suits families seeking either morning or afternoon preschool sessions, as well as those wanting a full day during term time. The garden and weekly woodland learning are the strongest reasons to look closely: growing food, mud kitchens and the bug hotel give outdoor activity a practical purpose.

Weekly specialist yoga and sport give children further opportunities for physical activity. The decision is chiefly about fit: the child's needs, the term-time pattern and the withdrawal commitment. For families whose arrangements match those terms, the combination of outdoor learning and varied attendance options makes a persuasive proposition.