Partou Lancaster Avenue Day Nursery & Pre-School

A garden with mud kitchens, vegetable patches and sandpits gives Lancaster Avenue a clear outdoor identity. Inside, spacious playrooms receive plenty of daylight. These are useful ingredients for children who like to move between making, exploring and quieter play, rather than spending their day with one kind of activity.

At its December 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Partou Lancaster Avenue Day Nursery & Pre-School Good and judged safeguarding effective. The strongest practical impression is of learning woven into ordinary experiences: handling tools, talking about ingredients, managing clothing and experimenting with movement.

At 43 Lancaster Avenue in London, SE27 9EL, the nursery has 55 places in total and accepts children aged 3 to 60 months. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings give families several attendance patterns, alongside a school day session for children aged three and over.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: here, the day includes play, conversation and practical tasks through which children develop their skills. Activities are tailored to children's interests and needs. The important distinction for parents is between having activities ready and helping an individual child take something useful from them.

In December 2024, children worked with small pins and wooden animal shapes on cork boards, while others cut magazine pictures with scissors. These tasks gave them practice controlling tools and coordinating their hands and eyes. Babies heard books read aloud, with adults adding detail to the words they used; older children named ingredients gathered outdoors for pretend soup. Conversation accompanied the activity rather than being confined to a separate language lesson.

The December 2024 inspection identified two improvements: extending children's language more consistently and allowing their chosen play to continue rather than interrupting it for routines or adult-selected activities. These points matter together. Good interaction adds something to a child's play, but timing determines whether that contribution helps or breaks concentration.

Outdoor and Community Life

Mud kitchens, sandpits and vegetable patches provide different materials and purposes within the large garden. Children can explore through handling and making, with outdoor space offering more than an opportunity to run around. The spacious indoor rooms provide another setting for activities shaped around individual interests.

In December 2024, the garden's hill was used for rolling hoops and riding bicycles. Children chased hoops uphill, while younger children practised kicking and throwing balls. Adults helped bicycle riders learn to control their speed and stop safely. The physical detail matters: the slope added challenge, and learning to manage it was part of the experience.

Relationships and everyday independence are closely connected in the December 2024 account. Adults knew children individually, and family photographs helped personalise the rooms. Children's artwork was displayed low enough for them to see it. These details gave children a visible place in their surroundings, alongside familiar adults who understood them.

In December 2024, staff helped children work through disagreements by offering ways to resolve them, then recognising successful attempts. Care also included opportunities to do things independently: babies tried feeding themselves, children served food and cleared their plates, and outdoor preparation involved managing coats, gloves and hats. Small tasks became opportunities to practise doing more for themselves.

Communication with home has a practical purpose. Families receive regular progress updates, and in December 2024 parents' knowledge of their children's interests informed subsequent learning and goals for home. That connection lets parents contribute information that staff can use, rather than receiving a one-way account of the nursery day.

Seasonal meals are cooked on the premises. Food and drinks sit within a separate meals and snacks charge, so families should distinguish the food provision from the care element of their bill.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. The full-day session runs from 8am to 6pm; mornings run from 8am to 1pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. Those shorter patterns matter for families arranging care around part-time work or other regular commitments.

An early start session covers 7.30am to 8am, and a late finish session covers 6pm to 6.30pm. For children aged three and over, the school day session runs from 8.30am to 3.30pm. Its shorter finish creates a different practical choice from the full day, rather than simply another name for it.

Bank holidays are closure days. There are also three annual inset closures: the Thursday before Good Friday, the Tuesday following Easter Monday and a December day. Billing extends across 52 weeks, including bank holidays, which matters when comparing a weekly attendance pattern with its total cost.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through Lambeth Local Authority. For eligible families, term-time places use 15 or 30 funded hours each week across 38 weeks; for year-round attendance, funding is spread over 51 weeks, giving 11.17 or 22.35 funded hours weekly. The choice changes how funding aligns with attendance throughout the year.

Funding pays towards care. Meals and snacks are charged separately, as are consumables, including nappies, wet wipes and sun cream; those charges also apply during funded sessions. Private care is charged separately from these categories, allowing families to distinguish additional childcare hours from food and daily care items.

A non-refundable registration fee or a registration deposit is payable, with eligibility for the alternative governed by the terms and conditions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Enquiries can be made directly to the nursery.

• Uninterrupted play. In December 2024, routines and adult-directed choices sometimes interrupted children's concentration. During a visit, ask how the baby room now balances care routines with sustained play and how adults extend language during activities.
• Funding and extras. Food and consumables charges apply to funded sessions as well as private care. Assess the written quotation against your intended morning, afternoon, school day or full-day pattern, including any early or late extension.
• Care across the calendar. Bank holidays and three inset days bring closures, while charges extend across 52 weeks. Include those dates and billing terms in your family's childcare planning.

Lancaster Avenue suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day care, with a further school day option for children aged three and over. Its garden and daylight-filled playrooms give children different settings for practical exploration. The December 2024 judgement provides a positive quality assessment, tempered by specific improvements around language and uninterrupted play. Those are useful priorities to bring into a visit, especially for a baby whose routines and emerging interests need careful balancing.