Partou Turney Road Day Nursery Pre-School

A water pump, a large sandpit and a climbing area give Turney Road’s outdoor space plenty of purpose. Inside, learning follows children’s interests rather than treating everyone’s next step as identical. This Dulwich nursery combines practical exploration with close attention to the individual child.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 23 July 2025 and judged its safeguarding arrangements effective. The strongest examples concerned everyday relationships: adults knew children well, responded patiently and helped them express their preferences. There was also a clear improvement point about making group activities better suited to different stages of development.

Partou Turney Road Day Nursery Pre-School accepts children aged 3 to 60 months at 27 Turney Road, London SE21 8LX. Attendance choices include morning, afternoon and full-day sessions, alongside a school-day session for children aged 3 and over.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children’s learning, development and care. In daily life, that means bringing learning and care together through play, conversation, movement and growing independence, rather than treating education as a separate part of the day.

Activities at Turney Road are planned around each child’s interests and needs. Playrooms contain educational resources, while the preschool environment supports learning alongside social development. The practical value is a day that can respond to what a child is ready to explore, rather than relying solely on an age-based activity list.

In July 2025, children selected resources and started their own play. Dough invited exploration of texture; comfortable spaces gave them somewhere to enjoy books. Adults demonstrated techniques when useful, including combining water with sand to build sandcastles. That balance matters: children could choose an activity while still receiving help to take it further.

Conversation ran through the day in July 2025. Small-group games introduced vocabulary, familiar songs encouraged children to contribute, and signs or gestures gave non-verbal children ways to communicate. Preschool children invented family role-play games, while babies persisted with a tray puzzle. These were different routes into participation, rather than one activity expected to work equally well for everyone.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor space brings together climbing, sand and water play. Its water pump and large sandpit provide resources for experimenting with materials, while the climbing area adds a physical challenge. These are useful complements to indoor play, giving children different ways to explore and move.

In July 2025, babies had room to practise rolling and crawling, and older children worked on climbing and jumping outside. Adults also helped children recognise everyday risks, including slippery sand. Physical exploration was accompanied by practical guidance about looking after themselves.

At its July 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities was highly effective, with staff working alongside families and other professionals on care plans. The plans helped keep care consistent, while adults adjusted their responses as children’s needs changed.

Relationships were built through attention to children’s individual characteristics in July 2025. Adults took time to understand them and responded with patience and affection. For a young child, this makes the adult’s knowledge of their habits and preferences as important as the activity itself.

Sleep and personal care also offered opportunities for choice. In July 2025, adults sought children’s agreement before patting them to sleep, and children retrieved their own comforters. Everyday independence included handwashing before eating and putting on shoes for outdoor play. These small tasks gave children an active part in their own care.

Families and staff worked together on practical developmental changes in July 2025, including toilet training and stopping dummy use. Leaders sought parents’ feedback, and staff received regular supervision to reflect on their work. Currently, care fees include updates about children and their development, keeping communication within the childcare offer.

Meals are cooked at the nursery using a seasonal menu. Food and drinks carry a separate meals-and-snacks charge; nappies, wet wipes and sun cream fall within the separately charged consumables category.

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. An early start covers 7.30am to 8am, and a late finish covers 6pm to 6.30pm. For children aged 3 and over, the school-day session runs from 8.30am to 3.30pm.

The nursery closes on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. There are also three annual inset days: the Thursday preceding Good Friday, the Tuesday following Easter Monday and a December day. Charges run across 52 weeks, including bank holidays, so the billing period and the days of attendance need to be considered separately.

Enquiries can be made through the nursery’s enquiry option or by telephone on 0208 761 4178. The address is 27 Turney Road, Dulwich, London SE21 8LX.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with entitlement covering 15 or 30 hours per week over 38 term weeks, across a maximum of 10 funded hours a day, subject to eligibility. Term-time attendance uses those weekly hours; year-round attendance stretches funding across 51 weeks, giving 11.17 or 22.35 funded hours each week respectively. Funding applies to care, with meals, snacks and consumables charged separately during funded sessions as well as private sessions.

A non-refundable registration fee or a registration deposit is payable when registering, with eligibility determining which applies under the terms and conditions. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation. The nursery fees and funding information explains the separate care, food and consumables categories.

• Group activities. In July 2025, some planned sessions were too lengthy or complex to hold every child’s attention. During a visit, ask how activities are shortened or adapted for children at different developmental stages.
• Attendance and closures. Morning, afternoon and school-day sessions offer alternatives to the full day, but annual billing includes bank holidays. Match the chosen pattern and closure calendar to your family’s working arrangements before booking.
• Funded-hour costs. Funding pays for care while food and consumables remain separate charges. Compare the written quotation for your attendance pattern, including whether a registration fee or deposit applies.

Turney Road suits families seeking either morning or afternoon attendance, a full day, or the school-day pattern for older children. Its outdoor resources give practical substance to the offer, and the July 2025 findings provide reassuring detail about relationships and individual care. The question about adapting group activities deserves attention, especially for a child who finds longer shared sessions difficult.