Creative Stars Day Nursery

Library rhymes, shared play between age groups and a bear that goes home with children give Creative Stars Day Nursery a recognisable character. Based at Committee Room, Macklin House, Shackleton Close in Forest Hill, it has 21 places in total and accepts children from 3 months to 5 years. Its small overall capacity sits alongside a mixed-age arrangement: babies have their own room, while the older groups share the main room.

At its May 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, with positive findings about language development, emotional security and support adapted to individual learning needs. The principal improvement concerned staff deployment, so that children receive consistent help to participate during changes of activity.

Morning and afternoon sessions give families alternatives within the weekday opening window. The detail of those patterns, and the holiday closures, matters as much as the nursery's educational character.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Stars covers 3 months to 2 years, with a room of its own, access to creative play in the main room and lunch alongside the older children; learning is tailored by the key person, with opportunities to choose materials independently. This is a connected baby group rather than a completely separate day. The arrangement gives babies contact with older children while retaining their own base.

For children aged 2 to 3, Shining Stars shares the main room with Super Stars, combines individually planned learning with opportunities to learn from older children, and introduces toilet training. Sharing space does not mean identical expectations. Planning for this group concentrates on early communication, physical skills and personal development as children prepare for the next stage.

Super Stars, for ages 3 to 4, occupies that same main room, with planning emphasising independence and preparation for school, and opportunities to model behaviour for younger children. Daytime sleep is gradually reduced according to the individual child's needs. Families therefore encounter age-related planning within a shared physical space, rather than a separate room for each stage.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS is the common framework for early-years education and care: children develop communication, movement, relationships and early understanding through planned experiences and play. Creative Stars combines activities initiated by children with sessions led by adults, and staff shape the curriculum map around the interests and needs of the children attending. That gives children's choices a place alongside deliberate teaching.

Weekly visiting specialists add Arts & Crafts and Music & Movement without an additional charge. Arts & Crafts involves making objects linked to children's learning, selecting materials and practising careful hand movements through cutting, sticking and construction. Music & Movement brings singing, action songs and small percussion instruments into group sessions, with children also choosing how to move. These are concrete additions to the everyday curriculum.

Staff-led activities include yoga, cooking, coding and dance, alongside French and Italian. Their value here is the breadth of experiences children can try; the specialist sessions have the clearer recurring pattern.

In May 2025, familiar dance sequences drew children into activities, while story reading, listening for surrounding sounds and repeated use of new vocabulary supported conversation. Children also explored growing plants and recognising birds and animals locally. These examples connect learning to things children can hear, handle and observe, rather than keeping it confined to adult explanations.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest Hill Library provides a named destination beyond the nursery. Rhyme Time and Baby Bounce involve songs, movement and instruments in small-group visits, alongside trips to share books. The library adds another setting for listening and joining in with others.

Frequent outings to the local park bring swings, a bigger slide and climbing frames into children's experience. Visits to local shops include paying and packing purchases, making ordinary community errands part of learning. In May 2025, visitors also brought stories into the nursery, and the fire brigade helped children learn about safety. These experiences give the local area a practical role in the day.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is organised around a star worker. Parents attend three introductory sessions, each initially involving about an hour together; on the third visit, the child also spends an hour at nursery while the parent leaves and returns. Practising that separation gives the child an early experience of a parent coming back before regular attendance begins.

Settling starts are staggered. If distress continues beyond 45 minutes, staff contact the parent; during the first two weeks, the manager returns parents' calls with updates about their child. A familiar cuddly toy can remain onsite, alongside slippers and a labelled toothbrush. These small practical arrangements make preparation for the first days specific.

The day planner carries updates about the child's experience and eating. In May 2025, daily conversations and written diaries also helped parents understand achievements and continue learning at home. Home milestones have a route back into nursery life through star cards, which parents complete and staff use to celebrate achievements during star time.

Songbirds Phonics Reading Book scheme is used for books children can borrow to read with parents, once staff and families discuss readiness to begin reading. Parents can also attend a phonics workshop. Curriculum overviews, individual targets and supporting resources accompany parent consultations, progress checks and presentations about starting school. The partnership extends beyond a handover conversation.

Star Bear adds a lighter home connection: the Star of the Week takes the bear home, and families contribute photographs and an account of their time together. It gives children something concrete to share between home and nursery.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff adjusted activities for individual children, worked with outside specialists where appropriate and responded to children's feelings with comfort and guidance. Those findings support the account of individual care, while remaining a dated assessment of practice.

In May 2025, managers organised induction around staff responsibilities and linked further training to children's needs, including mathematics. Current staffing arrangements include management working directly with children, while the staff induction requirements cover background checks, food hygiene and paediatric first aid during probation. These are care arrangements, rather than a claim that a particular staffing level is maintained throughout the day.

Meals are made onsite using a four-week menu rotation, with vegetarian and vegan alternatives and gradual changes from purées to solids agreed with parents. The nursery's nut-free policy is paired with individual food plans and a colour-coded dietary system, including separate preparation where complex needs require it.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Committee Room, Macklin House, Shackleton Close, London SE23 3YP. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm; afternoon sessions are from 1pm to 6pm. Those are separate booking patterns, so a family organising part-day care can consider the relevant portion of the day rather than assuming attendance must cover the entire opening window.

The nursery opens for 48 weeks each year. Closures include two weeks during summer, two at Christmas, bank holidays and four inset days. Closure dates are supplied at the beginning of the academic year, making that calendar an important part of arranging cover. Term-time-only funded attendance also excludes school holidays, with dates aligned to Lewisham Council's holiday calendar.

A viewing and a meeting with management come before a request for a place. Parents then email their preferred days and proposed start date. The admissions process includes proof of address, identification for the child and an induction pack covering personal information, emergency contacts and agreements.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered alongside privately paid care. The entitlements include 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds, 30 hours for eligible three- and four-year-olds, and 15 hours for eligible children from 9 months. The universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds is usually taken as 15 hours weekly over 38 weeks. Eligibility conditions apply, and parents using a childcare code must keep it validated.

The childcare charges page distinguishes using only the 15-hour entitlement from using funding towards a larger paid booking. Families using only that entitlement pay neither a registration charge nor a deposit; both apply when the entitlement contributes towards privately paid attendance. The holding deposit covers two weeks of nursery fees, and the current charges terms describe registration charges and deposits as non-refundable. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with a personalised breakdown at the start of care or each September.

Parents supply nappies and wipes for children who need them, replenishing these as necessary, and bring formula milk from home. Weekly specialist activities carry no extra charge. Uniform is optional, but clothes should be suitable for messy, active play, so everyday clothing is a practical choice.

• Shared main room. Shining Stars and Super Stars use the same space, while babies join older children for parts of the day. At the viewing, ask how quieter activities and the different age groups are organised within that arrangement.
• Support between activities. In May 2025, staff deployment did not consistently give every child enough help to stay engaged during transitions and focused activities. Ask how staff now organise those moments, including when one group needs more attention.
• Calendar and charges. The 48-week opening pattern includes summer and Christmas closures as well as inset days; term-time funded attendance has additional holiday breaks. Match the calendar to your childcare needs and request a written breakdown of what your intended booking includes.
• Dietary planning. The nut-free policy and colour-coded food arrangements are relevant for children with allergies. Confirm current practice for your child's needs, including the individual plan and preparation arrangements.

Creative Stars suits families considering morning or afternoon sessions who value shared-age learning, library outings and regular creative sessions. The baby room offers its own base while keeping connections with the older children; the main room puts toddlers and preschool children together with different expectations for each stage.

The May 2025 assessment gives a positive overall position, balanced by a specific weakness in organising staff support between activities. For a family whose childcare calendar fits the closures, the combination of named community experiences, home-learning links and structured settling provides a clear basis for considering this small nursery.