Little Gems Day Nursery

A separate building for babies, a Storysack Lending Library and gardens used for growing crops give Little Gems Day Nursery a clear identity. This is a setting where the physical spaces and resources matter: younger children have their own base, while stories can travel home with families rather than staying on a nursery shelf.

Based at Clare Hall on Malpas Road, on the border of Brockley and New Cross, Little Gems takes children from three months to five years and has capacity for 80 children. At its October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good, finding effective safeguarding and good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including timely assessments, referrals and work with outside agencies.

Half-day and full-day childcare serve different attendance needs. The strongest reasons to consider Little Gems are its separate baby accommodation, practical language resources and opportunities for parents to join nursery activities. The balance needs attention too: in October 2022, children needed more chances to investigate nature and younger children needed richer imaginative play based on everyday experiences.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Playroom serves children under two, with sensory activities, singing, painting and opportunities to practise movement; babies occupy a separate building, giving this youngest age group its own accommodation. Sand, water and dough provide materials to handle and explore, rather than making early learning depend on sitting through an adult-led activity.

For children aged 18 months to three years, the Toddlers Playroom emphasises communication, creative play and taking turns, using shared table activities and materials such as water, paint and dough. Its age range overlaps with the baby provision. That makes the arrangement for an individual child's move between rooms a useful subject for a visit, especially around the second birthday.

The Pre-School Group takes children from three to five and uses a Reasoning Approach, encouraging them to work out answers and solve problems through play. Activities introduce pencil use, letters, shapes and numbers, while planning takes account of children's ideas. Independence also has a practical expression: children practise playing at tables and considering other children's needs as preparation for the routines of Reception.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, play, communication and observations of each child's development help shape activities and next steps. It is the shared foundation for nursery education. Little Gems adds its own room approaches and resources alongside it.

The Storysack Lending Library is a useful example. In the main building's hallway, it holds more than 40 sacks containing books, story props and related games, with guidance for parents. Families can borrow them, and some are designed for children learning English as an additional language. The practical benefit is continuity: an activity begun at nursery can become a shared story or game at home.

Language support also includes an early language lead who checks development and helps families and staff plan activities. Little Gems previously participated in Every Childs A Talker (ECAT), a programme involving sessions for parents about early communication. That past participation should be distinguished from the ongoing language-support role.

In October 2022, children made dinosaur tracks with paint and dough, compared their shapes and sizes, and learnt dinosaur names. Reading spaces supported both shared stories and independent browsing. These examples show how one interest could connect vocabulary, physical materials and early comparisons, rather than becoming a topic expressed only through worksheets.

Outdoor and Community Life

Large all-weather gardens extend the space for play. Digging and crop-growing areas let children take part in planting, while bicycles, scooters and climbing frames provide different kinds of movement. A sensory room introduces textures, movement, sounds and visual experiences across the age groups; the music room provides instruments and resources for rhythm and listening.

In October 2022, outdoor activities included football, bicycle riding and taking turns on a balancing beam, alongside regular sessions exploring musical instruments. The limitation was the planning for nature: outdoor activity did not consistently develop children's interest in the natural world. Physical play and investigation are different opportunities, and both matter.

Three annual day trips take children beyond the nursery, with destinations including farms, the seaside and adventure parks. Parents and carers can join them. More informal outings include local parks and libraries, and families sign an outing consent form. After trips, children represent their experiences through drawings, constructions and play.

A summer fun day brings children, staff and families together each year. Celebrations also include Diwali, Eid and Chinese New Year, with family workshops, traditional food and opportunities for children to wear traditional clothing. This gives parents a route into shared nursery experiences as well as everyday feedback.

Relationships and Communication

The Key Person Approach gives each child a particular adult who gets to know them and acts as the main contact for their family. Daily feedback covers children's experiences, while comments books offer another way for parents to share views. The value is a recognisable relationship: families have someone who knows their child rather than having to start each conversation afresh.

Settling sessions are free and arranged around parents' or carers' needs. Families can telephone their child's room to speak with a practitioner during the settling period. For babies, a daily routine book is shared with parents, providing a practical account of care and activities.

Individual development files bring together observations, photographs and examples of children's work. They are updated each term, with parents invited to discuss progress, and can be viewed between those meetings. When children leave, families receive the files; information is also shared with the next school to support the change in setting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In October 2022, Ofsted found that practitioners supported communication effectively, helped children understand feelings and resolve disagreements, and worked with parents on children's next steps. Those findings sit alongside the nursery's current key-person arrangements, rather than replacing the need to understand how support would work for an individual child.

The Baby Sleeping Room has beds or cots and individual bedding; a member of staff monitors sleeping children and records how long they sleep. Sleep therefore has an identified space and recording routine, rather than being treated simply as a gap between activities. Potty training is discussed with the toddler's key worker and proceeds at the child's pace.

Cooks prepare food on site using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, and meals are included in childcare fees. Dietary needs are discussed during settling, with puréed food and finger foods used to support babies' weaning.

Sessions and Attendance

Little Gems offers half-day and full-day childcare. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with year-round operation apart from bank holidays and Christmas. These opening hours describe the nursery day; the half-day pattern remains a separate attendance option.

Enquiries can be made by telephone or email, and visits are arranged by calling. The baby unit also has its own telephone contact. Families therefore have a general enquiry route and a direct line to the youngest children's provision.

Getting There

The address is Clare Hall, Malpas Road, London SE14 6PX, between Brockley and New Cross in Lewisham. Rail links include Brockley, New Cross and Lewisham stations, useful names to compare against a family's usual journey.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered, including the 15-hour weekly entitlement for three- and four-year-olds and provision for eligible two-year-olds. Additional childcare is also offered privately; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Meals are included in childcare fees. Toddler nappies and wipes come from home.

• The youngest toddlers. The Toddlers Playroom begins at 18 months, and its description gives one carer to four toddlers. On a visit, ask how staffing is organised for children under two within this mixed-age room.
• Nature and imaginative play. In October 2022, the improvement priorities concerned investigating the natural world and younger children's everyday role play. Look for concrete examples of how those experiences now feature in the day.
• Your attendance and funding pattern. Half-day and full-day childcare are both offered, alongside funded early education. How would your chosen attendance pattern use the entitlement, and what charges would sit alongside it?

Little Gems suits families seeking either half-day attendance or full-day childcare, especially those who value a separate baby building and tangible links between nursery and home. The storysacks, individual development files and family events give that partnership practical substance.

Its October 2022 Good judgement provides a dated quality assessment, with nature investigation and younger children's imaginative play the areas needing attention. The strongest fit is for parents who want play-led learning, shared language activities and opportunities to take part in nursery life, while weighing the room arrangements against their child's age and needs.