Seedlings Day Nursery

A covered garden, outings to Horniman museum and a toddler group housed in a Portakabin give Seedlings Day Nursery a recognisable Forest Hill character. Play extends beyond the main building, while different spaces serve babies, older toddlers and preschool children. This is the branch at Firs Close. It has 49 places in total across the nursery.

At the 27 March 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good overall and safeguarding effective, with opportunities to practise skills and personalised support contributing to children's progress. Two weaknesses temper that positive assessment: older children were sometimes insufficiently engaged during group activities, and everyday independence needed more consistent encouragement.

Rainbow group, Cabin group and Pre-school organise the nursery day around stages of development. Full-day care runs on a full-time or part-time basis, with morning and afternoon half days offered as extra sessions. The strongest reasons to consider it are its outdoor opportunities, concrete room arrangements and a settling process that gives parents a continuing role.

Rooms and Ages

Rainbow group serves babies and toddlers of approximately 4-24 months, combining a quiet corner and climbing area with sensory lights, messy materials and treasure-basket objects that children can handle and explore.

Cabin group, for older toddlers from about 24 months to 2.5 years, occupies a purpose-built Portakabin unit, where puppets, dressing-up and pretend domestic play provide reasons to talk, with activities also extending outdoors.

Pre-school has spaces for books, role play, sand and water, writing and mathematics, with child-chosen activities balanced by adult-led work and age arrangements adapted to children's development and the intake.

These are different environments rather than interchangeable rooms. For a younger child, the practical appeal is access to both active play and somewhere quieter; for an older toddler, familiar domestic situations supply material for conversation. Room moves also involve visits before children spend their whole day in the next group, so a change of space is introduced gradually.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the shared framework for children's communication, physical development, relationships and later learning, including mathematics and literacy. Here, that translates into songs, stories, pretend play and opportunities to experiment with materials. It is the educational foundation, rather than a special programme unique to Seedlings.

In March 2024, children practised counting and comparing size while making play-dough hedgehogs and constructing enclosures. An imaginative building activity became an aeroplane carrying animals to South Africa, with children negotiating their roles. These examples show how an activity could combine mathematical language, conversation and collaborative play rather than treating each area as a separate lesson.

Physical activity had a clear place in the same month's nursery day. Children used low climbing equipment both outside and indoors, propelled bicycles with their feet in the garden, and older children took part in weekly fitness activities involving jumping and landing. Chalk and pencils offered smaller movements alongside the larger ones. The balance matters for children who enjoy moving as much as sitting with a book.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large outdoor area and covered garden give outdoor play a substantial physical setting. Local outings include Forest Hill Library and Horniman museum, extending children's experiences beyond nursery resources. These destinations are useful specifics for families who want their child's day to include the surrounding area.

Forest School adds child-led outdoor learning, with adults helping children pursue their choices. Preschool children have the opportunity to attend, and Garthorne Road Nature Reserve is the named site. The reserve sessions described for 2024-2025 included restrictions on digging to protect wildlife and nursery-supplied waterproof overalls. That gives a concrete picture of the activity, while keeping those dated arrangements separate from today's attendance patterns.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts before the first full day, with sessions arranged for the preceding week. Parents meet the key person and share information, then the child gradually experiences being with staff, eating lunch and staying for sleep. This makes settling a sequence of experiences rather than a single separation.

The typical plan becomes progressively longer, but the nursery recognises that feeling fully settled can take 4-6 weeks, depending on attendance. A discussion with the key person follows after 6-8 weeks. For families returning to work, the useful distinction is between completing introductory sessions and a child becoming comfortable with the whole routine.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, gives parents access to observations, photographs, videos and progress reports, with a route for parental feedback. Verbal updates at collection complement it. Parents can therefore follow what happens during nursery hours and contribute information from home, rather than relying solely on a brief handover.

Moving between groups is also planned with families. Children generally progress with their existing group, initially visiting the next room and gradually staying longer; the transition usually takes a week. Familiar companions remain part of the move. Staff may sometimes move too, depending on the team structure, but this is not a promise attached to every transition.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff identified developmental gaps, used individual learning plans and sought external help where needed, while supporting children learning English through strategies including songs in their home languages. These are concrete support mechanisms, rather than a general assurance that every need will be met in the same way.

In March 2024, The Colour Monster story helped children connect colours with feelings and find language for their emotions. Babies' own routines determined sleep, and staff supported self-feeding as they became ready. For older children, dressing for outdoor play offered independence practice, but staff were less consistent about teaching drink-pouring. The everyday detail matters: independence develops through repeated opportunities as well as planned activities.

Preschool children who nap have individual beds and an adult supervising the room. Children who remain awake can read, hear a story or rest on the carpet with their own embroidered cushion, accompanied by calming music or an audio story. Rest is therefore part of the day for both sleepers and non-sleepers.

Meals follow a rotation of three menus, changed weekly, with dishes including cauliflower and chickpea curry and broccoli and leek pasta bake. Seedlings has an egg-free food policy that excludes products containing egg or traces of egg; substitutions can occur when ingredients change.

Sessions and Attendance

Seedlings is at 9-11 Firs Close, Forest Hill, London SE23 1BB, in a quiet cul-de-sac near Brockley Rise and Stanstead Road. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays. Full-day care can be booked on a full-time or part-time basis, while extra half days have morning hours of 8am-1pm or afternoon hours of 1pm-6pm.

Attendance runs across the year, with closures for bank holidays and a week over Christmas. Staff-training closures for 2027 fall on 4-7 May. These interruptions matter for working families even where their usual weekly pattern remains the same.

The waiting list is free to join. Allocation takes account of age, attendance days and progression between groups, with priority factors including siblings and medical or social needs. Sibling priority does not guarantee a place. The main group transition is usually between July and October, when older children leave and younger groups move up.

The agreed place and attendance days are recorded in writing; changes to the booking pattern must be requested in writing and agreed by the manager. Enquiries go to seedlings@seedlingsdaynursery.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both standard-fee childcare and funded childcare are offered. Entitlements include 30 hours for eligible children aged 9-23 months, 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds with a Lewisham council letter, and 30 hours for eligible two-year-olds; children aged three and four have the universal 15-hour offer or 30 hours for eligible working families.

The two-year-old entitlement and the universal and extended entitlements for three- and four-year-olds are stretched across 12 months. The extended offer for three- and four-year-olds requires attendance on at least three days, and invoices separate funded hours from chargeable additional hours. Funding codes must be valid for the child's attendance period, with families responsible for keeping entitlement information current. For these entitlements, spreading funding across the year still leaves additional booked hours chargeable.

Parents supply baby-care consumables, including wipes, nappies, nappy cream and formula where used, as well as seasonal sun cream. Those items belong on the packing list alongside spare clothing and a familiar comforter.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The registration charge is non-refundable and payable once a place is agreed; the deposit goes towards the final month's fees and is not refunded, although management may allow partial payment of the deposit or waive it. Holidays, sickness absence and training closures remain payable, and separately charged settling sessions may be covered by funded hours where management agrees.

Leaving requires at least six weeks' notice, including a calendar month, with notice given in writing. The fees page sets out the charge structure. These terms make the final month and paid absences relevant parts of a family's budget, alongside its regular attendance.

• Group learning and independence. In March 2024, older children sometimes lost engagement in larger activities, and everyday self-help teaching was inconsistent. During a visit, ask how story groups are organised now and how children practise serving themselves at meals.
• Room progression. Age bands are guidance, with developmental needs and the intake affecting grouping. Discuss which room your child would join and how the next move would be planned, especially around the main July-October transition.
• Funding and food costs. The extended funding arrangement for three- and four-year-olds has a three-day minimum. Ask for a written breakdown of additional hours, meals, snacks and consumables during funded and private hours, together with current food-handling arrangements if your child has an allergy.
• Viewing arrangements. Show-arounds are offered to families with a prospect of an offer, rather than everyone on the waiting list. The matching process takes account of age and attendance days, so joining the waiting list does not itself lead to a viewing; Christmas and training closures also need space in family plans.

Seedlings suits families who value outdoor play, local outings and a gradual introduction to nursery life. Full-time and part-time full-day attendance suit different weekly routines, with morning and afternoon half days offered as extra sessions. The two-year-old and three- and four-year-old stretched entitlements have their own conditions. The covered garden, Portakabin toddler space and continuing parent communication give the offer substance.

The March 2024 findings leave two practical questions about group engagement and independence, rather than overturning the positive overall judgement. For parents, the best fit will depend on the proposed room, agreed attendance and complete written costs. Those details deserve as much attention as the outdoor activities.