Umbrella House Day Nursery

A sensory garden, treasure baskets and an emphasis on children’s sense of self give Umbrella House its character. This Catford nursery combines space for outdoor exploration with a play-led approach indoors, where children’s interests help shape activities. The emphasis is personal: getting to know the child comes before deciding what they should do next.

At its July 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Umbrella House Good and found safeguarding effective. The practical scale is 40 places in total, for children aged three months to five years. That is whole-nursery capacity, rather than the size of either room.

Room placement takes account of a child’s needs, with parents involved in the decision. Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings give families different ways to use the setting; the detail matters as much as the overall opening window.

Rooms and Ages

ALAFIA ROOM serves babies and toddlers, combining soft toys with music, rhymes, books and treasure baskets that encourage children to explore objects and follow their interests. These are concrete resources for a play-led day: children can listen, handle materials and investigate, rather than spend all their time following adult instructions.

SHALOM ROOM is the preschool space, where practical experiences and activities shaped around children’s interests encourage independent thinking. Staff follow what children are doing in their play and use that engagement to extend learning. Placement is needs-led, so the distinction between the rooms is about the child’s stage as well as age.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for learning, development and care; here, children learn through play, exploration and activities planned around their needs. It is the shared early-years foundation, while Umbrella House’s own emphasis is on allowing children time to investigate and make discoveries.

Uninterrupted play is an explicit part of the approach. Children have opportunities to choose their own challenges, alongside time working with other children and adults. That combination gives room for individual interests while keeping social learning part of the day. A key person tracks individual needs, linking the activity planning to the child rather than treating the room as a single group with identical next steps.

The July 2024 findings also identify where adult-led learning needed sharpening. Some children finished tasks quickly without receiving enough further challenge. Adults sometimes supplied answers before children had sufficient time to respond. These are specific improvement points: the next step was more carefully adapted activities and more space for children to develop their spoken responses.

Outdoor and Community Life

The sensory garden adds colour and sound to the outdoor space, which extends the opportunities for play beyond the rooms. The Forest School offer centres on outdoor exploration, with room for larger-scale play, problem-solving and creativity alongside other children. Its practical appeal is the change of scale and setting.

In July 2024, children were digging and cultivating herbs and vegetables, giving them direct experience of how plants grow. Outdoor play also involved climbing, running and wheeled toys. Community outings and visiting guests formed part of nursery life at that time, adding encounters with people beyond the children’s immediate group.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person responsible for day-to-day wellbeing and exchanging information with parents. This creates a clear point of contact for discussing routines and interests. Parents also help staff decide which room best meets their child’s needs, so the relationship has a practical role in how care is organised.

For babies, daily reports cover activities, food and sleep. That detail helps families understand the shape of the day rather than receiving only a general account. Staff learn individual routines, while the partnership with parents begins during the transition into nursery and continues afterwards.

Parents are invited to contribute ideas to their children’s learning experiences. Communication therefore works in both directions: staff share the nursery day, and families bring knowledge of the child’s interests and experiences at home. Staff receive supervision, appraisal and opportunities for internal and external training, supporting continued discussion of their work.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff used assessments to identify learning gaps, worked successfully with external partners for children with SEND, and supported good progress across the children attending. The useful detail is the mechanism: individual next steps and outside collaboration, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

A chef works with key persons on dietary needs, with recipes catering for most dietary requirements, including cultural preferences, vegetarian and vegan diets, and food allergies. Dietary information is gathered through an entry profile and individual conversations with parents, making those discussions part of planning a child’s care.

Sessions and Attendance

Umbrella House operates at the Community Centre, 185 Brookehowse Road, London SE6 3TT. It opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, and operates over 51 weeks of the year. Bank Holidays are closures.

The Full Day booking runs from 7.30am to 6pm. Half Day AM covers 8am to 1pm, while Half Day PM runs from 1pm to 6pm; additional hours are also charged by the hour. These are different attendance patterns, so a morning booking should be considered separately from the nursery’s earlier opening time.

Enquiries, visit bookings and applications can be made through the contact team by telephone or email. The same route allows families to arrange a viewing at a convenient time.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with funding based on a 38-week term-time year. It can be used during term time or stretched across the nursery’s operating year.

In July 2024, funded education was offered for children aged two, three and four. Private full-day and half-day childcare, together with additional paid hours, also forms part of the booking offer. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the fees page sets out the session structure and the term-time or stretched funding options.

• Challenge and conversation. July 2024 improvement points concerned extending tasks for quicker finishers and allowing children longer to answer. At a visit, ask how activities are adapted and how adults give children time to formulate responses.
• Room placement and routines. Parents help decide the room that suits their child, and babies receive reports covering food, sleep and activities. Discuss how the settling plan will accommodate your child’s routines and readiness for a room move.
• The complete attendance cost. Funding can be term-time or stretched, alongside paid sessions and additional hours. Ask for a written breakdown explaining meals, non-food consumables and any other charges for your intended pattern.
• Dietary care. Dietary information is collected individually and shared with the chef through key persons. Families managing allergies should confirm the current food-handling arrangements before joining.

Umbrella House suits families seeking either full-day attendance or morning and afternoon sessions, with a play-led day and a direct relationship with a key person. The sensory garden and exploratory resources give that approach something tangible, while babies’ daily reports provide useful continuity with home.

The Good judgement from July 2024 sits alongside specific work to do on challenge and conversational patience. Those points make a useful basis for assessing the nursery: how well adults respond to individual children matters as much as the activities themselves.