Dicky Birds Day Nursery and Preschool Wimbledon, Queens Road

Two gardens, a growing garden and a library give Queens Road a clear character: outdoor exploration and books have physical spaces of their own. Dicky Birds Day Nursery and Preschool Wimbledon, Queens Road combines these with four named rooms, taking children from the baby stage through to preschool. For parents, the useful distinction is how each room's emphasis changes as children develop.

At its February 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found that its curriculum supported children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with children making good progress from their starting points. There was also a clear improvement point: staff needed to use children's spontaneous interests more consistently to take learning further.

The accepted age range is 3 to 60 months. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with closures at Christmas and on bank holidays.

Rooms and Ages

Ducklings, the baby room, combines resources for exploration with a dedicated reading nook, giving books a place within the youngest children's surroundings. Sparrows supports younger toddlers as they develop communication and become more independent. Owls occupies the middle floor and emphasises physical development and learning to manage feelings and behaviour. In Woodpeckers, the preschool room, creativity, imaginative activity and independence contribute to preparation for school.

These are useful differences for a parent weighing the next stage of their child's care. Communication and independence feature in Sparrows; Owls gives self-regulation an explicit place; Woodpeckers brings imagination into preparation for the move onwards. The rooms provide a progression of emphasis, while the baby room's reading nook is a concrete feature for families who value sharing books from the start.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the required framework for learning and care; here, children's experiences include exploring resources, sharing stories, practising physical skills and becoming more independent. The current curriculum combines activities initiated by children with learning led by adults. That gives parents two aspects to weigh: room for children's interests and purposeful involvement from practitioners.

Forest School adds outdoor learning, with a dedicated leader and facilities built for the sessions. Boogie Mites uses music and movement to develop coordination and confidence. PE sessions encourage exercise and healthy habits, while yoga includes mindfulness. These additions give children different ways to take part, through movement, music and exploration of the natural world.

In February 2024, a conversation about a painful foot led children to explore x-rays on a tablet. It was a concrete example of an interest becoming a learning opportunity, although staff did not consistently develop such moments as far as they could. That distinction matters: an engaging activity is the beginning, and the adult's next question or intervention determines how much further it goes.

Outdoor and Community Life

Two gardens serve different age groups. Equipment for younger children sits alongside opportunities for older children to use climbing structures, investigate a bug hotel and play in the mud kitchen. Children also plant vegetables and look after them in the growing garden, connecting practical work with learning about food.

In February 2024, children practised balancing and climbing towards a slide, rode tricycles around the garden and worked with dough and sand to develop hand movements. Babies used painting involving large movements to exercise their bigger muscles. These examples show how physical learning included both whole-body activity and the smaller movements needed for early writing.

Community outings are intended to extend learning through park trips, library visits and shopping linked to cooking experiences. The nursery aims to make these regular opportunities to explore familiar places beyond its own rooms and gardens.

Relationships and Communication

Famly gives parents updates about children's development and day-to-day experiences. Parent Evenings take place each term, and seasonal events bring families together. The combination offers both ongoing contact and a recurring opportunity for a fuller conversation about a child's progress.

In February 2024, staff knew children's interests and learning needs and used that knowledge when planning activities. Children formed close connections with practitioners and with one another. Calm conversations helped them recognise feelings and understand how their actions affected other people; books also supported discussions about emotions. For a family, those details make emotional support tangible: it involved language, relationships and familiar stories.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCo role provides a route for tailored support for children with additional needs. Teaching methods are adapted to individual needs, giving families a specific mechanism to discuss when considering how their child will participate in nursery life.

In February 2024, children practised getting their own drinking water, washing before food and cooking, and putting resources away after play. These small responsibilities made independence part of ordinary routines and contributed to preparation for the next stage of learning. Staff also shared behaviour strategies with parents, allowing families to use the same approaches at home.

Ofsted's later regulatory findings raised repeated safety and welfare concerns. On 13 December 2024, it found requirements unmet but recorded corrective action, including revised procedures for moving children safely between nursery areas and further staff training. In January 2026, further failures led to actions covering safeguarding and whistleblowing, reporting concerns, appropriate behaviour management and handling of children, and notifying relevant events, including management changes. Following the provider's response on 2 February 2026, Ofsted was satisfied that the safeguarding and welfare actions had been met.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at 27 Queens Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 8NW. It opens Monday to Friday from 8am until 6pm and operates across the year, closing for Christmas and bank holidays. Those closures matter for families arranging care around work through the holidays.

In February 2024, extended hours could be requested. This was an arrangement at that time, rather than a clock-time booking pattern to build a current working day around.

Getting There

Wimbledon train station is a 5-minute walk from the nursery. That places a named rail connection within the journey planning for families using the station.

Funding and Paid Extras

In February 2024, the nursery received early education funding for children aged two, three and four. Families considering funded attendance should distinguish the childcare hours from the practical items involved in their child's day when discussing a proposed arrangement.

• Taking interests further. In February 2024, staff did not consistently make enough of spontaneous learning opportunities. During a visit, ask how practitioners develop a child's question or discovery into the next step in learning.
• Outdoor learning in practice. Forest School has a dedicated leader and purpose-built facilities, while the gardens include growing and climbing opportunities. A visit is a useful chance to discuss how your child would participate in these experiences.
• The funded arrangement. Early education funding was in use in February 2024. Ask how the proposed attendance would use funded hours and what arrangements apply to meals and consumables.

Queens Road suits families who value outdoor exploration, music and movement, and a clear change of emphasis between baby, toddler and preschool rooms. The growing garden, Forest School and Boogie Mites make that character concrete, while Famly and termly Parent Evenings support contact with parents.

The February 2024 Good judgement provides a dated assessment of quality. Its learning improvement point deserves equal weight: the activities are only part of the decision; how practitioners build on children's interests matters too.