Kido Tooting

A stage for drama and movement, a large garden for outdoor play, and a Grade II Listed Church Hall give Kido Tooting a recognisable character. The indoor play space adds somewhere for sports and art alongside the classrooms. For families who value room to move, these are useful features of the nursery day.

Children can attend from 3 months to 5 years, and the nursery has 115 places in total. At its December 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged Kido Tooting Good overall and found safeguarding effective. That judgement came with specific improvements for younger children: activities needed to match their development more closely, and transitions needed better planning to keep them engaged.

French and Spanish sessions, practical science and project work add substance to the learning offer. Full days and morning or afternoon sessions give families different attendance patterns, with funded childcare stretched across the year.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning and development: children build skills through play, conversation and practical experiences. Kido Tooting combines free play with activities guided by adults, while project work gives children a topic to investigate rather than a succession of unrelated tasks. The balance matters. Children have opportunities to follow an interest and also encounter ideas introduced by staff.

STEM projects bring science, technology, engineering and maths into practical exploration. Explorer Day activities give children opportunities to investigate and experiment; the group-wide Kido Explorer Day programme uses projects and takes place weekly from age two. These additions sit alongside the EYFS, rather than replacing its expectations for children's learning and care.

French and Spanish sessions take place during the week. The branch also uses Kido Club, the group's online platform with activities tailored to children's learning goals. Its practical value is the connection between nursery learning and something families can do at home. It gives parents another way to take part beyond receiving updates.

In December 2023, sensory experiences included dough, foam and glitter, with children investigating textures and filling containers. Older children experimented with paint mixtures and talked through their discoveries. Staff also used children's home languages when naming colours, giving children a route into the activity through familiar words.

The younger children's experience was less consistent at that point. Some baby activities demanded skills beyond their stage of development, so their attention faded. Planned improvements were also taking too long to reach daily practice. For parents of babies, the important question is how an activity works for the child taking part, rather than how ambitious it sounds.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large outdoor garden provides space to play and explore, while the indoor stage supports theatrical activities, art and sports. The two spaces give movement and creative work a place within the setting. Classrooms are organised around developmental stages, so the physical arrangement recognises that babies and older children need different experiences.

In December 2023, children used the outdoor space daily and practised balance and coordination with the resources there. Books also connected nursery life with home: children selected titles from a lending library to share with their families. Regular storytelling encouraged children to contribute ideas, giving language practice a social purpose as well as an introduction to books.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is planned around the individual child. Families work with the key person and management to agree an approach using information about their child's needs and familiar routines. This makes the settling plan a shared piece of work, with parents contributing what they know rather than fitting their child into a single prescribed sequence.

The Kido app provides updates on toileting, sleep and meals during the day, alongside direct messaging with the team. Staff also talk with parents at collection and drop-off. These channels serve different purposes: routine updates help parents understand the day, while conversations allow something more personal or complicated to be discussed.

In December 2023, children took turns bringing a travelling teddy bear home and then sharing its adventures with friends. Resource bags helped families prepare for changes such as a new sibling. These were small, concrete ways of bringing home experiences into nursery conversations and helping children talk about changes in their lives.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND received effective targeted support, with parents and other professionals contributing to clear goals and staff using signs and visual cues to help children understand routines. The useful detail is the mechanism: support involved shared targets and communication aids, rather than relying on a broad promise of inclusion.

During that month, staff helped children understand feelings and behaviour through calm explanations. Story sessions and sensory play provided opportunities to communicate, while familiar language helped children participate in activities. Those examples show how everyday interactions contributed to children's involvement in nursery life at the time.

Nursery Kitchen supplies the meals, with breakfast, lunch, snacks and afternoon tea offered during the day. The nursery's food policy specifies nut-free meals and adaptations for dietary needs; vegetarian, pescatarian and vegan choices are offered, while Halal and Kosher meals are excluded.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is St Barnabus Church Hall, Thirsk Road, London, CR4 2BD. Core opening hours run from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Earlier attendance from 7.30am and later collection until 6.30pm incur an additional charge and require advance agreement and booking.

Full days run from 8am to 6pm. Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, and afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm. The nursery operates across the year, closing for public bank holidays, a week at Christmas and two staff training days. These closures belong in the family calendar alongside the weekly attendance pattern.

Ad hoc full and half days can also be booked, subject to availability; ad hoc sessions and extended hours require advance booking and written cancellation notice of 24 hours. Minimum attendance may apply depending on availability. This is a condition to resolve before agreeing a regular pattern, especially for families seeking only a small amount of weekly care.

Enquiries can be made through the branch's contact form or tour booking route. Individual tours last 30 minutes. Registration involves completing a Parent Information Form, followed by the arrangements for settling with the nursery team.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both 15 and 30 funded hours are accepted and stretched across the year. Private childcare and additional paid hours are also offered. The stretched arrangement distributes the entitlement across the nursery's operating year, so families should distinguish their total attendance from the funded portion of it. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Meals, snacks and milk are included in fees, as are nappies and wipes; the fee sheet also includes food and hygiene essentials across funded attendance patterns. Families may not bring their own food, under the nursery's policy on allergen risks and food handling.

For children over three, voluntary incidental charges contribute to the group's curriculum enhancements, and parents can opt out by speaking to the manager. The group-wide School Readiness Program includes phonics work, workbooks and activities supporting personal, social and emotional development before Reception. This is preparation for the next stage, with concrete resources and learning activities.

A deposit is credited against the final invoice, with two calendar months' notice required for a refund if a family decides against enrolment; fully funded places require no deposit. Changes to the booking pattern or termination of the contract require two months' notice. Monthly payments include bank holidays, training days and nursery closures, so the payment structure matters alongside the session choice.

• Activities for babies. December 2023 improvement priorities concerned activities pitched too far ahead of babies' development and interruptions to learning during transitions. During a visit, ask how staff now choose suitable experiences and maintain engagement when routines change.
• Attendance and contract flexibility. Morning, afternoon and full-day patterns serve different schedules, but minimum attendance may apply and booking changes require two months' notice. Agree the pattern and its conditions before committing.
• Food requirements. Meals follow a nut-free policy, with dietary adaptations and several meat-free options, but Halal and Kosher meals are excluded. Families affected by allergies should confirm current handling arrangements, especially because food from home is prohibited.
• Optional enhancements. Incidental charges for children over three are voluntary. Ask how opting out works in practice and which activities form part of the child's agreed attendance.

Kido Tooting suits families seeking either full-day care or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, with language learning, practical projects and space for movement. The garden and indoor stage give those activities a physical setting, while app updates and individual settling plans provide useful links with home.

For a baby, the December 2023 concerns about activity choice and transitions deserve particular attention. For an older child, the appeal is clearer in the combination of projects, languages and preparation for Reception. The decision should balance those experiences with the family's attendance needs and the contract's notice terms.