Kingswood Daycare Nursery

Daily outdoor play, a garden equipped for movement and exploration, and meals provided with Zebedees give Kingswood Daycare Nursery on Miles Road a concrete character. Children can climb, balance, investigate nature and work with sand and water. These are useful ingredients for families who want active play to form part of the ordinary nursery day.

At its April 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Kingswood Good, found safeguarding effective and recognised good progress and tailored support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. That judgement belongs to April 2023. The educational improvement point was clear: adults sometimes directed activities too closely, leaving children fewer chances to contribute ideas or shape their play.

Kingswood takes children from 3 months to 5 years at its Mitcham setting. Full-time, part-time and term-time attendance are offered, with a minimum booking of three sessions each week.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the educational framework, covering language, movement, relationships, early literacy and mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. Here, the approach centres on play: stories, making marks, imaginative activities and practical exploration turn those areas into things children can do.

Planning responds to children's interests, while observation and assessment help staff decide the next steps. The practical value is continuity: an activity can begin with something a child wants to explore, then develop towards a further skill. Small-group activities, shared games and discussions also give children opportunities to practise listening, cooperation and expressing feelings.

In April 2023, learning differed by developmental stage. Babies practised large movements through imaginative activities; toddlers answered questions during stories; older children discussed how living things develop. Ball play also progressed from rolling and throwing to using bats. These examples show how the day connected physical and language development with increasingly demanding tasks.

The same April 2023 observations exposed a limitation. During some adult-directed activities, children had insufficient opportunities to explain their ideas, and adults subsequently steered imaginative play. The improvement needed was more consistent room for children to initiate and contribute. For parents, the useful distinction is between an appealing set of resources and the freedom children have to decide what to do with them.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play happens daily. Climbing frames, balance beams and sensory trails provide different ways to move and explore, while gardening and nature zones bring plants, insects and seasonal changes into the day. Sheltered areas support outdoor activities in wet weather, giving the garden a role beyond fair-weather recreation.

Sand, water and loose materials are also used for language and early mathematical activities. Staff plan and observe outdoor learning, with children's interests helping determine activities. That makes the outdoor space relevant to learning as well as exercise: talking through an idea, solving a practical problem and cooperating over a game can happen outside too.

Settling is gradual. Parents can remain with their child during initial visits, and children have time to adjust at their own pace; introduction to outdoor spaces is gradual too. This gives families a way to support the move into nursery rather than expecting immediate separation.

In April 2023, staff soothed newly attending babies with singing and comfort. They also prepared children for changes of activity by talking about what would happen next and using countdowns. When emotions were difficult to express, adults responded calmly and joined children in play. These were practical ways of making routines more understandable.

Communication support in April 2023 included describing children's play, introducing vocabulary during stories, using signs and learning words from children's home languages. For children needing additional help, staff worked with other professionals, used visual cues for routines and broke independence-building tasks into short activities. Parents had conversations, online updates and termly meetings, and contributed to their child's targets.

Everyday independence had a practical place in April 2023 too. Babies helped themselves to snacks and peeled pieces of banana, toddlers tried ways of putting on coats, and children helped distribute cups. Such tasks let children practise doing something useful for themselves and others.

Meals are provided with Zebedees, with seasonal ingredients, fruit and vegetables, snacks and drinks forming part of the food offer. The nursery's policy requires hot meals rather than packed lunches, and families must tell staff about individual dietary requirements.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Kingswood House, 31-39 Miles Road, Mitcham, CR4 3DA. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday; the full-day session runs between those times. Part-time attendance and term-time childcare are also offered, so the choice extends beyond attending every weekday throughout the year.

A minimum of three sessions per week applies. The nursery operates for 51 weeks, with a Christmas closure, and children under two must attend on that year-round basis. The terms also contain a Friday condition for bookings of two full days weekly. Those conditions matter when fitting nursery around working days or combining care arrangements.

Bank holidays and two annual training days are also closures, with fees continuing to apply. The training closures fall on the first Monday of October half term and the first Friday of February half term. On the final day before the Christmas break, the nursery closes at 2pm.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0208 687 0100 or through the contact form. Extra sessions can be arranged in advance with the manager. Fees remain payable during absence, and missed attendance cannot be replaced with another session.

Funding and Paid Extras

Kingswood supports 30 hours funding, with parents responsible for revalidating their codes and informing management when circumstances change. Private childcare is also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the childcare terms explain the contractual arrangements.

Parents supply sun cream and creams for nappy rash. A deposit and registration charge apply when taking a place; both are retained if the family subsequently declines it. After a child attends and later leaves, the deposit is returned once payments have been settled.

Uniform is compulsory for children aged 2 to 5, and the terms provide for children to be sent home if they are not wearing it. This is a practical requirement to include in the preparation for starting nursery.

• Children directing play. The April 2023 improvement point concerned adults taking too much control of some activities. During a visit, ask how practitioners now make space for children's suggestions and decisions.
• Attendance commitments. The three-session weekly minimum sits alongside a condition in the terms requiring Friday in a two-full-day booking; how these provisions fit together is unclear. Clarify both together before committing to a pattern, including the 51-week attendance requirement for under-twos.
• Dietary arrangements. Hot meals are required and packed lunches are excluded. If your child has an allergy or another dietary need, confirm how their requirements will be communicated and managed in daily practice.
• Notice before leaving. The terms contain both an eight-week notice provision and a two-month written-notice provision. Obtain the applicable notice requirement in writing before signing, especially if you may later reduce hours.

Kingswood suits families seeking full-day attendance or term-time childcare, and those wanting daily outdoor play supported by climbing equipment, gardening and sheltered activity areas. The gradual settling arrangements give parents a practical role at the start, while meals are provided with Zebedees.

The April 2023 Good judgement gives a dated assessment of quality; the accompanying concern about children's freedom to lead activities remains a useful question for a visit. Attendance conditions deserve equal attention. The three-session minimum and year-round commitment for under-twos shape whether this nursery fits a family's routine.