Tiny Town Daycare

Cooking on Mondays, visiting music on Wednesdays and gardening on Fridays give Tiny Town Daycare in West Silvertown a recognisable weekly rhythm. Based at The Britannia Village Hall, it cares for children from six months to five years, with learning that reaches beyond indoor play into food, instruments and growing plants.

At its July 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, finding effective safeguarding, good progress and helpful support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), while identifying weaknesses in early reading teaching and the timing of staff development. That judgement needs to be read alongside a later safeguarding notification failure, detailed below. The strengths are concrete; so are the cautions.

Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions serve different attendance needs. Funded childcare follows a term-time pattern, while the nursery operates throughout the year with holiday closures.

Rooms and Ages

The yellow room serves children aged three to five, while the blue room is for two- to three-year-olds. Babies and toddlers use the green room, where the daily pattern adjusts to their routines at home through discussion with parents. For younger children, that is a useful practical emphasis: the nursery day is organised around familiar habits rather than expecting every baby to follow an identical timetable.

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care, with play and activities responding to children's development. It is the shared foundation for early-years provision, rather than an extra programme. Here, independent play, imagination and participation with other children are part of the stated approach, alongside experiences connected to the world children know.

Learning and Activities

Monday's Cooking session brings measuring, pouring and weighing into preparing food, with healthy eating and tasting the results part of the activity. These are practical tasks with a clear purpose. Children explore quantities and ingredients while making food they can taste.

Tuesday's Music and Dance uses storytelling, pretend play and improvisation. Wednesday's Music classes bring a visiting teacher, songs and instruments, with opportunities to handle instruments and explore rhythm. Thursday's Creative Acting gives children ways to express feelings through movement and words. These sessions offer different routes into communication: speaking, performing, listening and responding.

Friday's Gardening follows plants from seed through digging, watering and watching what happens. Recording growth makes change something children can return to over time. The weekly timetable therefore combines activities that produce an immediate result, such as cooking, with something slower that requires continued attention.

In July 2023, babies heard adults model animal names and sounds, while preschool children explored vocabulary connected with books. Toddlers investigated shaving foam, giving them a sensory material to explore. Early reading teaching was less consistent: staff sometimes gave inaccurate letter sounds. This matters because enthusiasm for books and accurate teaching of reading are separate parts of the experience.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily use of a private outdoor space extends learning beyond the rooms. In July 2023, an outdoor reading space and storytelling gave books a place outside too. The practical benefit is variety: outdoor time can include quieter activity as well as movement.

Celebrations include cultural day, world food day and an easter hunt, alongside dress-up occasions and charity fundraising. Parents and carers are invited into these events, giving families ways to participate beyond conversations about their own child's day. They sit alongside the regular activity timetable, rather than replacing it.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with a parent accompanying their child to an initial session. Further sessions follow, and paid-for places can begin gradually. This gives the family a staged introduction to the nursery routine, with paperwork and the parent declaration completed as part of the process. Free settling sessions are also part of the offer.

In July 2023, key persons used their knowledge of individual children to plan what they should learn next. Parents received detailed updates about care and development, and a nursery library encouraged reading at home. That combination links the child's day with family life: communication covers learning as well as practical care, while books give parents something tangible to share with their child.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In July 2023, visual resources helped children with SEND understand and communicate. Staff adjusted their interactions to individual needs, and the manager sought additional professional involvement when development raised concerns. These are specific support mechanisms, rather than a promise that every child's needs will be met in the same way.

The same month's observations included children learning to manage personal needs, recognise their names and put numbers in sequence. Preschool children also helped put resources away. Preparation for school included everyday independence, rather than concentrating only on early academic tasks.

In its outcome dated 8 August 2025, Ofsted found that appropriate safeguarding steps and liaison with local safeguarding partners had taken place, but that the nursery had failed to notify it about allegations of serious harm or abuse involving someone living, working or caring for children on the premises. This was a notification failure, and it should not be confused with the separate finding about the safeguarding steps taken. The dated outcome remains a material consideration for parents.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm; afternoon sessions run from 1pm to 6pm. A full day runs from 8am to 6pm. The nursery opens Monday to Friday throughout the year, closing for bank holidays and approximately a week around Christmas. Families can therefore distinguish the booked session from the wider opening window.

Applications use an application form, and the Britannia Village branch can be contacted by email at info@tinytowndaycare.co.uk. If a start cannot be confirmed, the application goes onto a waiting list; joining that list carries neither a fee nor an obligation to start. Reducing attendance days or leaving requires four weeks' notice, with formal requests sent by email. That notice period matters when work schedules change.

Tiny Town offers a wraparound service with Britannia Village School. This is childcare provision, not an admissions advantage: attending Tiny Town does not guarantee a school place, and families still use the local authority admissions process.

Getting There

The nursery's address is The Britannia Village Hall, 65 Evelyn Road, West Silvertown, London E16 1TU. This identifies the Britannia Village setting rather than the other Tiny Town address in East London.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered over 38 weeks following the local authority's term-time calendar. The entitlements include 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds, 30 hours for eligible working families, and 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds whose families receive additional government support. The extended working-parent offer includes 30 hours for eligible children from nine months. Funding and year-round opening are different arrangements, so a family's attendance plan needs to account for that distinction.

A deposit is waived when a child uses only funded hours; booking extra hours brings a refundable deposit and a registration charge. For paid childcare, fees are billed monthly in arrears, and the refundable deposit may be applied to the final month's bill. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with its fees and funding terms setting out the charge structure.

Meals and snacks are included in the sessions: breakfast and lunch accompany mornings, while afternoons include tea and a snack. Lunch and tea arrive freshly frozen from The Nursery Catering Company and are heated at the nursery; menus take religious and medical dietary needs into account.

• Safeguarding notifications. The 8 August 2025 outcome identified a failure to report serious allegations. At a visit, ask how notification responsibilities are now managed and checked.
• Early reading and staff development. In July 2023, inaccurate letter sounds and delays in targeted training were improvement points. Ask staff to explain current reading practice and how training reaches the people delivering it.
• Funded attendance. Funding follows 38 term-time weeks, while childcare operates across the year. Request a written attendance and charge plan, including how meals and consumables are treated during funded hours.
• Settling and dietary needs. The green room adapts to home routines, and menus accommodate religious and medical requirements. Discuss your child's sleep pattern and, where relevant, current allergy arrangements during the visit.

Tiny Town suits families seeking morning sessions, afternoon care or a full-day pattern, with a weekly timetable that makes cooking, music and gardening part of nursery life. Its adaptable baby routine and practical learning activities give parents clear features to weigh.

The balance requires care. In July 2023, communication and individual support were strengths, while early reading teaching and timely staff development needed improvement; the August 2025 notification failure adds a separate regulatory caution. The choice should rest on both the everyday offer and the nursery's response to those specific issues.