Balfour Nursery

Hands-on play and children’s own interests shape the day at Balfour Nursery in Ilford. Planning is tailored to each room and stage of development, with themes chosen to balance what children need to learn with what catches their attention. That gives families a useful starting point: learning here is organised around experiences children can take part in, rather than simply watch.

Balfour accepts children from birth to five and has capacity for 45 children. At its February 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good overall and found safeguarding effective. The main improvement concerned more targeted help for children with delayed communication and language, a point that deserves attention alongside the positive judgement.

Rooms and Ages

Bumble Bee Room, Butterfly Room, Grasshopper Room and Dragonfly Room give the nursery its room names. Planning takes account of children’s age and development as well as the room they attend. For parents, that makes the relationship between a child’s stage and their daily activities more useful than the room name alone.

In February 2022, babies chose a song by picking an object from a bag, while preschool children voted for the book they wanted to hear. These were small, concrete opportunities to make decisions. They also gave younger children a concrete way to express a preference.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning, development and care: children learn through play, with activities covering its seven areas of learning. Balfour builds its planning around direct experience, using things children can handle, explore and observe. Assessments and observations track development, while parents are encouraged to contribute to the next steps in learning.

In February 2022, an ice activity involved freeing trapped Lego with salt and spreading it using brushes. This brought investigation and careful hand movements into the same task. Play dough and utensils for edible messy play provided other opportunities to practise using hands and tools.

Storytelling was interactive in February 2022, with adults drawing children into conversation about books. Songs combined rhymes with actions for younger children. These February 2022 activities gave children opportunities both to hear language and to use it.

Outdoor and Community Life

In February 2022, physical play took place inside and in the garden. A sports coach led movement activities, including balancing bean bags while moving backwards; younger children practised stairs with adult help. These examples show how physical learning extended beyond running around, including balance, coordination and judging the space around other children.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who works with the family. Parents contribute to learning plans, so the relationship has an educational purpose as well as a care role: observations at home can help shape what happens next at nursery.

In February 2022, an online app shared care routines and learning with parents. Children also practised everyday independence, including putting coats on pegs after garden time and using cutlery at lunch. For families, these ordinary tasks matter because nursery learning carries into dressing, eating and managing routines at home.

Balfour’s toilet-training guidance encourages parents to tell their practitioner when training begins so that home and nursery can work together. Its advice emphasises readiness, patience and praise. The practical value is consistency between the adults supporting a child, rather than treating toilet training as an isolated nursery task.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that staff understood children’s learning needs and used additional funding to support access to the curriculum, including for children with SEND or English as an additional language, but children with language delays lacked individualised help and did not always receive support early enough. This is a specific limitation, rather than a reason to overlook the nursery’s other work with children.

In February 2022, food was cooked on the premises and included meals reflecting children’s cultural backgrounds; a sample weekly menu is also provided for families. Everyday health learning included conversations about food and play involving toothbrushing, connecting care routines with things children could understand and practise.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 7 Balfour Road, Ilford, Essex IG1 4HP. Opening hours run from 7.30am until 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates throughout the year and closes on bank holidays. This opening window is useful for judging how nursery care could fit around work and family routines.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 020 8553 1886 or by email at info@balfournursery.com. Families can also use a visit-booking form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered for eligible two-year-olds from the term after their second birthday, and for children aged three and four from the term after their third birthday. For these entitlements, the arrangements include 15 hours a week across 38 weeks or 11 hours a week spread across the full year. Spreading the hours changes how support fits into a family’s calendar; it does not make the weekly patterns interchangeable.

Eligible working families with a three- or four-year-old can also access the extended 30-hour entitlement from the term after the child’s third birthday. Balfour participates in Tax-Free Childcare, a scheme that helps working parents meet childcare costs. The funding information explains these routes, while current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

• Individual language support. In February 2022, children with language delays needed more targeted intervention. Ask how a child’s language needs are assessed now, what individual support follows and how progress is shared with parents.
• Room fit. Bumble Bee Room, Butterfly Room, Grasshopper Room and Dragonfly Room organise the nursery environment. During a visit, ask which room would suit your child, its usual group size and how moves between rooms are handled.
• The weekly arrangement and total cost. Opening hours span 7.30am to 6.30pm, and funded hours can follow a term-time or year-round pattern. Ask for a written attendance proposal covering your preferred days, private hours, meals and non-food consumables, so the arrangement and total cost are clear together.

Balfour suits families seeking year-round nursery care, play-based learning and a key person who involves parents in children’s development. Its weekday opening window and choice between term-time and year-round delivery of funded hours are useful practical considerations.

The February 2022 Good judgement gives a positive inspection position, with concrete examples of choice, investigation and everyday independence. Individual communication and language support is the point to examine most closely. For a child who needs help in that area, the response to that concern should carry considerable weight in the decision.