Belmont Day Nursery

A separate kitchen for bottle feeds, a garden with cushioned play surfaces and a gradual introduction over three short visits give Belmont Day Nursery a practical character. Babies and preschool children share the same setting, but their care arrangements recognise different stages of development. For parents, the useful detail lies in how feeding, settling and communication are organised.

Belmont takes children from three months to five years at 69 Belmont Road, Ilford, IG1 1YW. At its November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall. That judgement sits alongside two clear improvement priorities: better organisation of shared reading and more consistent mathematics teaching for older children.

Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions give families different ways to arrange attendance. The strongest reasons to consider Belmont are its structured settling routine, everyday feedback to parents and practical facilities for younger children, rather than a branded learning programme.

Rooms and Ages

Yellow Room accommodates children from three months to three years, while Green Room Pre-school and Blue Room Pre-school each take children from three to five years. The youngest room therefore spans babies and toddlers, making the organisation of activities across those developmental stages a useful subject for a visit.

Across the setting, equipment is selected with children’s ages and development in mind. Separate nappy-changing facilities sit alongside toilets designed for children, with low basins that make handwashing accessible. These are everyday features with a clear purpose: adults can support personal care while children begin practising tasks for themselves.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS is the framework for children’s learning and care, bringing together communication, physical development, relationships, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. At Belmont, activities are planned around children’s developmental stage and learning through play. This means the educational day extends beyond adult-led tasks: choosing resources, talking with others and exploring materials also form part of learning.

Activities are adapted so children at different stages can participate. Books, games and toys are used to represent different cultures, while behaviour guidance emphasises sharing, discussing difficulties and recognising other people’s feelings. Praise acknowledges positive behaviour; staff also work with parents on responses to challenging behaviour. The practical value is a connection between what happens at nursery and how adults respond at home.

In November 2022, children explored floating and sinking with different objects and made puppets using craft materials. Familiar songs involved actions, and children selected books for themselves. These examples give a useful picture of the learning at that time: investigating a question, making something and joining in with language through music.

The same November 2022 findings exposed weaknesses worth weighing. Shared reading sometimes became disorganised, leaving some children distracted rather than involved. Mathematical vocabulary and number learning were not woven consistently through activities, especially for older children preparing for school. Those concerns concern the organisation and continuity of teaching, rather than whether books or counting activities existed.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden extends the indoor play space, with physical equipment, a soft-surfaced lawn and wet-pour surfacing. Children have planned, supervised turns outside. That gives outdoor play a place in the routine rather than leaving it solely to an occasional change of activity.

In November 2022, outdoor experiences included garden play and local walks; children used a slide, larger apparatus and tricycles. Indoor activities could also be revisited outside, allowing children to return to something that interested them in a different space.

Belmont consults the Redbridge Pedagogy Advisory Team on its educational work and participates in the Redbridge Quality Assurance Scheme, through which its services are monitored. These are useful links to advice and review, though the day-to-day teaching remains the decisive consideration for families.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person with responsibility for following their welfare and development. Observations and assessments inform updates for parents, giving families a particular practitioner through whom to discuss their child’s experience. The arrangement matters most when a child is settling, changing routines or beginning to communicate new needs.

Settling starts with three separate visits lasting one hour each before the usual booked sessions begin. The shorter introductions give children time to become familiar with staff, other children and the surroundings. They also require parents to make room for those visits before their regular childcare arrangement starts.

Daily report books, monthly newsletters and parents’ evenings provide different kinds of communication. The books support everyday exchanges; consultations with the key worker allow a longer conversation about development. Parents can also approach the manager or deputy for advice, and observations are used to plan activities around individual children’s needs. This is a concrete communication structure, with more than one opportunity to raise a concern.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children with SEND and their families well supported. In November 2022, staff also used children’s home languages and visual aids to help understanding and settling. These dated findings are useful for families whose children need additional communication support, while keeping the distinction between past assessment and present arrangements clear.

Current arrangements include a designated Child Protection Officer, daily risk assessments and records of accidents or incidents, with parents informed when collecting their child. These describe how responsibilities are organised; the safeguarding judgement above belongs to the dated inspection.

Food is prepared by staff using the nursery’s main kitchen, with vegetarian choices and provision for religious preferences. Bottle feeds are prepared in a separate milk kitchen and given according to parents’ instructions, keeping infant feeding arrangements distinct from the preparation of other meals.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with closure at weekends and on bank holidays. Full-time Sessions run from 8am to 6pm; Part-time Morning Sessions run from 8am to 1pm, and Part-time Afternoon Sessions from 1pm to 6pm. Parents can choose full-time or part-time attendance, so the offer accommodates a complete nursery day as well as either part of it.

Breakfast, a snack and lunch are included in morning sessions; afternoon sessions include a snack and light tea. The different meal arrangements matter when planning eating routines around a shorter day. Late collection attracts a charge, and parents are asked to give advance warning if they will be delayed.

Collection arrangements also need planning. The nursery will not release a child to someone it does not know or to anyone under 18. Families relying on relatives or other carers therefore need to organise the collection arrangements ahead of time.

Getting There

The address is 69 Belmont Road, Ilford, IG1 1YW, and off-street parking is provided. A sheltered pram park gives families bringing a baby somewhere to leave a pram.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 020 8553 2020 or by email to admin@belmontdaynursery.com. These provide a direct route for arranging the next step with the nursery.

Funding and Paid Extras

Belmont offers private childcare alongside 15 hour and 30 hour funded childcare places. Funding and the chosen attendance pattern should be considered together: the nursery sells morning, afternoon and full-day sessions, while a family’s funded arrangement needs to fit its intended use.

Uniform is expected from age three and can be bought from Lucilla Ltd. Children also need a spare uniform kept at nursery. Trainers are prohibited; footwear should be sensible, black or navy and have no laces or high heels. This introduces a practical clothing requirement when children reach the preschool years.

• Teaching for older children. In November 2022, shared reading could lose children’s attention and mathematics was not consistently integrated into activities. At a visit, ask how story groups are organised and how mathematical language now appears throughout the preschool day.
• The youngest room’s age span. Yellow Room takes children from three months to three years. Ask how space and activities are arranged for babies alongside mobile toddlers, and what the usual group looks like on your intended days.
• Funding and the complete quotation. Morning and afternoon sessions include different meals, and Belmont offers 15 hour and 30 hour funding. Request a written quotation showing how funded hours fit your sessions and how meals, nappies, wipes and any other charges are treated.
• Starting and collecting. The introduction involves three one-hour visits, and collection by an unknown person or someone under 18 is prohibited. Build both requirements into the family’s childcare arrangements before the regular sessions begin.

Belmont suits families choosing either a full nursery day or shorter morning and afternoon attendance, with children able to join from infancy through the preschool years. Its separate bottle-feed preparation space, planned settling visits and regular parent communication give the offer useful substance.

The Good judgement from November 2022 is balanced by specific teaching concerns about shared reading and mathematics. For a preschool family, those deserve close attention. For parents of younger children, the broad age span of Yellow Room makes its daily organisation equally important to the decision.