Incey Winceys Childcare

Separate spaces for babies’ sleep, a toddler room opening onto the garden and learning that reaches into South Woodford give Incey Winceys Childcare a recognisable character. This family-run nursery combines practical room design with activities shaped around children’s interests. The emphasis is on doing: exploring materials, choosing resources and gradually taking more responsibility for everyday tasks.

At its May 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and identified improvements needed in behaviour support and the coaching staff received to strengthen teaching.

Children are accepted from birth to five, with Baby Room, Toddlers (Ants Room) and Pre-School marking the stages. Full-time and part-time attendance are offered. For younger children, the physical separation of sleep, bottle preparation and play is a practical attraction; for toddlers, direct garden access makes outdoor activity part of the room’s layout.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Room, for children aged zero to two, combines low-level resources with soft carpeting, a feeding chair, separate sleep rooms for younger babies, containing cots and monitors, and distinct spaces for changing nappies and preparing milk. Those arrangements address different parts of a baby’s day rather than expecting one busy play space to serve every purpose. Resources within reach also let children make choices before they can explain those choices in words.

Toddlers (Ants Room), for ages two to three, has direct access to the garden, with art, pretend play, investigation, early maths and literacy supported by a book area, home corner, sand, water and messy play. Child-sized toilets and changing facilities accommodate children at different stages of toilet learning. The combination gives toddlers opportunities to move between active exploration and quieter play.

Pre-School, for ages three to five, uses play and areas covering the early-years curriculum to develop independence, with garden access and outings into the surrounding community. School preparation here includes games requiring more sustained attention. It remains rooted in play, rather than becoming a premature classroom timetable.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the statutory foundation: children develop language, movement and relationships alongside early reading, maths, creativity and understanding their surroundings. Incey Winceys builds activities around children’s interests and sets an individual next step each month. Observations help staff assess that step and plan what follows, giving play a purpose beyond keeping children occupied.

Adult-planned activities leave room for children to direct the learning. The curriculum approach also connects observations with the SENCo’s monitoring, so concerns about development can be discussed with parents. This links everyday activity with individual support, rather than treating those as separate parts of nursery life.

In May 2023, children helped feed Kodak, the nursery’s hamster, and clean his cage. Caring for a living animal gave them a concrete task with a purpose. Language activities at that time included peekaboo with younger children and conversations about animals and their habitats with older children, while familiar stories encouraged toddlers to remember sequences and copy actions.

Outdoor and Community Life

Babies have garden access and take outings into the local community; the curriculum also includes visits to the park and library. These experiences extend learning beyond indoor resources. Ordinary places become opportunities to notice people, sounds and how everyday life works.

Past outings show what that can involve. In January 2023, Ants Room visited South Woodford Station, exploring trains, ticket barriers and the departure countdown, with road-crossing practice along the way. In February 2023, babies watched birds at Eagle pond, while preschool children also compared bird sizes, counted them and explored nearby nature.

Outdoor movement featured in May 2023 too: older children used balance beams and played parachute games, while younger children climbed low apparatus. The activities offered different physical challenges according to children’s stage of development.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person and a secondary key worker, giving families a main relationship and another practitioner familiar with their child. The aim is for the key person to be present at either collection or drop-off. That is useful continuity, especially when a child needs reassurance or a parent needs to pass on something affecting the day.

Agency staff are not used; cover comes from other rooms. Parents also contribute to learning through observations from home, helping staff connect a child’s nursery interests with experiences outside it.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Key people flag possible support needs early, activities are adapted individually, and plans are developed with parents. The SENCo works with services including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and The Grove, a child development centre. These are identifiable routes for help, useful for families whose child needs input beyond the nursery team.

At the May 2023 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding and strong coordination of SEND support, with staff sharing the strategies children needed. Those are dated judgements. Current arrangements include a lead safeguarding role and deputies, alongside paediatric first-aid training for staff.

Behaviour support treats behaviour as a way of communicating a need. Staff use trackers to look for triggers and adjust activities or the environment; time out is not used. The May 2023 improvement priorities remain relevant questions for a visit: children sometimes needed more effective help with managing behaviour, and staff needed more precise feedback and coaching.

Breakfast, cooked lunch, dinner and snacks are provided, with water and milk throughout the day. The nursery’s dietary policy covers allergies and vegetarian or vegan requirements, while toddlers and preschool children practise serving food themselves to build everyday independence.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours run from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year. Full-time and part-time attendance are offered, so the opening window should be read alongside the chosen attendance arrangement.

Public holidays are closures. The year-end break begins at noon on the final working day and finishes when the nursery reopens on January’s first working day. Families planning work cover around that period need to account for the shortened final day as well as the break itself.

Getting There

The address is The Oasis Centre, 10 Eastwood Close, London, E18 1BX, with the nursery’s contact address extending across 10-12 Eastwood Close in South Woodford. South Woodford tube station is nearby, and a covered, secure buggy park accommodates buggies, bikes and scooters.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 020 8518 8001 or by email to inceywinceys@live.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and private unfunded care are offered. The fee structure separates private fees from monthly charges with either 11 or 22 funded hours applied, keeping paid care and the funding contribution distinct. Those figures describe the nursery’s charging structure; they should not be read as a statement of an individual family’s entitlement.

Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation. The fees page sets out the charging categories, including other chargeable fees. For budgeting, the useful comparison is the complete quotation for the attendance arrangement a family intends to use.

• Support with emotions. In May 2023, behaviour strategies needed further development when children struggled with sharing or became disruptive, and staff coaching needed sharper direction. During a visit, ask how practitioners now help children manage those moments and how managers assess teaching.
• The learning journal. The curriculum uses Tapestry for observations and family contributions, while a January 2023 announcement introduced Famly as a replacement journal and contact system. Which system will your family use?
• The complete attendance cost. Full-time and part-time care sit alongside private and funded charging categories. When discussing your arrangement, what funded-hours pattern applies, and which meals, nappies, wipes or other consumables does the written quotation cover?

Incey Winceys suits families considering either full-time or part-time attendance who value accessible play spaces, outdoor activity and a clear key-person arrangement. Separate baby sleep facilities and direct garden access for toddlers are practical reasons to consider it. Monthly learning steps and named support links give the educational approach substance.

The Good judgement from May 2023 is balanced by specific improvements concerning behaviour support and staff coaching. A visit should test how those priorities translate into practice. The appeal lies in the detail of the day: familiar adults, purposeful play and learning connected with the surrounding community.