kGems Day Nursery, Clayhall Park

A shared playroom, a Sensory Room and a large garden give kGems Day Nursery, Clayhall Park a clear character: children spend their day together, with space to choose active play or quieter exploration. The setting sits within Clayhall Park in Ilford and caters for children from 18 months to 5 years. Its mixed-age arrangement is central to the choice families are making here.

At its October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found effective safeguarding, with children making good progress, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That judgement belongs to that visit. The current physical offer includes a shared indoor space connected to the garden, plus a separate room for sensory experiences.

The practical offer extends beyond a working-day booking: full days and morning or afternoon half days are sold across the year. Funded childcare uses a stretched arrangement, and bookings must include Monday or Friday. Those conditions matter as much as the surroundings when deciding whether this nursery fits family life.

Rooms and Ages

Toddler + Preschool brings children together in one shared room, with activity zones for making, investigating and solving problems, alongside quiet corners for books or rest. This gives younger and older children opportunities to play alongside one another rather than spending their day in separate age-based rooms.

Sensory Room combines lighting, sounds, visual materials and different textures, with sensory exploration and emotional regulation as its stated purposes. It offers a different kind of space from the shared playroom, which may matter for a child who needs a quieter change of pace during a busy day.

The shared layout deserves attention because it shapes how activities work. A child keen to join older children can find that appealing; another may need careful support to find an activity at the right level. The important distinction is between sharing a room and sharing the same learning task.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care: here, children explore through play, conversation, making things and physical activity. It is the common foundation for early years provision. Construction, water play and sensory experiences feature in the toddler day, while preschool children also use pretend shops, marble runs and art materials.

In October 2022, toddlers practised hand movements by making marks in sand and paint and manipulating dough, while older children attempted letters in their names. These were concrete steps towards writing, rather than an emphasis on formal lessons. Singing, reading and conversation also ran through the day, with pictures and objects used to make routines and choices easier to understand.

In October 2022, two teaching priorities were more opportunities for children to express their own ideas through creative work, and better organisation of group sessions so children with differing needs could participate and learn. Some children lost interest during circle time in October 2022. For parents, the useful issue is how staff adapt a shared experience to the children taking part.

Outdoor and Community Life

Free-flow access connects the shared room with the garden, allowing children to choose between indoor and outdoor play. Running, balancing and climbing sit alongside a mud kitchen and sand and water stations. The outdoor space therefore supports both movement and hands-on investigation, rather than serving only as a break from indoor activities.

Planter boxes, climbing frames and a taxi add recognisable detail to the garden. In October 2022, children also helped to grow vegetables, collect the produce and cook with it, connecting outdoor activity with the food they ate. Weekly football coaching was part of the routine at that time; that frequency belongs to the dated visit.

Garden Construction Zone, held in February 2025 at Clayhall Park, involved digging with tools and pretending to construct a wall using bricks. Messy Play was another February 2025 activity, centred on investigating textures and materials. These are examples of past activities, rather than a promise of a recurring events calendar.

Relationships and Communication

In October 2022, children settled comfortably and formed close relationships with staff. Older children helped younger ones, and mealtimes gave children responsibility for serving food and clearing their plates. Those observations show how care and independence worked together at that point: adults supported children while leaving room for them to do things themselves.

Parents received photographs and updates through an online app in October 2022, alongside conversations with staff about their children's needs. Current daily routines also include feedback at home time about activities, new skills and moments from the day. The practical value is continuity between home and nursery, with information about what a child has actually experienced.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that staff recognised slower progress and worked effectively with families and other professionals to provide targeted help, while adapting communication for children with SEND and those learning English as an additional language. Simplified speech, pictures and objects were among the methods used. This is dated evidence of specific support, rather than a general promise about every child's experience today.

The Sensory Room is intended to support children with SEND as well as other children who benefit from sensory exploration. Its textures, lights and sounds provide resources for that work; the room itself does not establish how individual support will be planned.

After lunch, younger children have a nap while older children spend time in calmer play. That gives the shared day a quieter phase as well as periods of movement and exploration. Meals are addressed separately in the practical terms below, since what is included differs between paid fees and funded hours.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Clayhall Bowls Club, Longwood Gardens, Ilford, IG5 0EB. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks. Full-day bookings run from 8am to 6pm; half-day choices are 8am to 1pm or 1pm to 6pm. Short-day bookings are also offered.

Every booking must contain a Monday or a Friday. An earlier start at 7.30am can be booked where available and carries an additional charge. Extra ad-hoc sessions can also be added where available, with a supplement above the standard session price. These are conditional additions to the regular booking, rather than guaranteed flexibility.

Places are booked across the year. Closures cover bank holidays, up to three staff training days and a week between Christmas and New Year, while fees remain payable over 52 weeks, including bank holidays and training days. Monthly charges are averaged across the year and remain due when children miss sessions through illness or holidays.

The Clayhall enquiry form takes a preferred start date and attendance pattern. Families can also contact the branch on 020 3078 9494 or at clayhall@kgems.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children may use 15 or 30 hours of government-funded childcare, delivered here through a stretched model across 51 weeks. A term-time-only funded option is not offered. The weekly allocation is spread across the year, so families should distinguish the entitlement's headline hours from the attendance they are buying.

For paid fees, meals, milk, snacks, wipes and nappies are included. For funded hours, food and non-food consumables carry a separate optional charge, incorporated into the quoted fee. That distinction is essential when comparing the final cost of two attendance patterns.

A deposit is held for each child; parents in full-time education paying through Childcare Grant require a higher deposit because it pays in arrears. The first payment is due when the booking is confirmed, followed by monthly payment in advance. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page provides the route to fee information.

• Sharing across ages. Toddler + Preschool uses one main room. During the 30-minute ShowAround, ask how younger children and preschool children receive suitable activities within that shared space, and how a quieter child is helped to participate.
• Creative work and group sessions. The October 2022 improvement points concerned children's own creative expression and participation in circle time. Ask to see how current activities give children choices and accommodate different attention spans.
• The weekly pattern. All bookings must include Monday or Friday, and funded hours are stretched across the year. This needs to match both your working week and your need for care outside term time.
• The final quotation. Paid fees include food, nappies and wipes, while funded hours have an optional consumables charge. Request a written breakdown for your chosen sessions, including the deposit, conditional extras and charges during closures.

This nursery suits families seeking either full-day attendance or morning or afternoon half days, with a shared-age playroom and substantial outdoor space. The mud kitchen, sensory resources and free-flow garden access give children several ways to spend their day. Families who prefer children to learn alongside different ages have a clear reason to consider it.

The decision rests on two practical tests: whether the mixed-age arrangement works for your child, and whether the all-year booking and funded-charge structure work for your household. The Good judgement from October 2022 provides a dated quality reference, while the teaching improvement points give a precise subject for discussion. The garden is a strong attraction; the detail of the shared day deserves equal attention.