Kindred Hainault Nursery & Pre-school

A garden for each room gives Kindred Hainault a clear outdoor identity: children can move freely between their room and its outdoor space, with outdoor play continuing in different weather conditions. The partnership with neighbouring Hainault Children's Centre adds another useful dimension, connecting families with sensory sessions and practical support.

At its August 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, while asking staff to allow children longer to think before answering questions. That is a dated judgement rather than a description of every aspect of today's provision. The current offer includes a gradual settling programme, an on-site chef and transition meetings with receiving schools.

Based at The Learning Centre in Ilford, the nursery has capacity for 80 children aged three months to five years. Full days and half days sit alongside both year-round and term-time attendance, giving families different ways to organise care.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in daily life, that means supporting communication, movement, relationships and learning through play. Hainault's current day combines activities led by adults with play chosen by children, alongside garden access and scheduled enrichment.

Tiny Mites and Robot Reg are named enrichment activities, alongside cooking, science and sport. They add scheduled sessions to the day; the important distinction for parents is between these additions and the everyday play and care that run around them. Their content is a useful subject for a visit conversation.

In August 2023, staff used a curiosity approach, with children turning boxes and crates into a car. Using these everyday materials brought imaginative construction into their play. Planning also responded to children's interests, while different rooms had goals for the next stage of learning.

Books supplied another route into imaginative play that August. Children chose reading material, joined in repeated phrases and acted out stories. The practical value is the connection between hearing language, using it and giving a story their own interpretation. However, the improvement point about allowing enough response time matters here: a good question needs space for the child to answer.

Outdoor and Community Life

Each room's garden access makes outdoor time part of the room's routine, rather than an entirely separate destination. Children can alternate indoor activities with outdoor exploration. For a child who enjoys moving between different kinds of play, that arrangement is a useful feature of the setting.

In August 2023, outdoor activities included a climbing frame and slide, while younger children practised walking with their key person. The planting to plate initiative connected growing produce with lunch: children watered, dug and harvested fruit and vegetables that were then used in meals. It gave food growing a tangible end point.

Hainault Children's Centre provides a current community connection. Its team sometimes delivers sensory classes at the nursery, and families can be referred for further support. This is a named partnership with practical services behind it, rather than a general claim about community involvement.

Relationships and Communication

Settling follows three stages. The first is an hour with a parent present, allowing the family to share preferences and allergy information; the next is an hour apart; the third lasts two hours and typically includes a snack. Additional settling sessions can be arranged when a child needs them. The sequence gives the key person time to get to know the child while separation builds gradually.

In August 2023, key persons shared ideas with parents for supporting learning at home, and staff involved families in agreeing children's next steps. Home languages also formed part of English-language development. These details matter for families who want their child's existing language and home experience to contribute to nursery life.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Nap and quiet time are part of the current afternoon routine for babies and toddlers who need them. The day therefore accommodates rest alongside activities, rather than treating continuous participation as the aim. Allergy information is shared during the first settling session, giving families an early opportunity to explain their child's needs.

Through Hainault Children's Centre, families can access a baby bank and food bank, as well as referrals to more specialised resources. That support reaches beyond the child's activities at nursery. At the end of the summer term, meetings with receiving schools pass on information about children, with the Local Authority involved in coordinating transition.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Learning Centre, 114 Huntsman Road, Ilford IG6 3SY. Opening runs from 7am to 6pm on weekdays, with normal sessions beginning at 8am and an early-start option before that.

A Full Day runs from 8am to 6pm. Half Day bookings cover either 8am to 1pm or 1pm to 6pm, so a shorter attendance pattern is a real part of the offer. Year-round attendance covers 51 weeks; term-time attendance covers 38 weeks. Closures include bank holidays and a week at Christmas, which families need to account for separately from the normal weekly pattern.

For enquiries, the nursery can be contacted on 020 8500 5285. The practical choice is between the attendance calendar and the length of each booked day: those are separate decisions, especially where childcare needs change during school holidays.

Getting There

Hainault Youth Centre is next door, and the nursery shares a private car park with it; parking on the street immediately outside does not require a permit. A bus stop outside has frequent links to Hainault Station and Grange Hill Station, providing an alternative to driving.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible working families may access up to 30 funded hours from the term after their child turns nine months, within the nine-month-to-five-year funding band. The 15-hour entitlement starts from the term after the child's third birthday. Delivery can follow term-time attendance or be stretched across the year-round calendar. Stretched funding spreads the entitlement over more weeks, rather than providing the term-time weekly total throughout the year.

Private fees include meals and snacks, together with nappies, wipes, milk and formula; funded sessions have separate food, non-food and activity charges. Fresh food is cooked daily on site by the chef, using an accredited menu.

Families who wish to decline consumables alongside funded hours must notify the nursery in writing and follow its Nursery Consumables Policy. There is no registration charge or deposit, but a prepayment is required and credited against the first full invoice. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• The earliest ages. The current age range starts at three months. For a young baby, use the one-to-one visit to discuss the baby group size and how the key person fits care around sleep and feeding.
• Time to answer. The August 2023 improvement point concerned children being given enough thinking time. Ask how practitioners now handle questions during stories and child-led play.
• Named enrichment. Tiny Mites and Robot Reg sit alongside cooking, science and sport. Ask what those sessions involve for your child's age and how the funded activity charge applies to the chosen booking.
• Settling and allergies. The first settling session includes sharing allergy information, and further sessions can follow the usual three. Families managing allergies should confirm current food-handling practice during their visit.

Kindred Hainault suits families choosing either full days or half days, with term-time and year-round calendars providing another useful choice. Gardens attached to each room, staged settling and practical links with Hainault Children's Centre give the offer substance beyond its attendance hours.

The August 2023 Good judgement provides a useful assessment, but its question-response improvement point deserves attention. For parents, the strongest reasons to consider Hainault are its accessible outdoor routine, gradual introduction to care and support connections next door.