Kindred Wanstead Nursery and Pre-School

A vegetable garden where children grow and harvest produce gives Kindred Wanstead a concrete connection between outdoor play and food. Older children have daily free-flow access to the large garden, while bright rooms with natural surroundings provide space for indoor exploration. This is a nursery with gardening woven into the day, rather than an outdoor area used only for a scheduled break.

At its August 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. That dated assessment sits alongside a current offer for children from 3 months to 5 years.

Full Day bookings run from 8am to 6pm. The practical appeal also includes meals cooked on site, a gradual settling programme and regular opportunities for parents to talk with staff.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play, conversation and practical activities help children develop their language, movement, relationships and early understanding of numbers. Wanstead's day combines activities children choose with those adults organise, with outdoor play in both the morning and afternoon. Children who need a nap or rest have time for it after lunch.

Spanish, dance, sport and STEM sit alongside that daily routine as enrichment activities. Bubblebees is also an enrichment offering. These additions give families specific activities to weigh against their child's interests; the vegetable garden provides the clearest example of how an activity works here, with children planting and gathering produce while learning about food and nature.

In August 2022, babies explored rhythm with drums during nursery rhymes, and toddlers painted outside in a spacious area. Staff also helped younger children make their way from an upstairs room to the outdoor space below. Movement was part of both organised activities and the building's everyday routine.

Reading and number work were grounded in play in August 2022. Small groups listened to stories with adults discussing the characters, while fishing nets and water play accompanied counting songs outdoors. Indoors, children's interests were used to practise matching quantities and numbers. These examples show how early learning could be incorporated into activities children wanted to join.

The August 2022 assessment also identified a teaching limitation: adults sometimes supplied answers to their own questions too quickly. Children needed longer to consider a question, try an answer and work through a problem. For parents, the useful distinction is between a busy activity programme and interactions that leave children room to think.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily garden access for older children allows indoor and outdoor play to connect. Growing vegetables adds a practical sequence children can take part in, from planting to harvesting, rather than simply talking about where food comes from.

Redbridge Food Bank is a community partner, with frequent collections organised by the nursery. These bring helping other people into family participation and children's conversations about kindness. The connection is specific and local.

Relationships and Communication

Settling follows three stages, with increasing time away from a parent. The first lasts 30 minutes, with the parent remaining to complete the All About Me Booklet; the second gives the child an hour with staff, and the third extends this to three hours. That progression introduces separation before a child experiences a longer portion of the nursery day.

Communication includes weekly newsletters and regular coffee mornings. Management is available on site through an open-door arrangement, giving parents a route for discussing concerns as well as informal opportunities to meet other families. The booklet completed during settling adds a structured way to share information about the child from the start.

In August 2022, staff collected information before children began and used it when planning learning. A key-person arrangement helped maintain continuity between care and education. These are dated examples of how getting to know a child informed their day, rather than a description of today's staffing deployment.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the August 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that the special educational needs coordinator worked successfully with parents and external agencies to support children with SEND. That finding gives a concrete account of partnership around additional needs, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

Home-language support needed more attention in August 2022. Important words from children's home languages were used inconsistently, and staff needed a clearer understanding of their value and greater confidence in explaining this to parents. This matters for families who want the language spoken at home to remain part of their child's nursery experience.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 1a Draycot Road, London, E11 2NU. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and the Full Day booking follows the same times. The fee structure includes both privately paid care and funded bookings, with additional ad hoc care also charged separately.

For families arranging working days, the Full Day pattern is the concrete option to plan around. Payments are made monthly. The nursery closes for bank holidays and over Christmas.

Getting There

Wanstead Tube Station is a 2-minute walk away. A buggy store allows parents to leave pushchairs at the nursery, which is useful when continuing a journey after taking a child there.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible working families may access up to 30 funded hours from the term after their child turns 9 months. The 15-hour entitlement starts from the term after their third birthday. Funding is stretched across the year, so the entitlement is distributed over the nursery's operating weeks rather than used solely during term time. Extra private hours remain a separate part of the bill.

Private fees include meals, snacks, nappies, wipes, milk and formula. Food and non-food consumables carry separate charges during funded hours. Fresh meals are prepared each day by an on-site chef using an accredited menu.

Funded bookings also have a separate activities charge. Families who do not want consumables alongside funded hours must give notice in writing and follow the Nursery Consumables Policy process. The charge structure therefore deserves attention alongside the funded entitlement itself, especially when comparing the total cost of different attendance patterns.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Thinking time and home languages. The August 2022 improvement points concerned adults answering too quickly and inconsistent use of children's home languages. During a visit, ask how staff now give children time to respond and incorporate words used at home.
• Annual attendance. The opening description gives 50 weeks, while the Wanstead fee terms use 51 weeks for attendance and billing. Resolve that difference in the written agreement before planning annual care and funded hours.
• Enrichment in practice. Bubblebees sits alongside Spanish, dance, sport and STEM in the enrichment offer. Use the one-to-one visit to discuss what Bubblebees involves and how activities fit your child's age and routine.
• Funded extras. Food, non-food items and activities are charged separately on funded bookings. Discuss the consumables process and obtain a written breakdown for the pattern you intend to book.

Kindred Wanstead suits families seeking Full Day care with regular outdoor access, food prepared on site and a staged introduction to nursery. The vegetable garden, Redbridge Food Bank collections and weekly parent newsletters give its offer recognisable substance.

The August 2022 Good judgement is a useful quality marker, with clear improvement points about questioning and home languages. The decision rests on how those interactions work now, alongside a written agreement that makes the annual calendar and funded extras clear.