Little Cherubs

A gated garden for babies and a separate room for quieter, individual learning give Little Cherubs a clear physical identity. At 164 Goodmayes Lane in Ilford, it takes children from 3 months to 5 years, with Ducklings Room, Doves Room and Swans Room marking the progression from baby care to preparation for Reception. The outdoor space adds a different scale of play: digging, climbing and make-believe have their own equipment rather than depending on indoor activities moving outside.

At its May 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Little Cherubs Good and found safeguarding effective. That judgement also came with two practical improvement priorities: giving children more consistent opportunities to manage everyday tasks themselves, and arranging resources so they could reach them independently. Those details matter more than the grade alone. They concern how much control children have over their day.

Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings sit alongside term-time and year-round attendance. The strongest reasons to consider this nursery are its separation of spaces, the key person and Buddy arrangement, and the specific support mechanisms for children with additional needs.

Rooms and Ages

Ducklings Room takes babies from 3 months to 2 years: floor-level sensory play, toys that respond to children's actions and shared books sit alongside a gated outdoor area for crawlers and early walkers. This gives the youngest children their own environment rather than expecting them to use equipment intended for older children.

For children aged 2 to 3, Doves Room combines creative and messy play with developing movement skills indoors and outside, while everyday independence and the move to Swans become part of the room's emphasis. Staff work with families when children begin toilet training. This is a stage where practical care and learning overlap closely.

Swans Room, for ages 3 to 5, combines activities led by adults with children's own choices, covering early writing, mathematical ideas, getting dressed and using technology as preparation for Reception. School preparation therefore includes managing personal tasks as well as recognising letters and numbers.

Wood Peckers is a separate space for preparation skills, small-group work and individual activities; key people use it with older children, and the SENCo also works there with children who need fewer distractions. The value is the change of setting. A child can work on a particular next step away from the busier main room.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes learning through play, conversation, movement and developing personal skills, alongside early literacy and mathematics. It is the shared early-years framework rather than a special nursery programme. Here, planning connects children's interests and next learning steps with parental involvement and a book of the month, giving staff several routes into the same child's development.

Birth to 5 Matters provides non-statutory guidance for practitioners using that framework. Practitioners use this guidance alongside the Early Years Foundation Stage to support children's progress. The nursery's curriculum overview explains how observation, planned activities and review fit together.

Children also practise making decisions. During circle time, they choose between books through a show of hands and select songs; emotion cards help children express feelings when spoken language is difficult. These are concrete ways to involve children in group life, including those who cannot yet explain their preferences easily.

In May 2023, sorting coloured cubes became an opportunity to count and identify an item that did not match. Stories also prompted children to join repeated phrases and act out movements. The examples show learning embedded in play rather than confined to a separate teaching slot.

Outdoor and Community Life

A mud kitchen and construction pit support pretend cooking and digging with natural materials. Elsewhere, a pirate ship, climbing frame and wheeled toys offer physical play, while books and messy activities have their own areas. The garden can accommodate several kinds of activity rather than treating outdoor time solely as exercise.

In May 2023, children explored rainfall, used weather songs and moved into shelter as the rain increased. There was a practical limitation too: some outdoor resources, including books, required an adult's help to retrieve. The distinction is useful for parents. Having an activity area and being able to use its contents independently are separate things.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person, with a Buddy practitioner who also gets to know that child's group and takes over when the key person is absent. This builds a second familiar relationship into the care arrangement. Settling visits take place before the start date, and the nursery encourages parents to give a clear goodbye rather than leave unnoticed.

The settling and observation process can extend to six weeks. A settling observation then informs the child's next learning steps, which are shared with parents and revised as development continues. It is a process that links familiarity with planning, rather than treating settling as complete simply because a child has started attending.

Tapestry is the online journal for developmental observations and daily routines. Handovers, calls, emails and parent meetings provide other routes for conversation; a consent-based WhatsApp group handles general communication. Annual progress reports give a further account of achievements and concerns, while Reception transition reports are shared with the receiving school. That supports continuity of information when children move on.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that children, including those with SEND, progressed well because staff planned their next learning steps and worked with outside agencies. Current support arrangements include a SENCo and two deputies, working with the Redbridge Early Years Special Educational Needs Support Service (EYSENDSS) on referrals, targeted help and advice. The graduated approach means assessing needs, planning support, putting it into practice and reviewing its effect with parents.

In May 2023, picture cards helped children communicate choices, and staff used familiar words from children's home languages where possible. These were specific adaptations to communication. They give families a useful starting point for discussing how their own child's language and support needs would be understood.

Baby-room staff work with parents on feeding, weaning and sleep routines, and can puree food when requested and appropriate to the baby's age. The nursery also has paediatric first-aid cover in every room. These are practical arrangements; the dated safeguarding judgement remains the basis for assessing effectiveness.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 164 Goodmayes Lane, Ilford, IG3 9PR. Standard opening hours run from 8am to 6pm on weekdays, with an enquiry form for families beginning the joining process.

Full Time runs from 8am to 6pm, Morning Session from 8am to 1pm and Afternoon Session from 1pm to 6pm. Care outside those standard sessions can be arranged between 7am and 7pm at an additional charge, and staggered attendance is also possible by arrangement. These options give different ways to fit care around work and family routines.

Families can choose term-time or year-round attendance. Closures include bank holidays, three staff-training days and the Christmas and New Year period. Those breaks need to be part of the childcare plan, even for a year-round booking.

Funding and Paid Extras

Little Cherubs offers funded childcare through the working-parent entitlement, disadvantaged two-year-old entitlement and universal entitlement for children aged 3 and 4, subject to the relevant eligibility rules. Funding is delivered over 38 term-time weeks. The 15-hour arrangement can use three five-hour sessions or one and a half full days; the 30-hour arrangement can use three full days or a combination of sessions and a full day, with other patterns negotiable.

Additional hours and attendance during holidays can be purchased privately. Working-parent codes require renewal every three months, and the parent declaration commits the child to taking their funded early-learning place here for that term. The sessions and funding page sets out the charge structure.

Meals, snacks and drinks are included for non-funded places; funded families can pay separately for nursery food or send sufficient food from home for the booked session. A chef prepares vegetarian food on site using Quorn, and the nursery publishes a nut-free policy that also applies to packed lunches.

Parents supply formula, nappies and wipes. Those supplies remain a separate part of the practical preparation for attendance.

• Everyday independence. In May 2023, adults sometimes completed tasks such as putting on coats instead of letting children practise, and some resources needed adult assistance. During a visit, ask how children now manage dressing and reach materials in both indoor and outdoor areas.
• Continuity for your child. The key person has a Buddy, and Wood Peckers provides space for individual work. Ask how these arrangements would operate during your child's settling period and any additional support sessions.
• Funding and closures. Funded hours follow a term-time pattern, while private attendance can extend into holidays and closures include training days. Match the proposed session pattern and closure calendar against the care your family needs.
• Food and allergies. The menu is vegetarian and packed lunches must follow the nursery's nut-free policy. Families affected by allergies should confirm current ingredients and food-handling practice with management before attendance.

Little Cherubs suits families wanting morning or afternoon care as well as those choosing full-day attendance, with term-time and year-round options. Its strongest practical combination is separate provision for babies, a garden equipped for different kinds of play, and a quieter room for targeted work. The Buddy system and structured parent reporting add continuity around those spaces.

The May 2023 improvement priorities deserve attention because they concern ordinary moments: reaching a book, putting on a coat and doing something independently. For parents, the decision rests on how those daily opportunities work alongside the nursery's clear room progression and care arrangements.