Treehouse Nursery, Woodbine Place

A fairy garden with canaries, a water stream and a mud kitchen gives Treehouse Nursery, Woodbine Place a recognisable outdoor character. Opposite Christ Church Green in Wanstead, this is a substantial setting with eight rooms arranged for different ages, rather than one shared space for the whole age range. Its appeal starts with the opportunities children have to explore.

At its February 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, found safeguarding effective and praised the support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including their learning progress. The practical examples behind that judgement matter: children investigated materials, took responsibility for everyday tasks and used community facilities as part of their learning.

Treehouse accepts children from three months to five years and has capacity for 148 children in total. That is the whole nursery's capacity, not a room size or a measure of how many children attend together. Opening hours run from 7.30am to 6.30pm on weekdays.

Rooms and Ages

Eight age-group rooms allow the nursery to organise its accommodation around different stages of childhood. Indoor spaces sit alongside a garden and an adventure play area, with outdoor time extending beyond a single type of play. The fairy garden adds water, birds and a mud kitchen: concrete starting points for observing living things and experimenting with materials.

In February 2024, babies and toddlers explored objects with reflective surfaces and different textures. Children's outdoor play included riding wheeled toys and using climbing equipment. Alongside babies' and toddlers' sensory exploration, these activities offered opportunities to investigate materials and practise movement and coordination.

Learning and Activities

The nursery follows the early years foundation stage, the framework for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, this connects experiences such as conversation, physical play and creative exploration with children's developing abilities; it is the common foundation, rather than an extra programme unique to Treehouse.

In February 2024, children experimented with paint colours and brushes of different sizes. Another activity involved grinding chalk, leaves and turmeric with a mortar and pestle to make paint. The interest here is in the process: children can test what happens when materials are combined, rather than simply complete an adult's model.

Language also had a place within play. During that February visit, an imaginary teaching game involving arctic animals and ice brought geographical vocabulary into children's conversations. Staff gave children thinking time before expecting a response. That makes room for children to develop an idea and express it, rather than having an adult supply the answer immediately.

Outdoor and Community Life

Sustainability is part of the current curriculum, with play used to introduce reusing materials, recycling and reducing waste. This gives environmental ideas a practical form that young children can take part in. Christ Church Green also places parkland directly opposite the nursery, although that location alone does not establish an outings schedule.

In February 2024, community activities included collecting litter in a park and taking money raised for local charities to a bank. Those experiences connected caring for shared spaces with an introduction to how money is handled. They extended learning beyond the nursery's own resources.

Relationships and everyday independence were closely connected in February 2024. Babies and toddlers settled readily, and children had close bonds with their key person and other staff. For a parent weighing a child's first separation from home, the key-person relationship is an important part of how care is organised.

The February 2024 nursery day also included children helping to prepare and clean tables, and matching plates and cutlery to the people eating. Small responsibilities gave children something useful to do for themselves and for others. School preparation was expressed through everyday participation, rather than only through formal learning tasks.

Parents were involved in their children's learning during that February visit, while staff worked with other professionals to support continuity of care. The value is practical: information about a child can contribute to what happens in the nursery, instead of remaining separate from the day's activities.

Current access arrangements include a biometric entry system for authorised users and CCTV. These are specific security measures, rather than a substitute for the dated safeguarding judgement. The nursery also has procedures for responding to and recording concerns about children's welfare.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 35 Woodbine Place, Wanstead, London E11 2RH. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am until 6.30pm, and operates across the year, closing on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas. Those closures belong in a family's childcare planning alongside the daily opening window.

A Woodbine Place contact form allows parents to give their details and select a preferred callback period. Telephone enquiries can be made on 0208 532 2535. Current prices should come in the nursery's written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

In February 2024, the nursery received early-education funding for children aged two, three and four. That is a dated participation fact, rather than a promise about an individual family's entitlement or attendance arrangement. The funding question below is therefore an important part of assessing the cost of a proposed booking.

• The youngest children's day. This nursery spans three months to five years across eight age-group rooms. During a visit, ask how the youngest room manages settling, sleep and the number of children attending together.
• Outdoor provision. The fairy garden, water stream, mud kitchen and adventure play area are substantial reasons to look closely at this setting. Ask how outdoor experiences differ for babies, toddlers and older children, and how garden time fits around each child's routine.
• The written booking proposal. The weekday opening window is long, but the attendance arrangement determines whether it works for your family. Ask for a written proposal covering the booking pattern, funded entitlement, meals, consumables and any additional charges before making a commitment.

Treehouse suits families seeking an age-spanning nursery with substantial outdoor provision and an emphasis on practical exploration. The fairy garden and mud kitchen give that offer a clear physical identity; the February 2024 examples of making paint, handling money and helping at mealtimes show how learning can emerge from useful, hands-on experiences.

Its weekday opening hours and operation across the year are relevant to working families, while the Christmas closure needs planning. The strongest case for choosing it combines the dated Outstanding judgement with the actual spaces and experiences on offer. For parents of the youngest children, the visit should give the room's daily care arrangements equal weight to the nursery's broader attractions.