Katey's Nursery & Pre-School Ham

Five acres give Katey's Nursery & Pre-School Ham its defining character: fields, a playground and astroturf pitches make outdoor exploration part of daily life. Near the River Thames, this Richmond nursery combines indoor activities with space to climb, investigate nature and develop engineering skills with bug hotels. The outdoors is central to the offer.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 25 July 2023, finding safeguarding effective and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effective. There are 48 places in total. The accepted age range is 3 to 60 months. Babies, Toddlers and Preschool are its current age groups.

For families, the strongest combination is practical outdoor space and activities that introduce children to movement, food, instruments and languages. The inspection also identified weaknesses in adult-led learning and behaviour management. Those points deserve attention alongside the setting's appealing physical surroundings.

Rooms and Ages

Babies, Toddlers and Preschool organise the nursery day by developmental stage. The setting's wider outdoor resources include climbing frames, fields and a playground, offering different ways to practise movement rather than relying solely on indoor play.

In July 2023, toddlers crossed uneven ground and explored woodland, while older children used leaves and petals in imaginative play around a pretend ice-cream shop. These examples show two different uses of natural surroundings: physical exploration for younger children and materials for shared make-believe among older children. They are useful illustrations of the nursery's practice at that time.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. In parent language, this means that play and everyday experiences have an educational purpose, with staff helping children develop their communication, movement and growing independence. The additional activities give that framework concrete expression.

The group-wide Zig Zag Zumba programme combines painting and drawing with movement to classical music, aiming to develop the physical skills used in writing. Group-wide Cooking takes place once a week, with children preparing both cold and hot food while wearing aprons and chef's hats. One activity links movement with mark-making; the other gives children a practical role in making food.

Music introduces instruments including didgeridoos and violins. Languages brings Mandarin, Spanish and German into games, role-play and songs. These are also group-wide activities offered at Ham, giving children encounters with sounds and words beyond ordinary conversation. Their value lies in the actual experiences, rather than the programme names alone.

In July 2023, an interest in snails became a starting point for creative work: children observed the creatures and made pictures and models using painting and cutting. However, some adult-led activities pursued too many learning aims together, making individual support less precise. The distinction matters: following a child's curiosity worked well in that example, while planning adult-led learning needed greater clarity.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor exploration uses the five-acre setting throughout the year. Bug hotels support engineering learning; climbing frames introduce physical challenges. Families who value nature and movement have tangible facilities to weigh here, rather than a general promise of outdoor play.

In July 2023, children picked blackberries, practised careful handling of small creatures and encountered obstacles in woodland. The surroundings supplied real things to notice and respond to. Outdoor learning was connected with observation and care for living things, as well as opportunities to move.

Relationships and Communication

In July 2023, staff knew children's individual interests and tracked their development to plan what they should learn next. Books and learning packs went home for families to share. That gave parents a concrete way to participate in learning, alongside conversations with staff.

A Christmas disco and a graduation ceremony were also part of parent involvement at that time. The graduation marked children's move towards school, while the disco brought families into the nursery's social life. These are dated examples of how home and nursery were connected, rather than a current events calendar.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In July 2023, displays, activities and celebrations acknowledged children's languages and backgrounds. Staff also learned simple signing strategies to support children whose speech was developing. These were practical ways to make participation easier and recognise children's identities.

Behaviour support needed more consistency. At that time, children received reminders about kindness and following instructions, but staff did not always explain the consequences of actions clearly enough to help children manage their behaviour independently. This was an improvement priority, alongside more precise adult-led teaching.

Food is prepared by an in-house chef based at Ham, and practitioners eat the same dishes alongside the children. In July 2023, children also harvested vegetables from the garden and cooked healthy food, connecting conversations about eating with practical experience.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, across the year. It closes on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. Those closures matter for families arranging care around work, especially over the festive period.

Getting There

The address is Kew & Ham Sports Assosciation, Ham Playing Fields, Riverside Drive, Richmond, TW10 7RX. The playing-field setting is a substantial part of the nursery experience, with the River Thames nearby.

Enquiries can be made through the Ham enquiry form, by email at ham@kateyshouse.co.uk or by telephone on 0208 940 5877.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including up to 30 hours of Early Education Entitlements for eligible families from 9 months until school age. The funding arrangements also cover 15 hours for children aged 3 to 4 and eligible children aged 2. These entitlements start from 1 January, 1 April or 1 September following the child's third or second birthday respectively. The nursery stretches funded hours over 52 weeks. Eligibility remains part of each entitlement, so the age range alone does not establish a family's entitlement.

• Adult-led learning. In July 2023, activities sometimes combined too many learning aims, weakening individual support. At a visit, ask how practitioners now select and follow through on each child's next step.
• Behaviour and independence. The July 2023 improvement priorities included clearer, more consistent responses to behaviour. Ask how staff explain consequences and help children learn to manage their actions.
• Your attendance and cost plan. The opening window runs from 8am to 6pm, with bank-holiday and Christmas closures, while funded hours are stretched over 52 weeks. Ask for a written quotation covering your booking pattern, private hours, meals and non-food consumables, including how charges apply during funded hours.

Katey's Ham suits families who place daily nature exploration, physical play and practical activities high on their list. Five acres, climbing frames and bug hotels give that preference substance; cooking, instruments and language activities add variety indoors. Its weekday opening window also gives families a clear starting point for planning care across the year.

The Good judgement from July 2023 sits alongside specific improvement priorities for adult-led learning and behaviour support. This is a nursery with a strong outdoor identity and a concrete activity offer. The decision turns on how that day fits your child, and how current practice addresses those teaching and behaviour priorities.