Katey's Nursery & Pre-school Teddington

A glass-roofed piazza, mezzanine libraries and a stage for productions give Katey's Teddington a recognisable character: books, movement and shared play have spaces of their own. Hand-crafted equipment and quiet areas sit alongside those communal features, offering children different ways to spend their day. This is a nursery with more than a classroom-and-garden story.

At its March 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, while asking for better organisation of adult-led groups so children stayed involved and had more opportunity to express their ideas. That balance matters: the overall judgement was positive, but the teaching of group sessions warranted attention.

The nursery accepts children from 3 months to 5 years and has 64 places in total. Its address is 1A Saint Marks Road, Teddington, TW11 9DE. Daily neighbourhood outings, weekly cooking and language activities add substance to the indoor setting, while the youngest children have provision for sleeping in their own cot.

Rooms and Ages

The Babies room combines textures, light and creative materials with a separate sleep room where babies sleep in their own cot. Staff work with parents around each baby's individual routine, connecting exploration and rest with familiar care patterns.

The Toddlers room combines sensory investigation and imaginative play with a terrace and messy area; Preschool emphasises practical discovery and communication, with movement between the preschool room, neighbouring messy room and outside terrace.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes learning through play across seven areas, with activities planned around children's interests and observations used to decide what comes next. It is the common framework for early years provision. Here, changing themes give that planning a structure, while individual observations help staff adapt experiences to each child rather than treating the room as one developmental stage.

Zig Zag Zumba combines drawing, painting and movement with classical music, connecting physical coordination with the skills used for writing. Cooking takes place weekly, with children preparing hot or cold food. Both give children practical things to do: movement and mark-making in one case, handling ingredients and making something in the other.

Language sessions introduce Spanish, German and Mandarin through role-play, songs and games. Music activities include instruments as different as didgeridoos and violins.

In March 2024, children could borrow books and story sacks for home, and older children practised hearing sounds and putting spoken word parts together. Reading therefore extended beyond time spent with staff at nursery: families had materials to share at home. The same month's group-session improvement point is relevant here, because planned language activities work best when children have room to contribute rather than merely listen.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outings take children into nearby parks and woodland, while the nursery's own outdoor space includes planting and sensory exploration. The two experiences serve different purposes: growing plants gives children something to return to, and neighbourhood walks bring changing surroundings into their learning. Outdoor life is part of the routine, rather than reserved for occasional trips.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is planned jointly with parents and a key person, with the parent's presence reduced gradually as the child becomes familiar with staff, other children and daily routines. The practical value is continuity: the adult helping a child settle also has a role in shaping their individual learning. It gives the family a relationship to build, rather than a succession of introductions.

For toddlers, the Learning Journey collects observations of development and invites contributions from home; the Daily Diary records information about the day itself. Those are different kinds of communication. One helps parents follow change over time, while the other keeps them connected to what has happened during a particular nursery day.

Preschool families can also contribute to the Learning Journey. Before children leave for school, staff contact their future setting and work towards a visit ahead of starting. This is transition support: a chance to build familiarity with the next environment, rather than a claim about an admissions advantage.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In March 2024, everyday tasks included babies practising handwashing and older children preparing fruit, spreading food and serving themselves with utensils. Such activities made independence part of meals and play preparation, rather than a separate lesson. Adults also talked through feelings and possible responses when children were upset.

A chef based at Ham prepares the meals, and staff eat the same food alongside children. Dietary needs are accommodated through meal planning. Shared meals give children adult examples during an ordinary part of the day.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Attendance uses set sessions, with a minimum booking of two days each week that must include either Friday or Monday. This is a substantial scheduling condition: a family seeking only midweek attendance would need to weigh it before committing.

For the 15-hour funded entitlement, the attendance minimum is two full days; the 30-hour entitlement requires three full days. The nursery operates across the year, with its terms specifying 51 weeks, bank holiday closures and a Christmas-to-New-Year break. These arrangements make it important to consider the booked pattern as a whole, rather than matching funded hours to individual working hours.

The Teddington enquiry form takes a preferred starting date and attendance days. Offers have a two-day acceptance deadline. Reducing or ending a booking requires at least two months' written notice for both funded and privately paid attendance, so changes in work or family arrangements need planning ahead.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes up to 30 hours of Early Education Entitlements for eligible families from 9 months to school age, the universal 15-hour offer for children aged 3 to 4, and support-linked 15-hour funding for eligible two-year-olds. Entitlements are stretched across the year. Eligibility remains a condition of the relevant offer; it is not a promise of a particular booking.

Hours beyond the funded entitlement are paid separately. The terms describe a voluntary additional-service package for the 15- and 30-hour offers, with alternatives to discuss for families unable to pay the charge who wish to opt out; the charge does not apply to funded two-year-olds. FEET, the two-year-old funding offer, carries no charge unless parents purchase additional sessions.

A deposit is refundable on withdrawal when the required notice has been given and outstanding fees paid, although cancellation before starting has separate conditions; fully funded two-year-old places are exempt. A non-refundable registration charge also applies, with exemptions for siblings and funded two-year-olds. Current prices belong in the nursery's written quotation, and monthly charges are based on booked attendance rather than days actually used, including absence through holidays or illness.

• Group teaching. The March 2024 improvement point concerned keeping children involved in adult-led activities and allowing time for their thinking. On a visit, ask how sessions are now timed and adapted for different children.
• The weekly commitment. Bookings require at least two days and must include Monday or Friday; the 30-hour funded pattern requires three full days. Compare those conditions with your actual weekly schedule.
• The funding calendar and extras. Funding descriptions use both 51 and 52 weeks. Establish which calendar will apply to your agreement, and request a written breakdown covering the voluntary package, meals and non-food consumables before accepting an offer.
• Baby routines and dietary needs. The Babies room has a separate sleep room with individual cots. Use a visit to discuss how your baby's routine will be accommodated, and confirm current meal arrangements for any allergy or dietary requirement.

Katey's Teddington suits families who value practical creativity, daily outdoor experiences and a gradual, relationship-based start to nursery. Weekly cooking, Zig Zag Zumba and the piazza give that proposition substance. The sleep provision and parent communication matter just as much as the more eye-catching spaces.

Its attendance conditions favour families able to make a regular multi-day commitment, including those using funded full-day patterns. The March 2024 group-teaching concern and the funding calendar deserve attention before joining. For families whose schedule fits, this is a nursery with a clear combination of shared activity, hands-on learning and spaces for quieter moments.