The Crown Nursery, St Margaret's

A sensory den, daily park trips and a community hub give The Crown Nursery, St Margaret's a character that extends beyond its playrooms. Children explore the neighbourhood as well as the garden, while families have space for workshops and shared experiences. That combination makes outdoor discovery and parent involvement central to the offer.

The nursery cares for children from 3 months to 5 years and has 40 places in total. At its February 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, alongside those learning English as an additional language, made good progress. Those are dated judgements, rather than assurances about every child's experience today.

Full days and morning or afternoon sessions give families different attendance patterns, with a regular weekly commitment required. The strongest reasons to consider this setting are its everyday use of the local area, detailed settling arrangements and several ways for parents to follow their child's development.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room serves children between 3 months and 2 years, with accessible resources encouraging exploration through handling, looking and touch. For the youngest children, that places sensory discovery within their own learning space rather than treating it as an occasional activity elsewhere.

In the Over 2s Room, children choose materials and activities for themselves, supporting independence through play across the early-years curriculum. A sensory den adds another physical space for exploration, and the nursery garden is used daily. These are useful differences to consider alongside the age divisions: the environment includes opportunities for both indoor discovery and outdoor investigation.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides the nursery day: children learn through play, with activities developing communication, movement, emotional understanding and early literacy and mathematics. It is the shared framework for early-years provision. Here, free play sits alongside group activities, creative work, stories and more directed learning, with observations used to adapt activities to individual development.

Parents receive updates on progress and are involved in deciding what comes next. This gives the learning programme a practical connection to home: families can follow the skills their child is developing rather than receiving only a description of the day's activities. Termly reports and parent meetings provide opportunities to discuss that development over a longer period.

In February 2023, preschool children explored seeds, cultivated herbs and vegetables, and practised using tools carefully. Growing food connected observation and language with everyday experience: children could discuss smell and appearance while learning how plants are cared for. Babies' messy play with cereal provided a different route into sensory exploration, appropriate to their stage.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily visits to local parks extend outdoor learning beyond the nursery garden. Regular trips also include the post office, station, supermarket and vets. These outings give children concrete examples of the places and services around them, making neighbourhood life part of their learning rather than simply passing scenery.

The garden allows children to investigate nature and work either independently or together. Its daily use matters as much as the trips: outdoor experience is part of the ordinary routine, with opportunities to revisit ideas and familiar surroundings.

The community hub space hosts workshops and classes each term shaped around the needs of nursery families and friends. Parents can also take part in stay-and-play sessions, picnics, sports days and sing-alongs during the year. These provide several ways to participate in nursery life beyond a formal progress meeting.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is organised around the individual child. Four free sessions are routinely offered before the start date, parents can remain to help their child adjust, and each child has a key person. Familiarity is built deliberately: the same relationship supports both the initial move into nursery and the child's continuing development.

Comfort objects and family photographs can help children maintain a connection with home. When moving to the older room, children have introductory sessions, with their key worker accompanying early visits; where appropriate, two children move together. This gives a room change its own preparation rather than assuming that being settled in the nursery makes every later transition easy.

Daily app updates include photographs, learning notes and information about food and sleep. Conversations with staff, termly written reports and parent meetings add other routes for communication. The combination serves different needs: an account of today's routine, a chance to discuss a concern and a fuller picture of development over time.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A room leader also holds the special educational needs co-ordinator role. Where a child needs extra help, staff discuss concerns with parents and involve the SENCO in a tailored plan covering the child's needs, intended outcomes, support and review dates. Possible adjustments include smaller groups, individual sessions and resources chosen for a particular learning need.

With parental involvement, advice may be sought from health visitors, doctors or speech and language therapists. If the support plan is insufficient, a local-authority assessment may be requested. These are specific mechanisms for arranging help, rather than a general promise that every need can be met in the same way.

For children learning English, families can supply words from the home language and their English meanings so staff can use familiar language during settling. Pictures and signs also support communication. The practical value is continuity between home and nursery while children become familiar with new people and routines.

A chef cooks meals in the nursery kitchen each day. Dietary requirements are recorded when a child joins, with preparation and monitoring arrangements for allergies and intolerances.

School preparation includes books, photographs and conversations about what will change, alongside information sharing and a written report for the receiving primary school. This is preparation for a transition, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 116 St. Margarets Road, Twickenham, TW1 2AA. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays, with weekend and public-holiday closures and a short Christmas break; the annual offer runs across 51 weeks.

Full-day sessions run from 8am to 6pm. Morning sessions are 8am to 1pm and afternoons run from 1pm to 6pm. Families commit to a regular weekly schedule, with a minimum of two full days or three half days. Collection and drop-off can take place within operating hours, which allows flexibility around the booked session's everyday use.

Booked days cannot be swapped. Extra days can be requested through the ad hoc online booking system, subject to approval and availability. Monthly fees remain payable when a child is absent through illness, holidays or a planned day away, so occasional non-attendance does not reduce the monthly commitment.

Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form, which includes a St Margarets location choice. Joining requires a registration form and nursery contract. Admissions consider siblings already attending and application order, while a full-time request may take preference over a part-time one; family welfare circumstances are also considered.

Getting There

The nursery is opposite a bus stop and train station. That is a useful practical feature for families whose childcare journey forms part of a public-transport commute.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible families can use 15 or 30 hours of funded childcare, stretched across the nursery's 51-week year. Term-time-only funded places are not offered. Funding pays for the entitlement hours, while additional private hours are charged; the arrangement therefore needs to be considered alongside the family's actual weekly schedule.

For paid care, meals and snacks are included in the overall fees, as are milk or formula, nappies, wipes and sun cream. On funded hours, food and non-food consumables are charged separately, with those charges optional and special arrangements possible for families unable to pay. The distinction matters: an inclusive paid-care package does not mean the same items are included within funded entitlement hours.

Optional Playball sessions can attract an additional activity charge. A refundable deposit is required when registering, but there is no registration charge. Monthly invoices separate entitlement hours, paid hours, food, consumables and activities, helping families see what they are paying for; the fee structure explains the charging categories.

• Weekly commitment. The minimum is two full days or three half days, and booked days cannot be exchanged. Discuss how the proposed schedule works with your family's week before committing.
• Independence and conversation. In February 2023, children sometimes had too little thinking time after questions, and mealtimes offered insufficient opportunities to choose and serve food. During a visit, ask how staff now organise these everyday learning opportunities.
• Moving between spaces. The St Margarets building operates across four floors. Ask to see how your child's room, garden access and daily movement between spaces would work, especially where mobility support is needed.
• Dietary needs and funded extras. Allergies are recorded at registration, and funded food and consumables charges are optional. Confirm current allergy practice and agree any alternative arrangements for those extras before the start date.

The Crown Nursery, St Margaret's suits families seeking either regular full days or a morning-and-afternoon session pattern, with outdoor exploration and close involvement in their child's nursery life. Daily park trips, a sensory den and the community hub give that offer substance. Settling sessions, a key person and detailed parent communication make the practical side of care equally relevant.

The February 2023 Good judgement provides a dated assessment of quality, with clear questions about conversation and mealtime independence to pursue on a visit. The weekly minimum, restrictions on swapping days and stretched funding model deserve equal weight in the decision: this is a setting for families able to establish a consistent attendance routine.