EDG Nursery

A daily arts workshop gives EDG Nursery a clear creative identity. The Atelier is a dedicated space for children to investigate materials and express ideas, with access across the age groups. Combined with a Reggio Emilia-inspired approach, it makes exploration a central part of the nursery day rather than an occasional craft activity.

Based at 31 East Dulwich Grove, London, SE22 8PW, EDG has capacity for 92 children aged 3 to 60 months. Its Grade II listed Georgian building gives the setting architectural character, while the educational emphasis is on children's interests, questions and choices.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated EDG Good overall and judged safeguarding effective. That is a dated judgement, and the practical strengths are more useful than the label alone: daily creative work, projects developed around children's interests and a weekly programme of named activities. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions give families several attendance patterns.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) provides the educational framework: children develop communication, physical and social skills alongside early literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. These areas connect through play and exploration. EDG adds inspiration from Reggio Emilia, an approach that treats children as capable learners and builds experiences around their interests and ideas.

That philosophy has concrete expression here. Projects can explore shadows, insects or the post office through storytelling, making, art and outdoor play. Following a topic across different activities gives children several ways to investigate the same question. Practitioners work alongside them, using questions and challenges to extend their thinking rather than simply demonstrating a finished answer.

Room layouts, lighting and colour encourage investigation. Sticks, leaves and wooden toys, alongside light and shadow, give children materials to rearrange and experiment with.

The Atelier, the nursery's creative workshop, is the clearest physical expression of this emphasis. Children of all ages use it daily, with small-group access forming part of the arrangement. It gives arts-based exploration a regular place in the day. In January 2024, younger children experimented with piano keys, shaped clay and watched water respond to musical beats in the art studio. Those examples show how sound, movement and materials can become connected investigations.

A weekly activity timetable adds more structured experiences. On Mondays, preschool children take part in Sammy Sounds through Play Phonics, meeting letter sounds through themed stories. This gives early phonics a story-led format. Tuesday tennis with Little Rackets serves toddlers and preschool children, using rackets, targets and movement to practise coordination.

Thursday yoga with Beam Academy reaches babies, toddlers and preschool children through gentle movement, music and breathing activities. On Fridays, Lucy Sparkles provides music and movement for babies and toddlers, combining rhythm, singing, dance and imaginative play. These activities are included in nursery fees, so they form part of the attendance offer rather than a separately priced activity menu.

Outdoor and Community Life

Natural resources support exploration indoors and outside at children's own pace, connecting practical making with outdoor play.

In January 2024, older children used a spacious garden and babies took trips into the surrounding community. The same visit captured opportunities for drawing and mark-making with paint and sand, alongside older children practising their names. These are useful snapshots of the nursery day at that time: creative activity extended beyond the art studio into outdoor experiences and early writing.

Relationships and Communication

Children's learning is documented through photographs, their conversations and examples of their creations. Displays make that work visible to children, families and staff. This gives parents something concrete to discuss beyond a list of activities, and allows children to revisit an idea or recognise how their work has developed.

Families contribute their knowledge and culture to nursery life, helping practitioners understand the interests children bring into play.

In January 2024, staff used singing, books, eye contact and repeated words to support babies' communication. With older children, conversations linked their ideas to experiences, and stories invited children to join in with familiar repeated words. For parents, these examples make the communication emphasis tangible: language practice happened during interaction and play, not only during a designated activity.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENDCO role supports children and families through contact with outside agencies, and a dedicated inclusion email handles questions about additional developmental needs and wellbeing. These are specific support mechanisms. They give families a route for discussing needs and coordinating outside involvement.

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff adapted activities with parents and external professionals to support inclusion, but asked for better help for quieter newcomers to develop friendships and more consistent health practices, including during food-tasting activities. Both points deserve attention: settling involves relationships with other children as well as adults, and health routines need to carry through into hands-on activities.

Meals are cooked on the premises by an in-house chef, with menus changing on a four-week cycle and with the seasons. The kitchen team works with nursery staff on individual dietary needs and allergies, linking food preparation with the child's care arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, afternoons from 1pm to 6pm, and full days from 8am to 6pm. The minimum booking is two sessions each week. This allows families to choose between shorter attendance and a full day while retaining a regular weekly pattern.

Early entry runs from 7.30am to 8am and late collection from 6pm to 6.30pm; both depend on availability and require a request through the general enquiries email. They are extensions to the core sessions, so families whose working day needs either end of that window should treat the condition as part of their booking decision.

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas. Admissions enquiries and tours use admissions@edgnursery.co.uk; day-to-day attendance and general support use management@edgnursery.co.uk. Keeping those routes separate helps direct a booking enquiry or an existing family's practical question to the relevant team.

Getting There

The address is just off Lordship Lane, and East Dulwich Railway Station provides a direct connection to London Bridge. That rail link is useful context for families combining nursery attendance with a journey into central London.

Funding and Paid Extras

Nursery fees include meals, cow's milk and the weekly activity programme. Breakfast and lunch accompany morning attendance, while afternoon attendance includes a snack and cooked tea; the meal pattern therefore follows the session booked.

Fees are payable monthly in advance, with payment due on the first day of the month. Tax-Free Childcare and childcare vouchers are accepted. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, allowing families to consider the session pattern and included provision together.

In January 2024, the nursery received early education funding for children aged two, three and four. Funding enquiries use bursar@edgnursery.co.uk, which also handles invoices and payment questions. A funded arrangement should be considered separately from the inclusive private-fee offer when planning attendance and costs.

• Friendships during settling. January 2024's improvement point concerned quieter children who had recently joined. During a visit, ask how staff help a newcomer join other children's play and build friendships, as well as develop a relationship with their key person.
• Health routines and dietary needs. January 2024 also called for more consistent health practices during activities such as food tasting. Ask how those routines work now and how any allergy requirements are communicated between the kitchen and practitioners.
• The edges of the day. Core sessions end at 6pm, while early entry and late collection require a request and depend on availability. Discuss those extensions alongside the two-session weekly minimum if your working pattern needs them.
• A funded quotation. The private-fee offer includes meals and activities. Ask which funded entitlement applies to your proposed attendance, how it is scheduled, and how meals and non-food consumables are treated within that arrangement.

EDG suits families seeking an arts-led nursery day with choices between morning, afternoon and full-day attendance. The daily Atelier, interest-led projects and named weekly activities give its educational approach practical substance. Creative exploration is the clearest reason to consider it.

January 2024's improvement points about newcomers' friendships and health routines deserve consideration alongside the two-session minimum and conditional extensions.