Excel Childcare Services

A baby sleep area, daily garden activities and a partnership with the National Literacy Trust give Excel Childcare Services a concrete identity beyond its Forest Hill address. This is a nursery where play, communication and the practical business of becoming more independent share the day. The youngest children have their own unit; school preparation has a named programme too.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its December 2024 inspection. The strengths behind that judgement included close relationships between children and staff, learning shaped around children's interests and everyday opportunities to practise independence. Two teaching and resource issues also matter: younger children needed clearer demonstrations during organised activities, and worn books needed more regular attention.

The nursery caters for children aged 3 to 60 months at 96 Forest Hill Road, London SE22 0RS. Full days, morning sessions and afternoon sessions sit alongside irregular attendance arrangements for parents with changing shifts, giving families more than one way to organise nursery care.

Rooms and Ages

Bizzy Bees Baby Unit caters for children from 3 months to 2 years, combining exploratory play with soft toys and a dedicated sleep area, so rest has a defined place alongside activity.

Rainbows Unit – Younger Toddlers uses adaptable routines, including rest and snack breaks, with play indoors and outside shaped around children's needs and parents' wishes.

Toddler Mix gives older toddlers room to explore at their own pace as they become accustomed to a more organised daily routine before preschool.

Little Learners is the area for children approaching school age, placing the next stage of their education within the nursery's room structure.

These stages give parents a useful starting point for understanding how the day changes as children grow. For babies, the emphasis is on exploration and accommodating individual routines; for older toddlers, it moves towards greater familiarity with the rhythm of a group day. The room names matter less than those changes in what children are supported to do.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS shapes learning through play, with activities supporting children's communication, movement, relationships and early understanding of the world. It is the common early-years framework, rather than an extra programme unique to Excel. Here, staff plan around each child's next developmental steps and use age-appropriate resources, linking what a child enjoys now with what they are ready to attempt next.

Early Words Together @2 is a five-session programme offered in partnership with the National Literacy Trust. Alongside that partnership, the Bespoke Readiness Program uses activities and educator support to prepare children for starting school. These additions sit beside the EYFS; they do not replace it. An annual graduation ceremony marks the move on for children leaving nursery for school.

In December 2024, storytelling involved physical materials: mud and leaves, sprayed water to represent rain, and foam for snow. Children contributed actions and familiar words while adults asked questions about the story. That gives parents a more useful picture of language learning than a promise of school readiness alone: children were taking part in a shared story and responding to it.

Mathematics also grew out of play in December 2024. Older children counted while jumping along hoops, and puzzles introduced differences in shape and size. Collage activities held children's attention once they understood what to do, although younger children sometimes needed more help getting started with the materials. The practical distinction is between providing an activity and making its resources understandable to the child.

Outdoor and Community Life

A private garden and a playground with soft cushioning provide space for physical play. Movement sessions add another opportunity to practise large movements, while daily outdoor activities include planting seeds and making bug hotels. Nature becomes something children handle and investigate, rather than simply look at.

Children can move between indoor and outdoor play at their own pace. That arrangement allows different interests to continue across the day: a child absorbed in outdoor discovery has scope to stay with it, while another can choose an indoor activity. The combination of planned garden experiences and child-led movement between spaces is a useful feature for families who value outdoor time as part of ordinary nursery life.

Relationships and Communication

Personalised settling-in sessions begin with a parent nearby, then gradually extend the child's time independently. Staff use information about likes, dislikes and home routines to shape the introduction; a familiar toy, blanket or photograph can come along too. The pace is individual. That matters for children who need familiarity before they are ready to explore or separate from their parent.

For babies, daily records capture developmental moments such as learning to sit, crawl or walk, with feedback to parents each day and at parents' evenings. Across the nursery, daily feedback and mobile learning diaries give families ways to follow what their child has been doing. Famly is the nursery's parent app, adding a named communication route alongside conversations with staff.

Assessment takes place twice each term, and parents can arrange a consultation with their child's key person to discuss development and next steps. The value lies in connecting observations to what happens next: activities are planned around those next steps, rather than feedback ending with a description of the day. Translated documents are available for families whose first language is not English, making written communication more accessible.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its December 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, a key-person system that helped staff understand individual learning needs, and good progress for children including those with SEND, supported by cooperation with parents and other agencies. Those are dated quality judgements, supported by specific working relationships rather than a general promise that every child will flourish.

The manager holds the SENDCo Lead role and attends meetings with other professionals for children who have individual education plans. This gives families a defined contact and a mechanism for coordinating additional support. Safeguarding arrangements include designated lead roles held by the manager and director, staff induction procedures and safeguarding discussions during staff meetings.

In December 2024, everyday health routines included handwashing, nose care and toothbrushing, while older children helped prepare tables and tidy after lunch. These small responsibilities put independence into practice. They also show that preparing for the next educational stage involved managing ordinary tasks, alongside language and early mathematics.

An in-house chef prepares food in the onsite kitchen, with a five-week menu that includes vegetarian plant-based meals. The nursery's allergy arrangements ask families to share dietary needs before starting, inform staff of individual allergies or intolerances, and use a dietary-requirement board in each room.

Sessions and Attendance

The booking choices are full days, mornings or afternoons. A shorter session is therefore an actual attendance option, rather than simply leaving early from a full day.

Parents with alternating shifts can use irregular sessions. Holiday-period booking can cover a few days or a full week, which broadens the attendance choices beyond a fixed weekly routine. These arrangements are useful for families whose working pattern changes, alongside morning and afternoon sessions for those seeking a regular pattern.

The nursery operates across the year, closing for one week at Easter, another at Christmas, bank holidays, weekends and two staff-training days annually. Those planned breaks matter when fitting childcare around work. Holiday care does not mean uninterrupted opening throughout every school holiday.

Getting There

The address is 96 Forest Hill Road, London SE22 0RS, and the office telephone is 0208 299 6387. Local parking is free. Applications can be made using a downloadable form, with a deposit forming part of the enrolment process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including 15 hours per week for all 3 and 4-year-olds, 30 hours for eligible working families with children aged 3 or 4, and 15 hours for eligible 2-year-olds. Funded attendance uses full days or half sessions; term-time and stretched-hour arrangements are offered. Access to funding requires a valid code and completed forms by the deadline, otherwise the term is charged at the full private rate.

Breakfast and snacks are included at no additional charge; nursery lunch and tea are charged separately from childcare. Parents may supply prepared bottles and baby food for children under one; from age one, nursery meals are expected and charged. Packed lunches require discussion with the manager because of food allergies, and choosing that option means waiting until the next term to switch to nursery meals.

Tax-Free Childcare and employer childcare vouchers are accepted as payment routes. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charge structure explained on its fees page. Families should distinguish the funded attendance entitlement from the food charges when considering the overall cost.

• Younger children's teaching and books. In December 2024, demonstrations of activity resources and the replacement of worn books needed attention. During a visit, ask to see how staff introduce a creative activity and maintain the books children choose independently.
• Funding across the year. Term-time and stretched arrangements sit alongside Easter and Christmas closures and staff-training days. Ask for an attendance plan showing exactly how your child's funded sessions fit around those breaks.
• Baby care and settling. Bizzy Bees Baby Unit has a dedicated sleep area, and settling sessions gradually introduce time apart from parents. Ask how your baby's sleep routine will be managed.
• Food choices and allergies. Packed lunches need prior discussion, and changing back to nursery meals waits until the following term. Families managing allergies should confirm current food-handling practice and agree the meal arrangement before starting.

Excel suits families seeking either full-day care or morning and afternoon sessions, including parents who need irregular attendance around changing shifts. Its strongest practical ingredients are the baby sleep area, personalised settling, daily outdoor activity and several routes for parent communication. The National Literacy Trust partnership and school-readiness activities give learning additional structure beyond the everyday play offer.

The December 2024 Good judgement provides a positive assessment, with specific teaching and book-care points to weigh alongside it. For parents, the decision is likely to turn on the fit between their child's routines, the room experience and the session pattern, with food charges and planned closures factored into the arrangement.