Goslings Day Nursery

Shopping lists, a trip to the grocer and fruit salad for tea: in May 2025, these experiences showed how Goslings Day Nursery connected everyday tasks with early learning. This Nunhead setting has capacity for 33 children, with an accepted age range of 6 to 60 months. Its appeal rests on the connection between play, practical skills and relationships with adults.

At its 30 May 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Goslings Outstanding overall, highlighting responsive teaching and close relationships with children. The useful detail beneath that judgement is concrete: construction play involved measuring, community outings extended vocabulary, and staff gave children time to think before answering questions.

Full-time attendance, ad hoc days and AM or PM sessions provide different ways to use the nursery. The choice is broader than a single attendance pattern.

Learning and Activities

Goslings follows the EYFS, the framework for children's early learning and care: play supports communication, physical development, social understanding and exploration.

In May 2025, staff changed the materials and activities in response to what interested children and what they had learned about them. Natural objects and resources with several possible uses supported imaginative exploration. In the construction area, children wore high-visibility vests and measured with wool. Measuring became part of their game, giving mathematical language a practical purpose.

Adults also allowed children time to recall earlier experiences and formulate answers. Listening mattered as much as asking questions. For a parent weighing the learning approach, this is a useful example of how adult guidance can extend a child's ideas while leaving room for the child to contribute.

Eat Better Start Better is a group-wide food initiative for which the nursery has signed up to the pilot scheme. It provides guidance for early-years staff and parents on balanced food and drink. Its relevance goes beyond a menu: learning about food connects with the practical experiences children have during the day.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor play forms part of the current offer, and the nursery has a garden. This gives children an outdoor setting alongside their indoor activities, rather than making community outings their only opportunity to play outside.

In May 2025, regular neighbourhood outings linked learning inside the nursery with real tasks nearby. Children prepared shopping lists, visited the local grocer and then cut fruit for a salad. The sequence gave them a reason to use new words and practise skills across several activities. It also made the destination part of the learning, rather than simply a change of scenery.

Relationships and Communication

Settling sessions allow children to get to know the setting while parents observe their interactions with staff and other children. Parents can see care in practice before the transition is complete. The emphasis is on familiarity with people and routines.

In May 2025, staff visited families at home before children started and shared updates each day afterwards. Parent workshops helped families support learning at home. These arrangements connected the child's home life with nursery experiences and gave parents more than an occasional progress conversation.

Goslings App supports that contact with learning journals, messaging and daily diaries. Translation within the app helps families read shared information, while accident reports and medication forms provide channels for care information. For parents, the practical benefit is having everyday updates and important forms within the same communication system.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that support for children with SEND, children learning English as an additional language and disadvantaged children was integrated into daily activities, and judged safeguarding arrangements effective. The distinction matters: additional help formed part of children's ordinary experiences with their peers.

Chefs prepare the food fresh, with a morning snack, lunch and afternoon tea; the group-wide meal arrangements include children serving themselves, talking together and helping clear up. Families can discuss medical, allergy, religious or cultural dietary requirements with the manager, making individual needs part of meal planning.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 106 Evelina Road, Nunhead, London SE15 3HL. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. These are the opening hours of the setting, rather than the clock times of its AM or PM sessions.

The attendance options include full-time care, ad hoc days, morning sessions and afternoon sessions. Private childcare and funded childcare are both offered. Families can therefore consider a session-based arrangement as well as full-time attendance, with their chosen pattern forming part of the written quotation.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 020 7639 5261. The nursery also works with local schools to prepare children for their next stage.

Funding and Paid Extras

Goslings offers arrangements using 15-hour or 30-hour funding for eligible families, with discounted funded fee rates conditional on entitlement. Funding and private attendance should be considered separately: a funded entitlement is not itself a description of the whole booking or its total cost.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees page sets out the attendance options and the entitlement condition for funded rates.

• The youngest children's day. The accepted age range starts at 6 months, and settling sessions let parents observe care and interactions. Use a visit to see how your child's routines fit the setting and how staff respond to them.
• The whole funded booking. Discounted funded rates depend on entitlement to 15-hour or 30-hour funding. What would your written quotation include for the chosen sessions, funded-hours delivery, meals and non-food consumables?
• Individual dietary needs. Medical, allergy, religious and cultural requirements can be discussed with the manager. Families affected by allergies should confirm the current preparation and serving arrangements for their child.

Goslings suits families seeking full-time attendance or morning and afternoon sessions, with practical learning and frequent parent communication central to its appeal. The May 2025 judgement provides substantial support for the quality of that experience, while the grocer outings and construction play show what the learning looked like in practice. Settling sessions and Goslings App give parents complementary ways to stay connected: direct observation at the start, then information shared through the nursery day.