Little Jungle School of Early Childhood

In April 2022, clay exploration and experiments with light gave substance to Little Jungle School of Early Childhood’s emphasis on children’s own ideas. The youngest children are based at 60a Amott Road, London SE15 4JD, across the road from the older children’s building. This review concerns that younger setting, which has capacity for 24 children. The distinction matters: a shared campus does not make the two buildings interchangeable.

Ofsted rated this setting Outstanding at its April 2022 inspection, when children explored clay, experimented with light and took responsibility for everyday tasks. That judgement belongs to the younger children’s provision. It is a strong inspection position, but a dated one.

Little Jungle’s shared campus approach takes children’s questions seriously, giving them materials and time to explore ideas rather than simply follow an adult’s instructions. Attendance is organised around two, three or five days a week.

Rooms and Ages

Tigers is the youngest group, with an age band of 10 to 30 months; the grouping allows for differences in development rather than treating a birthday as a rigid dividing line. The current campus arrangement places the youngest children at 60a Amott Road, while children aged two to five use the separate building across the road. For a family choosing baby or toddler care, the younger building is the relevant starting point.

In April 2022, children used wall displays of their earlier mark-making to return to previous ideas. The physical environment therefore did more than hold finished pictures: it gave young children something familiar to revisit and discuss. Clay offered another means of expression, alongside gestures and emerging speech.

Learning and Activities

Little Jungle follows the EYFS, the framework connecting children’s learning, development and care through everyday play and routines. In April 2022, children developed communication through clay exploration and practised independent self-care by managing clothing and using cutlery. Alongside this common foundation, its Reggio Emilia inspiration takes practical shape through listening to children, considering their theories and offering materials that invite further investigation. Children’s thinking helps determine what happens next.

The shared campus approach also uses enquiry-based learning: natural resources and materials with no fixed use allow children to invent possibilities and test ideas. Sustained investigations become documented projects, giving practitioners a way to reconsider both children’s learning and their own decisions. The emphasis is on the process, rather than producing an identical finished object.

In April 2022, babies experimented with torches and watched the light move across a wall as they moved their hands. This was a concrete encounter with cause and effect, pitched at an age when an action and its result can be explored together. Children also took turns helping with daily jobs, making participation part of ordinary nursery life.

Relationships and Communication

In April 2022, settling began with staff gathering information about each child and using it to shape familiar routines. Exchanges with parents helped connect care at home with care in the setting. For a baby moving between the two, that continuity matters as much as the activities planned for the day.

Current communication across the campus includes conversations in person, telephone and email contact, and an online learning portal where parents can contribute observations as well as respond to those from practitioners. This gives families an active part in the account of their child’s development. Learning at home can enter the discussion too.

The Parents and Educators Association (PEA) organises fundraising and social events during the year, while workshops support learning for adults and children. Participation extends beyond receiving updates: parents are encouraged to contribute to everyday experiences. These arrangements suit families who want an ongoing conversation about early childhood education.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its April 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support highly effective, with leaders collaborating on individual learning plans and involving external agencies when needed. The practical mechanism was coordinated planning around the individual child, rather than a general statement of welcome.

In April 2022, children practised self-care through handwashing, attempting to undress for naps and learning to manage clothing and cutlery. Staff also received induction and training, with supervision supporting their work. These are inspection-era observations, showing how daily care and staff development operated at that time.

Sessions and Attendance

Little Jungle opens from 7.30am to 6.30pm on weekdays and operates across the year, closing for bank holidays, a week in August and two weeks at Christmas. Attendance commitments are two, three or five days; one-day and four-day arrangements are excluded. Families therefore need a weekly pattern that fits those choices, rather than an arbitrary number of days.

Applications use a waiting list. Selection considers the intended entry date, the child’s age and the attendance days needed, with priority for existing parents, siblings of attending children and children with Special Rights. Sibling priority applies only while the older child still attends, and joining the list does not guarantee a place, including for a sibling.

Open days are by invitation for families approaching the top of the list. After an offer, a signed registration agreement and payment of the first month in advance secure the place; no deposit is required. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Getting There

The younger setting’s address is 60a Amott Road, London SE15 4JD, and the campus office is across the road at 47a Amott Road. Not driving to or parking at Little Jungle is a condition of an offer, making the everyday travel arrangement a significant part of the decision.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible attending children receive funding through Southwark. Fully funded arrangements carry no requirement to buy extra hours, but this is a particular allocation within the nursery’s admissions arrangements rather than a promise of a funded place for every applicant.

• Weekly fit. Attendance is restricted to two, three or five days. A family needing one or four days would need a different arrangement.
• Travel condition. An offer requires families not to drive to or park at Little Jungle. Consider whether that works for the adults sharing the nursery journey.
• Waiting-list priorities. Age, attendance needs and priority categories affect selection, and sibling priority depends on the older child remaining in attendance. At an invited open day, discuss how those rules apply to your intended start.
• Funded-hours costs. Fully funded arrangements do not require extra hours to be purchased. At an invited open day, ask which meals and non-food consumables are included in the arrangement being discussed.

Little Jungle suits families interested in children-led investigation and an active exchange with practitioners, whether they need a two-day or three-day week or five-day attendance. The April 2022 Outstanding judgement gives the younger setting a clear inspection foundation; the clay work, light experiments and individual care planning provide the substance behind it.

The practical fit is equally clear. Its fixed weekly attendance choices and no-driving condition will suit some households better than others. For families whose routines match those requirements, the combination of exploratory learning and parent participation is the strongest reason to consider it.