1st Stepping Stones Nursery School

Eighteen places give this Coleridge Road nursery a small-setting character. In September 2021, children explored imaginative play and took regular park outings. At its September 2021 inspection, Ofsted judged overall provision Good and safeguarding effective, with strengths in language development and children’s growing independence. Those findings are dated: they describe the nursery at that visit.

1st Stepping Stones Nursery School serves children from 18 to 60 months in Walthamstow. Its capacity of 18 is a whole-nursery figure, rather than a measure of the size of an individual activity group. Full days and morning or afternoon sessions give families different ways to arrange attendance.

The practical offer has a useful advantage: food is included for both paid and funded hours. Parents supply their child’s nappies, suncream and wipes, while separately charged special outings can be declined.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children’s care and learning, bringing together language, physical development, relationships and other areas of learning. It is the common foundation for early-years provision. Here, the September 2021 observations show what that looked like in practice: conversations during play, stories supported by objects, and opportunities to choose activities independently.

In September 2021, children spent sustained periods inventing scenarios in the home corner. Younger children experimented with toy vehicles, operating buttons and copying sounds. These were concrete opportunities to make choices, explore cause and effect, and use imagination, rather than simply follow an adult’s instructions.

Books also prompted discussion. During September 2021, adults used objects alongside storytelling and introduced vocabulary through conversation; older children answered questions about the pictures. The value for families is the connection between play and language: an activity could become a chance to practise expressing an idea or responding to someone else.

There were weaknesses alongside these strengths. In September 2021, some children lost interest in group activities and moved away to play by themselves, without an adult joining them. Mathematics teaching sometimes moved towards harder ideas before children had understood simpler shapes. These are useful points to test against the nursery’s present practice, especially for a child who needs help staying involved.

Outdoor and Community Life

In September 2021, regular park outings gave children access to a climbing frame, swings and a slide. That added opportunities for movement and balance beyond the playroom. Regular is the supported frequency; it does not mean an outing happened every day.

Independence extended into ordinary routines during September 2021. Older children practised getting dressed for outdoor activities and using the toilet themselves. Helping prepare cups and plates for lunch gave them a small responsibility within the group. These details matter because preparation for school includes managing everyday tasks, as well as learning through planned activities.

In September 2021, children formed close relationships with their key person, and staff worked with parents on helping them handle feelings and understand boundaries. Adults also intervened promptly when disagreements arose. For a young child, that combination links a familiar relationship with consistent expectations.

At the September 2021 inspection, Ofsted found that assessment included children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, staff involved parents in referrals for outside support, and children made good developmental progress towards their next stage of learning. The practical mechanism was observation followed by discussion and, where needed, professional input.

Communication in September 2021 included regular contact with parents and ideas for continuing learning at home. That gives a concrete picture of partnership: information travelled between nursery and home, rather than remaining solely in a child’s assessment record.

A cook was part of the team in September 2021, when healthy food, exercise and conversations about toothbrushing formed part of the day. Under the current charge arrangements, meals and snacks cost nothing extra during either funded or privately paid hours.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 39 Coleridge Road, Walthamstow, London, E17 6QX. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays, across 51 weeks of the year, with a week’s closure at Christmas.

Full-day sessions run from 8am to 6pm. The two half-day choices are mornings from 8am to 1pm and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. These are actual attendance patterns, so families can compare a shorter session with a complete day rather than assume the opening window is the only booking option.

Contact is through telephone, email or the contact form. The nursery also offers tours.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the eligible two-year-old entitlement, the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, and the extended working-parent entitlement. Delivery can be over 38 term-time weeks or stretched across 51 weeks. Private hours can be purchased alongside funding, but buying extra hours is not a condition of using funded childcare.

The term-time 15-hour model can comprise three mornings, three afternoons, or a full day plus a half day. For the 30-hour term-time model, the pattern is three full days. These arrangements are subject to availability; entitlement does not guarantee a place at this nursery.

The stretched funded-only patterns need closer attention. For the extended entitlement, the offered pattern is 20 hours across two full days or four half days; for the smaller entitlement, one full day provides 10 hours. These options use less than the full weekly stretched entitlement, so families should distinguish their total entitlement from the particular pattern they select.

Parents provide suncream, wipes and nappies for their child, including during funded attendance. Special outings and activities carry additional charges announced beforehand, with an option to decline participation. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Getting There

The Coleridge Road site is a ten-minute walk from Walthamstow Station. That is a useful practical detail for families combining nursery attendance with a station journey.

• Group participation and mathematics. September 2021 identified children disengaging from group activities and uneven sequencing in mathematics. During a visit, ask how staff now keep those children involved and build understanding before introducing harder ideas.
• Settling into a small setting. Capacity is 18 children in total, and September 2021 highlighted close key-person relationships. What would the settling process look like for your child?
• The funded pattern you choose. Term-time models and stretched funded-only options use different attendance arrangements. Compare the hours in your chosen pattern with your entitlement before deciding which fits family routines.

This nursery suits families considering either full-day attendance or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, with term-time and stretched funding arrangements adding further choice. Included food and the ability to decline charged special outings make the structure easier to understand.

Its September 2021 strengths were tangible: conversation-rich play, practical independence and park outings. The dated concerns about group participation and mathematics deserve equal weight. For parents, the decisive question is how today’s daily practice brings those strengths and improvement points together.