Hearts Day Nursery Chingford

A Baby Room with heated floors and a Sensory Room with bubble tubes give Hearts Day Nursery Chingford a recognisable character: everyday care sits alongside spaces for physical comfort and sensory exploration. The nursery takes children from 3 months to 5 years and has 42 places in total. That whole-setting capacity should be kept separate from the size of any individual room.

At its March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, with children’s independence, language development and involvement in their learning among its strengths. The judgement belongs to that period, when the children attending were aged two to four; it should not be read as an assessment of the current baby provision.

Today’s offer includes a Baby Room, Toddler Room and Preschool Room, alongside the Sensory Room. Free settling sessions begin a month before a child’s start date, and each child has a key person. Morning and afternoon bookings sit alongside full-time and part-time childcare, giving families more than one attendance pattern to consider.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room combines sensory toys and tummy time with music and stories, while underfloor heating and sleeping areas support a routine that follows home habits where possible. For a family introducing a baby to childcare, the connection between familiar routines and the room’s physical arrangements is the useful detail here.

Interactive activity stations and sensory resources give the Toddler Room its emphasis on exploration, early language and growing independence. In the Preschool Room, role play and practical activities sit alongside early reading, number work and opportunities to solve problems. These are different stages of learning, rather than one programme simply repeated across the nursery.

The Sensory Room adds another kind of space. Bubble tubes, sensory mats and fibre-optic lights sit alongside textures, sound and visual displays, allowing children to explore through several senses. It is intended for children of different abilities, including those needing extra sensory support. A separate setting for this activity gives families a concrete feature to consider alongside the main age-group rooms.

Learning and Activities

The nursery follows the early years foundation stage, the framework for children’s learning, development and care. In everyday terms, that means play and interaction support communication, physical development and early learning, rather than the day being organised solely around formal lessons. Current planning starts with staff observations of a child’s interests, strengths and development needs, then turns those observations into weekly plans.

Parents contribute through At home observation forms, which let them share things their child does beyond nursery. This gives the key person another perspective when planning activities: an interest noticed at home can become something to explore with other children. The arrangement makes parent communication part of learning, rather than simply an account of what happened that day.

In March 2023, children helped select books through the children’s committee and chose activities they wanted to investigate. They also contributed ideas while making lanterns for Ramadan. Those examples show what participation looked like at the time: children had decisions to make about their surroundings and their creative work, rather than only following adult instructions.

Language teaching was equally concrete in March 2023. Staff introduced vocabulary during creative activities, including the shape of the moon, and invited children to describe ingredients while baking. Staff and children also learnt short phrases from languages spoken by nursery families. Words were connected to something children could see, smell or discuss.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor activities form part of the Toddler Room’s routine, alongside group play, music and stories. The nursery also has an indoor soft play area, giving physical play a place within the building as well as outside it.

In March 2023, children took walks in the surrounding community and practised recognising when it was safe to cross a road. They also used indoor soft play equipment. These dated examples add substance to the account of movement: physical activity included both equipment-based play and learning how to behave safely beyond the nursery.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is planned before the start date. Parents can spend the time they need helping their child become familiar with nursery, with free sessions arranged a month ahead. This gives the family and staff an opportunity to establish routines before attendance begins in earnest.

A key person is allocated to each child, and an individual communication book supports the exchange between nursery and home. Staff also make time for direct feedback. The combination offers two ways to keep track of daily life: conversation for immediate detail, and a written record that can be revisited later.

Communication extends beyond individual handovers. A weekly app update, newsletters and activity photographs sit alongside parent information evenings. The quarterly Parents Nursery Group (PNG) brings nominated parent representatives together to discuss views and development ideas. Its purpose is practical: parents have a route for contributing to how the nursery runs, as well as receiving updates about their own child.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A nominated Special Education Needs Coordinator provides support and advice, with environmental adjustments and links to outside agencies forming part of the inclusion arrangements. The Sensory Room supplies a specific resource within that offer. These mechanisms matter more than a general promise of inclusion because they identify how a concern can be discussed and what kinds of support can be explored.

At the March 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that teaching was adapted to include children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, that these children made strong progress, and that safeguarding arrangements were effective. Those findings are dated judgements, rather than a guarantee about every child’s future experience.

The behaviour policy gives staff and parents a Behaviour Management Coordinator to turn to. It rules out physical punishment, humiliation and withholding food as a sanction, and calls for parents to be informed when a child needs help managing behaviour. The emphasis is on a shared response between home and nursery.

Meals are cooked each day by a chef in the nursery’s own kitchen. For private fees, food is included, covering breakfast, snacks, lunch and tea, while sun cream, parents’ preferred formula for children under one and cow’s milk for children over one are included too.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. Morning sessions run from 7.30am to 1pm, and afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6.30pm; full-time and part-time childcare are also offered. These half-session choices are useful for families who want attendance built around one part of the day.

The nursery operates for 51 weeks each year, with closures on public holidays, between Christmas and New Year, and for two staff training days. Fees are paid monthly in advance. The annual operating pattern and the training closures therefore belong in a family’s childcare planning alongside the weekly timetable.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 02085271290 or by email at contact@heartsdaynursery.co.uk. Visits can be arranged with the nursery, and settling sessions are a separate part of preparing for a child’s start.

Getting There

The nursery is on Chingford Mount Road, Chingford, E4 8LU. The address detail needs resolving before a visit, as set out below.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered from nine months, subject to eligibility. The offer also includes 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements, with support for eligible two-year-olds and for three- and four-year-olds. An entitlement should be considered alongside the chosen attendance pattern, rather than assumed to cover every booked hour.

Private prices include daily activities and outings as well as meals and the specified consumables. A non-refundable registration charge applies. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the fees page sets out the private-fee inclusions and monthly payment structure.

• Address before a visit. The inspection address is Unit 3, 83 Chingford Mount Road, while the nursery’s contact address uses 89 Chingford Mount Road, both with postcode E4 8LU. Confirm the entrance and address when arranging the visit.
• Baby provision and the dated judgement. The March 2023 assessment concerned children aged two to four. During a visit, ask how babies’ sleep and home routines are put into practice in the Baby Room.
• Funding and the total bill. Private fees include food and specified consumables. Ask for a written breakdown showing how meals, consumables and any additional hours are treated within the funded attendance pattern you intend to use.

Hearts Day Nursery Chingford suits families looking for morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-time childcare, with a staged room arrangement from babies through to preschool. The Sensory Room, home-linked weekly planning and advance settling sessions give parents concrete reasons to consider it.

The Outstanding judgement adds weight to the account of the older children’s experience in March 2023. For families choosing baby care now, the more relevant combination is the current room’s sleeping arrangements, attention to home routines and the opportunity to settle before starting.