Alexander House Nursery Wandsworth

An open-plan play space, a dedicated sensory room and daily community outings give Alexander House Nursery Wandsworth a recognisable shape. Children have areas suited to different stages of development, while sharing a setting that lets relationships with familiar staff and friends continue as they grow. This is an alternative to progressing through a succession of separate age-group rooms.

At its December 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall and across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. That is a dated judgement, with useful detail beneath it and three clear priorities for improvement: extending independent play, making more use of books and explaining behaviour expectations consistently.

The nursery has capacity for 36 children, with an accepted age range of 9 to 60 months. Its Merton Road setting sits between Southfields and Wandsworth. Full Days, School Days and a Fully Flexible Plan serve different attendance needs; the booking commitments matter as much as the opening hours.

The physical arrangement matters: it supports continuity between developmental stages rather than making a room move the defining event in a child's nursery life. Heating and air conditioning are installed, and the dedicated sensory room adds a separate space to the main layout.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care. In December 2022, it shaped a play-based curriculum in which children followed their interests and chose resources independently. In daily life, that meant opportunities to select an activity, practise skills and develop language through conversations with staff.

In December 2022, resources were arranged for children to choose independently, and children stayed with activities long enough to practise their developing skills. A water-and-ice activity gave different ages different ways into the same subject: babies explored through their senses, while older children investigated melting and heard new vocabulary linked to what was happening. The practical value was the connection between doing something and talking about it.

There was also a teaching limitation in December 2022. Some practitioners did not consistently recognise when joining children's independent play could deepen their learning. The distinction matters: letting children choose is one part of the approach; knowing when to introduce a question, idea or challenge is another.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outings and community trips are part of the Wandsworth offer. Forest Exploration involves outdoor activities at King Georges Park, with tasks planned weekly and adjusted to children's interests, the weather and the season. Its grass, play areas and lake offer different settings for movement and observing nature.

Activities are timetabled and depend on children's ages, staff availability and weather, so a part-time attendance pattern can affect participation. The outdoor programme therefore has a practical connection to the days a family books, rather than being an identical package for every child.

In December 2022, children visited the local library each week. Within the nursery, however, children were not encouraged often enough to choose books for themselves or share them with others. Trips and book resources were present; building reading into everyday play needed more attention.

In December 2022, key persons knew children and their families closely, and staff responded to children needing emotional comfort. Parents valued the detail they received about their child's experiences and learning needs. These observations give substance to the relationship side of care: familiarity with a child was connected to communication with their family.

At the December 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and good progress for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff could explain the learning children were working towards and how they addressed gaps. These findings belong to that inspection date.

The current Wandsworth arrangements include designated safeguarding lead and deputy roles. Parents have a safeguarding contact route, while the branch also has a SEND policy. Those are concrete arrangements, rather than a substitute for the dated safeguarding judgement.

An on-site chef is part of the nursery's current offer. Meals and consumables are included in private-session fees, while funded sessions have a separate voluntary consumable charge covering food, nappies, wipes, outings and extras.

Independence was visible in December 2022 through children helping at lunch, managing coats and shoes, and using the toilet themselves. Behaviour expectations were less consistently explained and reinforced, leaving some children unclear about why an action was inappropriate. For families, the relevant distinction is between helping a child do things independently and helping them understand how their actions affect others.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is GF Alexander House, 155-157 Merton Road, London SW18 5EQ. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays. Full Days run from 8am to 6pm, while School Days run from 9am to 3pm, giving families a shorter booked day as well as the longer option.

Standard bookings require at least three sessions each week. Additional sessions can be booked through the parent portal with 48 hours' notice, subject to availability. Reducing a child's regular schedule requires two months' written notice, and the three-session minimum still applies. These terms make changing a settled pattern a different decision from adding an occasional session.

The Fully Flexible Plan requires at least 18 hours per week and operates for 50 weeks each year. Adding or removing hours requires seven working days' notice, and booked hours remain chargeable if unused. It offers flexibility within a commitment, rather than attendance arranged entirely at the last moment.

Chargeable early starts at 7.45am and late collections at 6.15pm are subject to availability. The nursery closes for a week in August, the Christmas-to-New-Year period, public and bank holidays, and two staff-training days. December closure days, public and bank holidays and training days remain chargeable when they fall within a family's booking pattern; booked sessions are also charged during illness or holidays.

Enquiries and tour bookings use the Wandsworth contact route or enquiry form. The parent portal also provides a route for arranging extra sessions, giving families a practical way to manage additions to their regular booking.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both 15-hour and 30-hour childcare funding options are offered, subject to availability and eligibility. Funding is stretched across 51 weeks rather than taken solely over the 38-week entitlement period. It can be used with fully funded sessions, School Days or Full Days, but that does not guarantee a particular booking pattern.

Funded-only days have a maximum of three days weekly and must include Monday or Friday. This restriction is important for families trying to match nursery attendance to fixed working days. A funded entitlement and a suitable timetable are separate parts of the decision.

For private sessions, food, non-food consumables and session activities are included in the fee. Funded sessions carry a voluntary charge covering food and consumables, including nappies and wipes, as well as outings and extras; additional privately paid sessions do not attract that funded-session charge. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charge structure explained on its fees and funding page.

• Mixed-age space and the youngest children. Wandsworth combines developmental areas within an open-plan nursery and accepts children from nine months. During a tour, ask how care, rest and play are organised for the youngest children alongside older age groups.
• Teaching priorities from December 2022. Extending independent play, encouraging everyday reading and explaining behaviour consistently were the three improvement priorities. Ask for concrete examples of how practitioners now handle each during an ordinary day.
• Funding and working days. Funded-only attendance must include Monday or Friday and is capped at three days weekly. Compare the proposed days and stretched funding with the hours your family needs, including the voluntary food-and-consumables charge.
• Flexibility has notice terms. Standard schedule reductions need two months' written notice; the Fully Flexible Plan requires seven working days for hour changes. Match those commitments to how often your working pattern changes.

Alexander House Nursery Wandsworth suits families who prefer a shared, mixed-age setting with developmental areas, a sensory room and outings built into nursery life. Its attendance offer serves both Full Days and shorter School Days, with a separate flexible-hours option for families able to meet that plan's minimum commitment and notice terms.

The December 2022 Good judgement is useful context, alongside specific teaching priorities that deserve attention. The strongest decision is one that weighs the open-plan arrangement, the booked days and the funding terms together: each affects what a child's week here will look like.