Bunny Tales Day Nursery

A large garden and spacious classrooms give Bunny Tales Day Nursery a practical starting point: children have room to play indoors and outside. This Battersea setting combines hands-on learning with a key-person system and regular contact between home and nursery. It occupies the ground floor of Falkner Court on Francis Chichester Way, London SW11 5HX, and accepts children from 3 months to 5 years.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged Bunny Tales Good, found safeguarding effective and reported good progress for children. The detail behind that judgement matters: babies’ interests shaped activities, children practised doing things for themselves, and staff helped them recognise their feelings. The improvement priority was teaching children why eating well matters.

Full-day bookings sit alongside morning and afternoon sessions, with a minimum attendance commitment. Funded childcare is also offered, but the choice between an inclusive package and a funded-only arrangement changes what families pay for or bring from home. That deserves as much attention as the nursery day itself.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning through play, covering children’s communication, relationships, physical development and other areas of learning. Here, observations of children’s interests and developing skills inform what comes next. The point is to connect activities to the child, rather than expect every child to progress at the same pace.

Sensory play uses clay, water, dough and finger painting. Construction toys introduce practical problems such as making structures balance or bridging a gap; small-world play lets children arrange miniature situations and make choices about what happens. These are concrete ways to practise handling materials, talking about ideas and solving problems.

Role play has a changing setting: the home corner can become an office, shop or medical setting. Dressing-up clothes support imaginative play, while books are shared at circle times and individually when children request them. Singing, instruments and different musical styles add another route into listening and participation. Cooking introduces measuring and changes in ingredients, linking practical experiences to early mathematical and scientific ideas.

In September 2024, children sorted coloured building pieces and practised counting through play and songs. Puppets prompted conversation, while adults introduced babies to words for familiar objects. Creative work included models made from reused paper and cardboard, plus ribbons threaded through a large weaving table. These examples give a clearer picture of the day than a broad promise of stimulating activities.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor provision includes a garden and a hard-surfaced play area. Gardening gives children opportunities to wait for plants to grow, work together and eat the produce. The physical emphasis extends to balance, movement and judging direction and distance, so outdoor time has a learning purpose as well as space for activity.

In September 2024, babies practised climbing on low platforms, while other children used tyres for balancing and manoeuvred wheeled toys. Garden searches involved matching insects to pictures and learning about their habitats; planting included tomatoes and potatoes. These were practical experiences of movement and the natural world.

Regular outings include visits to parks, and two buggy buses allow younger children to join. One-to-one support can be arranged for outings where needed. Parents can also contribute by reading, sharing a skill or joining an activity, creating a useful connection between children’s experiences at home and at nursery.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who observes their play and plans learning around individual needs. Settling sessions give children and parents time to become familiar with the nursery before separation. Once a family decides to join, an initial visit gathers information to support settling; the early weeks also include a welcome letter, an explanation of routines and face-to-face conversations.

Communication has several routes. Learning journals track development, progress reports bring observations together, and a daily diary carries information in both directions. Parents’ accounts of interests and experiences away from nursery can therefore influence activities here. Meetings and verbal feedback provide opportunities to discuss progress beyond the written updates.

In September 2024, staff used a calm voice and eye contact with babies, and drew on their preferences when planning activities. Children chose stickers to express feelings and explored emotions through stories. Daily conversations and secure electronic updates kept parents informed, with suggestions for related activities at home. The same visit recorded children practising pouring drinks, preparing fruit and putting on outdoor clothing.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Additional support is organised through the key person and SENCO, with individual plans reviewed alongside families. Small-group work, individual sessions and adapted activities can form part of those plans. Speech and language therapists, educational psychologists and inclusion advisers can contribute information and ideas. This describes a mechanism for support, rather than a promise of a particular outcome.

Visual timetables help children understand the sequence of their day. Environmental adjustments can include moving furniture and considering access needs, and disabled toilets are available. For families using English as an additional language, information can be supplied in their chosen language when the nursery has advance notice to obtain it.

Staff training includes paediatric first aid and safeguarding, and recruitment includes background checks and references. These arrangements complement the dated safeguarding judgement. In September 2024, staff had also undertaken training about babies’ sleep, but the most useful question for a baby’s family remains how their own sleep routine will be accommodated.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, with year-round operation. Morning sessions run from 8am to 2pm; afternoons run from noon to 6pm. Full-day bookings are also offered. The minimum booking is three morning or afternoon sessions, or three full days, each week, so this is a setting for a regular attendance pattern rather than occasional single-session care.

Fees are calculated across 52 weeks and paid in advance, weekly or monthly. Bank holidays are closure days and remain chargeable; sickness and holidays do not generate refunds or credits. A non-refundable administration charge includes a book bag and water bottle, and two weeks’ fees are payable before starting, expressly as advance fees rather than a deposit. Ending a place requires a term’s notice. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Joining the waiting list is free, using an application submitted by email, post or in person. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email. Preparation for primary school includes activities that help children take responsibility for belongings, actions and their surroundings: useful practical preparation for a new daily routine.

Getting There

The nursery is close to Battersea Park; public transport options include Battersea Power Station Tube station and the railway stations at Queenstown Road and Battersea Park. Bus routes include 49, 319, 344, 19 and 44, giving families several services to consider when planning their regular journey.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible working families can access up to 30 funded hours a week from the term following their child turning nine months old. Other entitlements include universal funding for three- and four-year-olds and support for qualifying two-year-olds. Funding covers 38 term-time weeks; on year-round bookings, the 15-hour schemes become 11 hours a week and the 30-hour scheme becomes 22. Working-family funding requires a valid eligibility code obtained before the qualifying term begins, and funded attendance requires a signed parental declaration before the term starts.

Funded hours operate within set attendance patterns, which may cover only part of a day or session. Childcare and delivery of the EYFS are covered; extra hours, food, consumables and supplemental activities sit outside that entitlement. The fees and funding information sets out the package choices and contractual terms.

Meals, drinks and snacks are included in private fees. For funded hours, purchasing the All Inclusive Package covers meals, snacks, consumables and additional services; families choosing Free Entitlement Only instead supply meals, snacks and consumables, and opt out of supplemental activities. The packed-meal policy prohibits nuts and requires families to use insulated lunch bags because additional refrigeration is unavailable.

Professional outside caterers and a nutritionist prepare the nursery’s food, with seasonal menus rotating over four weeks and provision for individual diets. Weaning and baby feeding are agreed with parents, who can supply bottles or breastfeed during the day.

• Funded attendance and extras. Set funded patterns may cover only part of the session you need, and the inclusive package changes both costs and what you supply. Before committing, ask for a written timetable and quotation covering your chosen mornings, afternoons or full days.
• A regular weekly commitment. The minimum is three sessions or three full days, with advance payment and a term’s notice. Weigh that commitment against a changing work schedule, especially because holidays and sickness do not attract credits.
• Food arrangements. September 2024’s improvement priority concerned helping children understand healthy eating. Ask how that learning now works; allergy-affected families should also confirm current food-handling practice, particularly when supplying packed meals.
• Your baby’s daily routine. Settling sessions and information gathered before starting offer a route to individual planning. During a visit, ask how sleep and feeding will fit your baby’s routine and which practitioner will be their key person.

Bunny Tales suits families seeking regular full-day care or morning and afternoon sessions, with play-based learning, substantial outdoor space and a clear system for sharing information with parents. The garden, practical activities and individual support plans give families concrete features to weigh.

The September 2024 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, alongside a specific healthy-eating teaching priority. The main practical decision is how the attendance commitment and funded-package choices fit family life. An inclusive package and a funded-only placement involve different responsibilities, even though both retain access to the EYFS.