Crescent II Kindergarten: The Kindergartens

Two gardens give Crescent II Kindergarten a clear practical advantage: babies have their own outdoor space, while older children have another for movement and imaginative play. Inside, the progression runs from Acorns Room through Saplings Room to Redwoods Room. This is a nursery with different environments for different stages, rather than one shared space doing every job.

At its April 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found that children made excellent progress, with strong communication skills and teaching shaped by close observation of their development. That judgement gives substance to the educational offer. The current age range is six months to five years, at Holy Trinity Church in Tooting.

Attendance runs across 48 weeks, with three-, four- and five-day weekly bookings. The main practical wrinkle is Thursday’s earlier finish. Families also need to distinguish the cost of additional childcare from the voluntary extras attached to funded hours.

Rooms and Ages

Acorns Room provides a cosy setting for babies becoming accustomed to time away from home. Saplings Room puts toddlers’ growing independence alongside exploration and social development. From age two, Redwoods Room offers a larger space for play, friendships and preparation for the next stage of learning.

The gardens extend that separation outdoors: the baby space serves the youngest children, while the other garden accommodates older children’s physical and imaginative play. For a parent choosing care for a baby, this is a useful part of the layout. Outdoor experiences need not depend on sharing the same area with older children.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the common framework for children’s learning and care: play, conversation and physical exploration help children develop their language, movement and relationships. Crescent II adds sessions in music, sport and ballet, alongside Forest School, where a teacher helps children investigate nature and learn to treat it respectfully. These additions broaden children’s experiences alongside the EYFS framework.

In April 2024, babies handled objects from treasure baskets, toddlers practised moving over ramps and through tunnels, and older children used scissors with spaghetti. The progression is easy for parents to understand: grasping and exploring first, then control of larger movements, followed by more precise hand skills. These were practical activities, connected to children’s stage of development.

Language was woven into ordinary experiences in April 2024. Young children used simple signs for polite requests and thanks, while staff introduced more precise vocabulary during conversations about food. Songs and storytelling gave children further opportunities to speak and listen. This places communication throughout the day, rather than confining it to one formal activity.

Optional enrichment runs alongside the EYFS. Children who do not participate continue with EYFS activities during those sessions, so choosing an extra and choosing core nursery education are separate decisions.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School sessions include children of every age. Their purpose is hands-on exploration of the natural world, with attention to curiosity and respect for nature. The two gardens provide outdoor play on site, while regular community outings take children to parks, shops and the library. The frequency is regular rather than a fixed weekly timetable.

Those outings give the nursery day a connection with the surrounding neighbourhood. A library visit brings books into a different setting; shops and parks offer experiences beyond the nursery rooms. For families who value both an outdoor space on site and time in the local community, the combination is useful.

Relationships and Communication

In April 2024, babies responded enthusiastically to their key person, and staff knew children’s individual interests and experiences well. Conversations included things children had done away from nursery, while milestones such as first steps received attention. This gives the key-person relationship a concrete meaning: an adult who recognises the child’s life beyond the room.

At the April 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised the partnership with parents, including communication that connected children’s learning at nursery and at home. This is a dated judgement, rather than a blanket assurance about every later day of care.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In April 2024, children needing help to manage their behaviour had individual plans, and older children practised taking younger children’s needs into account during construction play. Everyday independence also mattered: children learnt to wash their hands and made choices about play and food. Care and learning overlapped in ordinary routines.

The SEND policy applying to Crescent II sets out a key-person system, a nursery SENDCo and joint planning with parents. Support follows an assess, plan, do and review cycle, with strategies and intended outcomes agreed before their impact is reviewed. Plans are shared with families so that approaches can also be tried at home. This gives parents a defined process for discussing additional needs, rather than relying on a general promise of inclusion.

For children receiving SEND support, moving to another nursery or primary school includes contact with the receiving setting, discussion with parents and relevant professionals, and transfer of information such as one-page profiles. The practical value is continuity: the next setting can understand the support already in place.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Holy Trinity Church, 74 Trinity Road, London SW17 7SQ. Crescent II operates Monday to Friday across 48 weeks of the year. Nursery sessions begin at 7.30am and finish at 6pm, except on Thursday, when collection is by 5pm. That exception matters for anyone arranging working hours or shared collection duties.

Weekly bookings cover three, four or five days, and ad-hoc day care is also offered. This gives families a choice between a regular part-week pattern and attendance throughout the working week. The calendar includes Christmas, Easter and summer closures, bank holidays and staff-training days; 48-week provision still requires some holiday-care planning.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children can use 15 or 30 funded hours. Funding is stretched across the nursery’s operating weeks, spreading the annual entitlement through the year rather than treating every open week as a term-time funding week. Additional childcare hours remain chargeable. A funded entitlement therefore needs to be considered separately from the length of the booked day.

Meals, snacks and hygiene consumables are itemised extras included within the quoted booking fees. During funded hours, both carry separate voluntary charges, and parents may decline any or all of these extras. Enhanced learning resources and enrichment activities are also voluntary extras for funded children; participation in the enrichment programme is optional.

The non-refundable registration charge and deposit do not apply to children taking funded entitlement only. Entitlement-only attendance follows a separate booking pattern which may not cover a family’s full childcare requirements. For other bookings, the deposit is returned when the required leaving notice has been given. Fees are payable before the month begins, with invoices sent through the parent app. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, which should distinguish funded childcare, additional hours and selected extras.

• Thursday collection. The day finishes at 5pm on Thursday, compared with 6pm on the other weekdays. Match that earlier collection to your working arrangements before choosing a weekly pattern.
• The baby-room experience. Acorns Room and the separate baby garden are useful starting points for an individual tour. Ask how settling visits and sleep routines would be organised for your baby.
• Your funded booking. Funded hours and voluntary extras are separate, and registration charges and deposits are waived for entitlement-only attendance. Have the proposed attendance pattern and any chosen extras set out together in the written quotation.
• Additional support. The SEND process involves the key person, SENDCo and parents in planning and reviewing strategies. Discuss any adjustments your child needs during the visit so the proposed support is specific to them.

Crescent II suits families seeking three- or four-day weekly attendance as well as those wanting five days, with care spread across 48 weeks. The separate gardens, progression between rooms and nature sessions give its offer a clear shape. The April 2024 Outstanding judgement adds weight, while the earlier Thursday finish and the distinction between funded hours and voluntary extras deserve close attention when choosing a booking.