Mouse House Nursery School SW18: The Kindergartens

A mud kitchen, a garden shared across ages and nature sessions give Mouse House Nursery School SW18 a clear outdoor thread. At 13-15 Barmouth Road in Wandsworth, the nursery takes children from six months to five years and has 40 places in total. Its appeal lies in combining those outdoor experiences with a straightforward progression from Acorns Room to Redwoods Room.

At its December 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that carefully ordered learning helped children develop their knowledge and skills. There were also two clear teaching priorities: giving children more time to answer questions and explaining behavioural boundaries more consistently. Those points deserve attention alongside the positive judgement.

Attendance runs across 48 weeks, with bookings for three, four or five days and an early-start option.

Rooms and Ages

Acorns Room welcomes babies and younger toddlers, with play and exploration used to encourage increasing independence in a calm room designed for children beginning nursery life. From age two, Redwoods Room provides a large space where creativity, friendships and preparation for the next stage take greater emphasis.

That room progression gives families a useful distinction between the younger children's first experiences away from home and the older children's growing social world. The garden serves children across the age range, so outdoor play is part of the offer for both groups rather than an experience reserved for preschool children.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, children develop through play, conversation, movement and relationships. Forest School adds sessions with a teacher who introduces children to nature and how to treat it safely and respectfully. Music, sports and ballet extend the activity choices beyond that foundation.

In December 2024, children explored water, practised balancing and threw balls during play. Songs, stories and conversations introduced new vocabulary, while practitioners watched children's development and used their observations to plan subsequent learning. The useful detail is the connection between an activity and what a child is learning, rather than an activity list alone.

Language teaching needed greater patience at that visit. Adults sometimes moved on before children had enough time to reply to a question. For a child still finding their words, the pause matters as much as the question itself: it creates space for their contribution rather than leaving the adult to carry the exchange.

Outdoor and Community Life

The mud kitchen gives the garden a concrete purpose for messy exploration and imaginative play. Forest School sessions introduce a different emphasis, helping children understand their relationship with the natural world. Together, these offer both freely chosen outdoor play and adult-led learning about nature.

Regular neighbourhood outings include the library, shops and parks. These extend children's experiences beyond the nursery rooms and give them everyday places to explore. The frequency is regular rather than tied to a fixed weekly timetable.

Relationships and Communication

In December 2024, practitioners offered comfort and encouragement during rest and nappy changes, and children chose resources for themselves. They also practised practical independence by helping themselves to food and water and dealing with small spillages. Care routines and self-care were part of the learning day.

Parents received information about what their children were learning and what came next. A toy and book lending scheme also connected nursery learning with home. Its practical value was simple: families could continue shared activities with resources beyond their own collection.

At that visit, eight staff worked at the nursery, including the manager; six held early years qualifications spanning levels two to six. These are December 2024 staffing figures, rather than a description of today's deployment.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The group SEND policy applying here provides a key person for each child and a SENDCo within each nursery. The key person reviews development, while the SENDCo supports colleagues, involves parents and liaises with professionals outside the setting. These are defined responsibilities, giving families identifiable routes for discussing a concern.

Support follows an assess, plan, do and review cycle. Parents help agree the intended outcomes and strategies, and plans are revisited after six to eight weeks. That review point matters because support can be adjusted in response to the child's experience rather than left unchanged.

The same policy addresses moving to another nursery or primary school through early contact, information sharing and meetings involving families and relevant professionals. This is preparation for a change of setting, with support information travelling alongside the child.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 13-15 Barmouth Road, London SW18 2DT. Standard nursery sessions run from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 48 weeks each year. The booking choices are three, four or five days per week. Separately charged early drop-off starts at 7.30am, and ad hoc day care is another booking option.

The calendar includes holiday breaks and staff training closures. For the forthcoming cycle, the Christmas break runs from 25 December 2026 to 1 January 2027, Easter closure from 26 March to 2 April 2027, and the summer break from 16 to 30 August 2027. Those closures matter for families planning care around work rather than school terms.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery offers 15-hour and 30-hour funded childcare entitlements for eligible children, alongside privately paid care. Funded childcare itself carries no charge. Extra private hours and early starts are separate from the entitlement, so funded childcare and the total attendance bill are different parts of the arrangement.

Meals and snacks, together with hygiene consumables, are itemised paid extras within the combined fee structure; during funded hours, those charges are voluntary and parents can decline any or all of them. Enrichment participation is also optional, with children continuing their early years foundation stage learning when they do not take part. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

A non-refundable registration charge and a deposit apply except where a child accesses funded entitlement only. In other cases, the deposit is returned when the required withdrawal notice has been given. Nursery fees are payable before the month begins, with invoices delivered through the parent app.

• Conversation and boundaries. The December 2024 priorities concerned waiting for children's answers and explaining why certain behaviour is unacceptable. During a tour, ask how practitioners now build those explanations and pauses into everyday play.
• The youngest children's group. Acorns Room combines babies and younger toddlers. Ask how its daily group size and routines accommodate children at different stages, especially sleep and active play.
• Attendance and closures. Three-, four- and five-day bookings span 48 weeks, with a separately charged early start. Match the holiday breaks and training closures to your working calendar before choosing a pattern.
• Funding and extras. Charges for meals, hygiene consumables and enrichment are voluntary during funded hours. Request a written quotation that separates your chosen attendance, funded hours and selected extras, including the applicable withdrawal terms.

Mouse House Nursery School SW18 suits families seeking three-, four- or five-day attendance, or an earlier start alongside the standard day. Its garden, mud kitchen and nature teaching give outdoor learning a tangible place in the offer, while Acorns Room and Redwoods Room provide a clear age progression.

The December 2024 judgement supports a positive assessment, tempered by specific questions about language teaching and behavioural explanations. For parents, the decision turns on that everyday practice, the younger children's routines and how the attendance package fits around closures and paid extras.