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1st Place at the Elephant

Ofsted: Good
(May 2025)
·
4.3(12 parent reviews) ·15 Hampton Street, LONDON, SE17 3AN · Southwark
Number of places
100 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
May 2025
Local authority
Southwark

About this day nursery

1st Place at the Elephant is a nursery located in London, SE17 3AN, offering early years education within a supportive community framework. As part of a charitable organization, any surplus funds generated are reinvested into enhancing nursery services and supporting the broader community through their Best Start Family Hubs.

The nursery prioritizes transparency, with all fees being inclusive of freshly prepared meals, snacks, formula for babies, and nappies, alongside covering the cost of any trips. They embrace the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and draw inspiration from the Reggio Emilia approach, fostering a unique and child-centric learning environment.

Beyond childcare, 1st Place also offers extensive family support, including various free courses for parents and carers, Stay & Play sessions, and specialized workshops addressing topics like infant feeding and parental wellbeing.

Our ethos

1st Place at the Elephant embraces the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and draws inspiration from the Reggio Emilia approach, fostering a unique and child-centric learning environment. As a nursery within a charitable organization, they are committed to transparency and reinvesting surplus funds into enhancing nursery services and supporting the broader community.

What it's like

Children thrive at this welcoming and inclusive nursery where staff provide a well-thought-out, ambitious curriculum and children make good progress. Outdoor learning features strongly, with regular forest school visits and gardening activities that support creativity, risk management and exploration.

Charity-runInclusive fees (meals, nappies, trips)Reggio Emilia inspiredExtensive family supportForest School

Pricing & funding

Funding accepted

15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)30 hours — working parents (3–4 yrs)Tax-Free Childcare
Pricing on request

This nursery doesn't publish its fees online. Contact them directly for an up-to-date price list and availability.

Key facts

Opening hours

Monday-Friday: 8am-6pm

Term time / All Year

All Year

Established

2023

Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for 1st Place at the Elephant

Last inspected 13 May 2025 · Laura Brewer; Jo Geoghegan

Safeguarding effective
Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good

What it's like to attend

Children thrive at this welcoming and inclusive nursery where staff provide a well-thought-out, ambitious curriculum and children make good progress. Outdoor learning features strongly, with regular forest school visits and gardening activities that support creativity, risk management and exploration.

Inspector highlights

  • Children make good progress from their starting points.
  • A well-thought-out, ambitious curriculum with strong emphasis on creativity and expression.
  • Outdoor learning is a key part of daily routines, including regular forest school visits.
  • Stimulating and varied indoor and outdoor environments with carefully selected resources.
  • Strong partnership with parents and proactive support, including guidance for home and outings.

Areas to develop

  • 1review the toileting arrangements to further support children's privacy
  • 2focus staff supervision more precisely to ensure consistency in high-quality interactions across the staff team and to address any gaps in staff knowledge.
Inspection #10382822 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is good; staff work in partnership with parents and make timely referrals to ensure children receive the specialist support they need.

Outdoor space

Outdoor learning features strongly in daily routines, including regular visits to the forest school where children develop skills and learn to manage risks. In the outdoor area, children take part in growing and planting activities such as tomatoes and aubergines, water plants, explore soil and engage in imaginative play mixing soil with water.

Parent Reviews of 1st Place at the Elephant

4.3
(12)
Kate Newman
8 months ago

Really great nursery with staff that go above and beyond to care for and develop children. My daughter had three extremely happy years here. I would highly recommend 1st Place to anyone looking for a nursery that offers a great start to the foundational years.

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Ruthy
a year ago

This is a really lovely nursery. My daughter is very happy and well looked after here, all the staff are brilliant. Lots of fun and creavity at the heart of everything. Magic.

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Sue Tuttlebury
2 years ago

Staff at 1st Place are phenomenal. My son adores his 'adults' and excitedly asks if he is going to nursery every day. The extra activities organised are fantastic, Inc. Forest School, trips to fun museums, visits from or to the different emergency services. We, and he, could not be happier. Thank you 1st Place

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notty
a year ago

Hands down, this has to be one of the best nursery in Southwark. We visited serval nurseries and when we went for a viewing, my guts was telling me this is the one for our son. 1st place elephant is the right fit for my family and I. We can’t wait for our second son to start when I return back to work. I absolutely love the outings, such as forest school, galleries, musicals, visiting farms and the list goes on. The staffs are so professional and super helpful. Our son adores all his nursery teachers. Lastly, 1st place nursery provides this app called blossom for parents and it’s a game changer. It has all the information that I need to know when he’s at nursery, such as, what he ate, if there’s any incident or accident, the activities he did and that includes pictures of him carrying out his work. In all, this is a great space for young mind to flourish and I would recommend it for parents to take their children there.

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Ruth Francis
a year ago

My children had a wonderful experience at 1st Place with caring grown ups looking after them and engaging activities that followed their interests. I highly recommend to anyone looking for pre-school care in the area.

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Reviews from Google for 1st Place at the Elephant. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Most recent inspection

13 May 2025

Good

Only one graded inspection on record — a trend chart will appear here once a second graded report is published.

View full Ofsted report

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