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Bright Horizons Shortlands Day Nursery and Preschool

Ofsted: Expected standard·
4.3(11 parent reviews) ·84 Martins Road, Shortlands, BR2 0EF · Bromley
Number of places
74 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
May 2026
Local authority
Bromley

About this day nursery

Bright Horizons Shortlands Day Nursery and Preschool, established in 1996, is a well-regarded childcare setting located in a converted chapel in Shortlands, Bromley. 30pm on weekdays (closing for one week at Christmas), provides a nurturing environment for children aged 0-4 years.

The dedicated team of 20 staff, many with relevant early years qualifications, ensures a high-quality educational experience. With a strong focus on individual development, the nursery prioritises creating a secure and stimulating space where children thrive.

Both the managers and staff hold high expectations for all children, encouraging independence and positive behaviour from a young age. The nursery effectively supports all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those receiving additional funding, by identifying learning gaps and collaborating closely with parents and professionals.

This collaborative approach ensures that every child develops essential skills for their future learning journey.

Our ethos

Bright Horizons' 'The Nurture Approach' prioritises learning and emotional well-being, fostering a supportive environment where children can flourish. They focus on inspiring and fun learning experiences, with practitioners supporting each child's unique journey. They also emphasise a strong commitment to safety and quality.

What it's like

Children are happy and settled at the nursery. Managers provide supportive systems to help new children settle quickly, which helps children feel secure. Managers and staff have high expectations for all children, who are well-behaved and encouraged to be independent from a young age.

Ambitious CurriculumIndividualised LearningStrong Parent PartnershipOutdoor Exploration

Pricing & funding

Funding accepted

15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)
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

each weekday, throughout the year, from 7.30am until 6.30pm, closing for one week at Christmas

Food

Freshly prepared food and menus with allergy management

Term time / All Year

All_year

Established

1996

Ofsted Inspection — new report card

Expected standard

Last inspected May 2026

Headline: Expected standard

Grade summary

Exceptional
—
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
—
Urgent improvement
—

Each dot represents one of the six inspection categories. Headline is the average of the six grades, rounded up.

Category grades

AchievementExpected standard
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routinesExpected standard
Children's welfare and wellbeingExpected standard
Curriculum and teachingExpected standard
InclusionStrong standard
Leadership and governanceExpected standard
Age range
0 to 4
Registers
Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register
Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for Bright Horizons Shortlands Day Nursery and Preschool

Last inspected 6 May 2026 · Angela Colman

Safeguarding effective

What it's like to attend

Children are happy and settled at the nursery. Managers provide supportive systems to help new children settle quickly, which helps children feel secure. Managers and staff have high expectations for all children, who are well-behaved and encouraged to be independent from a young age.

Inspector highlights

  • Managers plan an ambitious curriculum, offering children a wealth of experiences.
  • Staff know children well and plan activities based on their interests.
  • Children enjoy healthy meals and snacks, and individual dietary requirements are well-organised.
  • Parents appreciate the wide range of activities and receive regular updates and information.
  • Children are caring and behave well, exploring emotions and feelings in age-appropriate ways.

Areas to develop

  • 1Enhance staff understanding and practice of how to help children develop a wide and varied vocabulary.
  • 2Support children more effectively during mealtime routines to enable all children to fully benefit from the learning opportunities.
Inspection #10235009 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

All children make good progress, including those who receive additional funding and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Managers identify gaps in children's learning and work closely with parents and professionals to support all children, including those with SEND, to develop skills for future learning.

Outdoor space

Children have lots of opportunities to explore the natural environment during outdoor play. For instance, children transport water from different parts of the garden and grow herbs, plants and tomatoes, picking and eating their produce.

Parent Reviews of Bright Horizons Shortlands Day Nursery and Preschool

4.3
(11)
Hitesh Mohta
9 months ago

Bright Horizons Shortlands has been absolutely fantastic for our child. The staff are warm, caring and genuinely invested in our child’s growth. Communication is excellent, activities are creative and varied, and the environment is safe, fun and nurturing. Our child has flourished here — I couldn’t recommend them more!

Read on Google
sonia19124
a year ago

We are very pleased with how everyone is looking after our daughter in the toddler room. We have quite few special requests and they were easily accommodated. Very good communication whenever we need, but also daily updates on activities are always nice to see. Highly recommend this nursery.

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Jennifer West
6 years ago

Wonderful staff, lovely nursery. Our daughter went here from age 2-4yrs and was very happy there. If you're looking for a caring, fun and relaxed environment for your child with staff that actually care and do their very best to work around the parent's needs too, then I highly recommend Bright Horizons, Shortlands.

Read on Google
Paris Newman
9 years ago

Confidentiality was broken on more than one occasion. The change over of untrained staff is beyond a joke and its more of a place for work experience more than a well run nursery. Probing children is a big problem in this nursery and lack of communication is just worrying. The security of this nursery is just not strong enough to put parents mind at ease and the safety levels for a child is below satisfying. There lack of detail for your child's learning story is disgusting expect the following to be missing : initial points, 2year check/reports, observations not dated, no plotting/tracking of developmental age phase, no photographs of progress , ripped out photos of key workers, no next steps put in place & no starting dates which quite frankly are all important information needed in a learning story for every child!

Read on Google
Neha Bhattacharyya
6 years ago

The staff is absolutely loving and attentive. My toddler learnt a lot in the nursery although she only used to go for half a day. The management is very accommodating as well for any extra sessions I ever needed.

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for Bright Horizons Shortlands Day Nursery and Preschool. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Date: March 2013

The most recent inspection point has been hidden because the parsed entry didn't match the headline Ofsted rating (Good). We're re-checking it against the original report.

  • October 2022Good
  • September 2022Good
  • November 2016Good
  • October 2016Good
  • April 2013Good
  • March 2013Good

Frequently asked about Bright Horizons Shortlands Day Nursery and Preschool

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This listing has been compiled from official Ofsted records, the nursery's own website, details provided directly by the nursery where available, and other trusted public sources. We regularly review and update listings to keep the information as accurate as possible. Learn more