Opening hours
Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm, throughout most of the year
Chestnut@Gascoigne
Ofsted: Outstanding
(May 2023)
Number of places
89 places
Age range
1–4 yrs
Last inspected
May 2023
Local authority
Barking and Dagenham
About this day nursery
Chestnut Nursery Schools, established in 2002 by Steven Davies and David Saunders, is dedicated to providing high-quality early childhood education across its nurseries in London, Norwich, and Cambridgeshire. With over two decades of experience, the day nursery group focuses on nurturing children's intellectual, emotional, and personal development through engaging learning and play activities.
Their curriculum incorporates a Forest School ethos and cooking classes, delivered within a secure and affectionate environment by a diverse and highly qualified team. The staff, known for their professionalism and caring approach, undergo a rigorous selection process and continuous training to ensure the highest standards of care.
Chestnut Nursery Schools prides itself on its commitment to giving children a strong foundation for future learning, as evidenced by positive reviews from families highlighting the stimulating environment, outdoor spaces, and dedicated educators. The founders' vision of inspiring young minds in a safe setting continues to be the cornerstone of all their nurseries.
Our ethos
Chestnut Nursery Schools incorporates a Forest School ethos and cooking classes, focusing on nurturing children's intellectual, emotional, and personal development through engaging learning and play activities. They are committed to providing a strong foundation for future learning in a stimulating and safe environment.
What it's like
Staff provide children with exceptional quality interactions at this stimulating and inviting nursery. Children are curious and engage with the stimulating learning opportunities that staff provide, helping them to gain new knowledge or practise and master new skills. Staff expertly guide children's learning and development, particularly in meeting their next steps, by including their interests to keep them engaged and motivated.
High-quality educationForest School ethosExperienced teamStimulating environment
Pricing & funding
Pricing on request
This nursery doesn't publish its fees online. Contact them directly for an up-to-date price list and availability.
Request pricing →Key facts
Term time / All Year
All Year
Ofsted Inspection
Ofsted rating
Last inspected 15 May 2023
Overall effectiveness
Outstanding
Quality of education
Outstanding
Behaviour and attitudes
Outstanding
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Outstanding
What it's like to attend
Staff provide children with exceptional quality interactions at this stimulating and inviting nursery. Children are curious and engage with the stimulating learning opportunities that staff provide, helping them to gain new knowledge or practise and master new skills. Staff expertly guide children's learning and development, particularly in meeting their next steps, by including their interests to keep them engaged and motivated.
Inspector highlights
- Staff provide children with exceptional quality interactions in a stimulating and inviting nursery.
- Staff consistently reinforce learning through repetition of new vocabulary, supporting children with speech and language delay.
- Managers support staff to develop exceptional key-person systems and complete accurate assessments of children's learning.
- Staff provide many opportunities for children to develop different mathematical concepts indoors and outdoors.
- Managers and staff build exceptional partnerships with parents, who are extremely complimentary of the staff and their work.
Inspection #10285795 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report
What parents say
Verbatim quotes recorded in the Ofsted inspection
Parents are extremely complimentary of the staff and the work that they do to support their children to make progress.
Inclusion & environment
How they support every child
SEND provision
Staff offer an appropriately challenging and ambitious curriculum for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and the most-disadvantaged children. The nursery has a trained special educational needs coordinator, who works closely with staff and delivers high-quality interventions to children with SEND.
Outdoor space
Staff provide lots of opportunities for children to develop different mathematical concepts indoors and outdoors. For example, children count the number of times that they successfully throw the ball through the hoop.
Google Reviews
4.4
(13 Google reviews)
Amy King
8 months ago
If you are in doubt - this is the nursery you need to choose. When choosing a nursery for my daughter I was meticulous - I scoured all the nurseries in the local areas and cherry picked only the best to view and consider. Gascoigne came out on top and I am so glad I chose this nursery because it is simply perfect in all ways. It is extremely well led by Mandy, the nursery manager who is dedicated and loved by all. ALL of the staff here are very professional, warm, enthusiastic, set high standards of good behaviour, promote independence of the children and overall take pride in their work. My daughter joined in July 2024 and had never been looked after by anyone other than myself and my mother. She settled in very well and now attends every day and absolutely loves it. Her confidence and independence have boosted and her separation anxiety is no longer. I cannot thank the nursery enough for all they do - this is every day for them but for me, it means everything.
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Shazia
3 years ago
My son just started this nursery and he absolutely loves it. He has been to two other nurseries one being a Montessori, but he seems more at ease here and has a smile on him all the time. The staff here are really nice and friendly. Mandy the manager of the nursery is such a lovely person sweet person. She is a real gem of a person. I am happy to send my son here and could carry on singing praises of this nursery, but genuinely this place has a real homely atmosphere which I love and do not feel anxious (I did with the previous 2) about sending my boy here. Keep up the good work guys!!
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Alexander Sadgrove
5 years ago
My Daughter attended the Nursery from 8 months old until she was 4. We absolutely love everything about Chestnut Nursery in Barking. The staff were wonderful for so many years and the facilities where great. Safe, spacious and always very welcoming for the children. Will always have fond memories of our duaghters time there.
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Yulia Shevlyakova
8 years ago
This review is about The Maples site of this Nursery. It is absolutely stunning: team consists of very welcoming personsoccupies kids, lots of activities, sensory/soft play room, garden, ParentZone with online reports about your child's day at nursery.
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Driton Isufi
a year ago
The staff it so professional and really polite I would like to thank all of the staff for all these years I took my four kids to this nursery.
Read on GoogleReviews from Google for Chestnut@Gascoigne. See all on Google Maps
Inspection history
Improved from Good → Outstanding in 2023
Date: July 2013
- May 2023Outstanding
- October 2017Good
- June 2014Good
- July 2013Inadequate
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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