Nursery Advice
Claim Your Nursery

Special First Steps

Ofsted: Expected standard·
5.0(2 Google reviews) ·195 Middleton Road, Carshalton, SM5 1HE · Sutton
Number of places
30 places
Age range
1–4 yrs
Last inspected
May 2026
Local authority
Sutton

About this day nursery

Special First Steps is a childcare setting located in Carshalton, offering care from Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm. The day nursery prides itself on its highly secure and effective systems for children's welfare and wellbeing, fostering warm, nurturing relationships where children feel emotionally secure.

Leaders take purposeful action to identify and meet children's individual needs, working closely with parents and external professionals to provide targeted support, especially for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The setting effectively uses early years pupil premium funding to enrich experiences for disadvantaged children.

Children benefit from a well-planned curriculum that promotes personal, physical, and emotional development, with activities adapted for individual needs. The recent development of a sensory room has significantly enhanced learning through play and supports children's curiosity.

Strong partnerships with parents are evident, with initiatives like a book-bag scheme promoting shared reading at home, ensuring children are well-prepared for their transition to school.

Our ethos

Special First Steps Nursery operates with a child-centred philosophy, valuing the individual pace of every child's growth. Learning occurs through play, fostering curiosity, independence, and foundational skills for school readiness. The nursery is dedicated to promoting creativity, critical thinking, and social-emotional growth.

What it's like

Staff welcome children and their families into the setting, where children arrive content and enjoy meaningful activities. Staff promote children's welfare and wellbeing through daily practice, helping them develop independence, such as cutting fruit for snack. Children thrive in the calm and positive atmosphere created by staff, responding positively to clear boundaries and expectations, and learning about emotions during small-group activities.

Strong welfare and wellbeingPurposeful inclusionTailored SEND supportEffective parent partnershipsEngaging curriculumSensory room learning

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

Opening hours

Monday-Friday, 9am-3pm

Age range

Babies to Preschool

Registered with Ofsted

2024

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 wellbeingStrong standard
Curriculum and teachingExpected standard
InclusionStrong standard
Leadership and governanceExpected standard
Age range
1 to 4
Registers
Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register
Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted report for Special First Steps

Last inspected 18 May 2026

What it's like to attend

Staff welcome children and their families into the setting, where children arrive content and enjoy meaningful activities. Staff promote children's welfare and wellbeing through daily practice, helping them develop independence, such as cutting fruit for snack. Children thrive in the calm and positive atmosphere created by staff, responding positively to clear boundaries and expectations, and learning about emotions during small-group activities.

Inspector highlights

  • Leaders have highly secure and effective systems in place that consistently ensure children's welfare and wellbeing.
  • Mealtimes are highly sociable and purposeful occasions; children confidently make healthy choices.
  • Care practices are consistently delivered with thought, dignity and respect, protecting children's privacy during intimate hygiene routines.
  • Leaders take purposeful action to identify, assess and meet children's needs, successfully reducing barriers to learning and development.
  • Leaders work in close partnership with parents, carers and other professionals, creating targeted support plans for children's individual developmental needs.
  • Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive high-quality, consistent support from knowledgeable staff.
  • Leaders effectively use early years pupil premium funding to enrich children's experiences and reduce barriers to learning.
  • Leaders recently used funding to develop a sensory room, supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, which has had a positive impact on children's wellbeing, engagement and access to learning.

Areas to develop

  • 1Leaders should support staff to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding to support children's learning and development even more effectively.
  • 2Leaders should support staff to differentiate activities to extend all children's learning and ensure they remain engaged and challenged.

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Leaders take purposeful action to identify, assess and meet children's needs, successfully reducing barriers to learning and development. Delays in children's development are swiftly identified, enabling leaders to implement highly effective support at the earliest opportunity. Leaders also ensure that staff undertake specialist training, precisely matched to children's specific needs, including training to support communication and language development. The learning environment is sensitively adapted to meet the needs of children with SEND.

Outdoor space

Children access a wide range of physical activities and resources, including bicycles in the outdoor area. Staff support children by modelling how to push the pedals and encouraging them to develop their coordination and confidence. The learning environment is sensitively adapted to meet the needs of children with SEND, such as allowing children to spend time outdoors on arrival, to support their emotional wellbeing and successful transitions.

EAL / language support

Staff support children who speak English as an additional language by using visual timetables and learning words in their home language.

Google Reviews of Special First Steps

5.0
(2 Google reviews)
Sam The Guide
a year ago

Very caring nursery. My daughter loves going here the teachers are very kind & helpful. The nursery is filled with playful activities for pre-school kids

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for Special First Steps. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Most recent inspection

18 May 2026

Expected standard

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

View full Ofsted report

Frequently asked about Special First Steps

Nearby day nurseries in Carshalton

Other Ofsted-registered day nurseries close to Special First Steps.

Are you the owner of this nursery? Claim this listing to manage photos, hours and contact details.

Claim listing

Share this nursery

Send to a partner, friend or family member.

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