Food
Meals and snacks provided, seasonal menus certified by a children’s dietician
The Dulwich Day Nursery & Pre-School
Ofsted: Good
(Nov 2023)
Number of places
71 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Nov 2023
Local authority
Lewisham
About this day nursery
The Dulwich Day Nursery & Pre-School, located in Catford at 145 Perry Hill, provides a nurturing and secure environment where children can flourish through child-led play. The nursery welcomes children from 9 months to 4 years old, offering a diverse array of planned activities and experiences to encourage independent exploration and choices.
The curriculum emphasises cultural appreciation by encouraging children to share family photos and learn about various festivals and traditions. The dedicated team of childcare practitioners focuses on building strong bonds with both children and their families, ensuring a positive and supportive experience from the very beginning.
The nursery is committed to safety, featuring CCTV surveillance and a secure buggy storage area. Healthy, dietitian-certified seasonal meals and snacks are provided to support children's well-being.
Conveniently located, the nursery offers good bus links to Catford and Catford Bridge Stations, with street parking available for easy drop-off and pick-up.
Our ethos
The Dulwich Day Nursery & Pre-School uses a child-led play approach, encouraging independent exploration and choices. They focus on cultural appreciation and building strong bonds with children and families to foster a nurturing and secure environment.
What it's like
Caring practitioners develop positive relationships with their key children, helping them to settle and feel emotionally secure. They are good role models, encouraging good manners and independent routines. Children demonstrate good behaviour and have a positive attitude towards their learning, supported by practitioners who plan experiences based on their interests.
Child-led playCultural appreciationStrong parent-child relationshipsHealthy meals and snacksCCTV security
Pricing & funding
Funding accepted
15 hours — working parents (9 months–2 yrs)15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds15 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.
Request pricing →Key facts
Opening hours
Monday – Friday: 07:30 – 18:30
Age range
9 months to 4 years
Term time / All Year
All Year
Ofsted Inspection
Ofsted rating for The Dulwich Day Nursery & Pre-School
Last inspected 15 November 2023
Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
What it's like to attend
Caring practitioners develop positive relationships with their key children, helping them to settle and feel emotionally secure. They are good role models, encouraging good manners and independent routines. Children demonstrate good behaviour and have a positive attitude towards their learning, supported by practitioners who plan experiences based on their interests.
Inspector highlights
- Leaders have worked hard since the last inspection to address the areas of weakness, such as risk assessment and staff deployment, ensuring children are well cared for.
- Leaders support practitioners to implement a challenging curriculum based on individual needs and interests, helping all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress.
- The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCo) effectively supports practitioners and works with parents and other agencies to provide consistent support for children with SEND.
- Practitioners promote children's emerging language and speaking skills well, using visual support, introducing new words, and incorporating stories and songs.
- Practitioners effectively support children who speak English as an additional language by using shared home languages, keywords from parents, and creating resources like books and recordings in their home language.
- Inspectors found that the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
Areas to develop
- 1extend children's language and thinking skills further with the use of more effective strategies and give time for children to understand, think and respond.
Inspection #10302072 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report
Inclusion & environment
How they support every child
SEND provision
Leaders support practitioners to implement a curriculum that challenges children and provides learning experiences based on their individual needs and interests. This helps all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to make good progress. The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCo) supports practitioners effectively to ensure that children with SEND receive early help and targeted support. She works in partnership with parents and other agencies to provide a consistent approach to children's learning and development.
Outdoor space
Children use the outdoor space daily. They move freely and explore a range of equipment, such as climbing apparatus, stilts, and hoops. This gives them access to fresh air and the opportunity to move and strengthen their large muscles.
Parent Reviews of The Dulwich Day Nursery & Pre-School
4.0
(11)
Devika Dwarka
5 months ago
Nursery practitioners all supported my daughter's settling in which took almost a year. I always felt reassured she was well looked after and the staff took the time to get to know my daughter to make the process as smooth as possible for her. Now a year later she talks to me about all the staff and what she enjoys at nursery which is a massive credit to everyone working at the nursery. Thank you all!
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Atika Zarnain
10 months ago
I had a very disappointing experience at The Dulwich Day Nursery & Pre-School. I had a confirmed appointment for a tour, but when I arrived, I was told there were no spaces available. This was not communicated in advance and felt like a complete waste of my time. To make matters worse, the staff were not welcoming or friendly. I was barely acknowledged and felt uncomfortable throughout the brief interaction. For a nursery that’s supposed to focus on care and early childhood development, the lack of warmth and professionalism was surprising and frankly unacceptable. I expected better and would not recommend this nursery based on my experience.
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Gemmie Payton
a year ago
I’ve been happy with our son’s development since he started at nursery and he has a lot of fun! All the staff are really lovely and genuinely caring and my son seems to have good bonds with the team in the baby room. The environment is really nice, the baby room has recently been redecorated and it’s lovely. It feels like a good range of activities are provided throughout the day. We have enjoyed the extra events the nursery has organised for families.
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Sailesh Patel
4 years ago
Grace’s has been a happy independent nursery for our 20-month old daughter for the last 10 months - with sensible opening times, caring staff, regular reporting, and healthy meals. It has now come under new and clearly more hands-off ownership, hence the bizarre Dulwich-alluding name change. Hopefully the local staff will continue to focus on things that matter more than a name!
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Tim Jonze
7 years ago
Our little girl absolutely loves this nursery and has done from day one. Very friendly staff, well organised and a nice environment. We were worried about moving her to a new nursery (from a place she loved) but they helped settle her straight away.
Read on GoogleReviews from Google for The Dulwich Day Nursery & Pre-School. See all on Google Maps
Inspection history
Date: May 2023
- December 2023Good
- November 2023Good
- July 2023Inadequate
- May 2023Inadequate
Frequently asked about The Dulwich Day Nursery & Pre-School
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