Nursery Advice
Claim Your Nursery

The Puddleduck Nursery

Ofsted: Expected standard·
5.0(22 Google reviews) ·St. Antony With St. Silas Community Centre, Merttins Road, London, SE15 3EB · Southwark
Number of places
55 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Jul 2026
Local authority
Southwark

About this day nursery

The Puddleduck Nursery, established in 2009, is situated in the heart of Nunhead, London, offering early education to young children in South London. The day nursery operates from St Antony With St Silas Community Centre, boasting an open-plan community hall with ample natural light, designed to foster a family-style setting where children can thrive.

Additionally, there is a small, quiet area suitable for naptime and storytelling. The day nursery places a strong emphasis on outdoor learning, featuring a spacious and enclosed garden with artificial grass for all-weather play, a planting area for developing "green fingers," a climbing frame, and bikes.

They also utilise local parks to provide children with extensive open space for fresh-air activities. This focus on outdoor engagement allows children to explore, develop physical abilities, and connect with nature through observing seasonal changes and caring for plants.

The Puddleduck Nursery provides on-site prepared meals using fresh ingredients, offering a hot lunch, a tea-time meal, and snacks. Staff eat with the children, acting as role models for good table manners and encouraging them to try new foods, with all dietary requirements catered for.

The nursery encourages eco-friendly travel, being easily accessible by bus, and within walking distance of Brockley, Crofton Park, and Nunhead train stations, with facilities to store buggies, scooters, and bikes. They aim to build bright futures and nurture young minds, creating a curious and caring environment for children to grow in confidence.

Our ethos

At The Puddleduck Nursery our Philosophy stems from Friedrich Froebel, a pioneer of early childhood education and care. We have a strong focus on fostering development through play. The nursery places great value on being outside to experience the changes in the seasons and the weather as well as using their energy to develop strong healthy muscles and bodies.

What it's like

Children arrive at the nursery typically happy, confident and excited to begin their day, warmly welcomed by familiar staff members. Effective, nurturing relationships with key persons enable children to develop a sense of belonging and community, giving them the confidence to explore, learn and thrive. Older children enthusiastically engage in outdoor learning experiences, including forest school sessions, and benefit from learning Makaton. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make strong progress from their individual starting points and benefit from early intervention and support.

Established 2009Froebelian & EYFS approachSpacious indoor & outdoor facilitiesOn-site fresh mealsEco-friendly travel encouraged

Pricing & funding

The nursery offers fees for the 2025/2026 academic year, with detailed pricing available in a downloadable PDF document. No specific pricing figures are provided directly on the webpage.

Key facts

Food

All food prepared on-site with fresh ingredients, including hot lunch, tea-time meal, and snacks. Dietary requirements catered for. Staff eat with children as role models.

Opening hours

Monday - Friday, 08:00 AM - 06:00 PM

Term time / All Year

All_year

Registered with Ofsted

2024

Ofsted Inspection — new report card

Expected standard

Last inspected Jul 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
Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted report for The Puddleduck Nursery

Last inspected 15 July 2026

What it's like to attend

Children arrive at the nursery typically happy, confident and excited to begin their day, warmly welcomed by familiar staff members. Effective, nurturing relationships with key persons enable children to develop a sense of belonging and community, giving them the confidence to explore, learn and thrive. Older children enthusiastically engage in outdoor learning experiences, including forest school sessions, and benefit from learning Makaton. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make strong progress from their individual starting points and benefit from early intervention and support.

Inspector highlights

  • Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
  • Leaders have high expectations for every child, making thoughtful adaptations so that every child can succeed and thrive.
  • Leaders and staff implement well-matched programmes of support, ensuring children make strong progress from their individual starting points.
  • Children typically achieve well across the nursery, developing foundational knowledge and skills across all areas of the early years foundation stage.
  • Older children are well prepared for their transition to school, confidently holding pencils and giving meaning to their marks.
  • Leaders and staff place children's welfare and wellbeing at the centre of their practice, working closely with parents and carers.
  • Children benefit from an established key-person system, enabling them to form attachments and feel safe and valued.
  • Children enjoy daily opportunities to play outdoors, with older children demonstrating an understanding of how to keep themselves safe in hot weather.

Areas to develop

  • 1Leaders should support staff to implement daily routines consistently across all rooms of the nursery to keep children motivated and engaged.
  • 2Leaders should ensure that staff embed the training and guidance they have received so that high-quality interactions are delivered consistently across the nursery.

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Leaders have high expectations for every child with special educational needs and/or disabilities, collaborating with parents, carers, and external professionals to put bespoke support packages in place. Children with SEND make excellent progress and are well supported with bespoke small-group lessons to discuss emotions and help with socialising.

Outdoor space

Children enjoy daily opportunities to play outdoors, with older children confidently engaging in forest school sessions. Staff sensitively support older children in the outdoor area, including those with SEND, as they create imaginative scenarios such as a 'potion-making café'.

EAL / language support

The nursery implements well-matched programmes and interventions to ensure children, including those with English as an additional language, make strong progress from their starting points and are fully included.

Google Reviews of The Puddleduck Nursery

5.0
(22 Google reviews)
Kiren Dhillon
6 months ago

The Puddleduck Nursery is absolutely wonderful! The staff are warm, caring, and really take the time to get to know each child. My son loves going to nursery and can’t get there fast enough each morning. He always comes home happy and full of stories. The activities are fun and creative, and the nursery itself is clean, bright, and welcoming. My son enjoys the Forest school, exploring outdoors, learning about nature, and getting hands-on with mud, leaves, and little woodland adventures. I enjoy receiving the daily updates and photos — it’s clear how much care goes into everything they do. Very happy with Kim Bradley’s steer and my son has very much enjoyed being in the care of Debbie, Amy and Susannah, who he adores.

Read on Google
Lenka Claase
7 months ago

Our son spend wonderful 2 years in this nursery and loved every minute. Special mention to Susana and Debbie, he loved them both so much and there was no day when he would not want to go in. He was also a big fan of their forest school, football & music lessons. As a parents we liked the environment, teachers and we also liked their food menu which offered heathy options full of flavour.

Read on Google
Philip Bradley
a year ago

As both a parent and part of the nursery community, I couldn’t be happier with the care and education my child receives here. The staff are incredibly nurturing, friendly, and genuinely invested in each child's development. The setting is bright, spacious, and full of wonderful learning opportunities both indoors and outdoors. My child has grown in confidence, made lovely friendships, and is excited to come in every day. I highly recommend this nursery to any parent looking for a safe, caring, and inspiring environment for their little one

Read on Google
Flo Glendenning
10 months ago

I have two children at Puddleduck Nursery - one in the preschool room and one in the baby room. They both love it so much! The staff are incredible and it’s a fun, nurturing and caring environment. My elder daughter was at another nursery previously and it was a million miles behind this one. If you can get a place - take it!

Read on Google
Anne Collins
11 months ago

Totally recommend PuddleDuck Nursery. The atmosphere is warm and nurturing - a perfect environment for our son to learn and grow. The staff is so caring and attentive - they clearly love the children. They take the time to understand each child's unique needs and interests - this has made a significant difference in our son's development. There is open communication from the teachers - they consistently provide updates on our son's progress and activities. The curriculum is thoughtfully designed - lots of play-based learning that keeps our son engaged and excited. Exploring new things every day. We love hearing about the creative arts and crafts, storytime sessions, and outdoor playtime— both learning and fun are prioritised. Safety is clearly a top priority- we are happy knowing that our son is in a safe and clean environment. The facilities are well-maintained, and the outdoor play area offers plenty of space for the children to run and play. Overall, we are thrilled to have our son enrolled there. The nursery is a real gem in the community.

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for The Puddleduck Nursery. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Most recent inspection

15 July 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 The Puddleduck Nursery

Nearby day nurseries in London

Other Ofsted-registered day nurseries close to The Puddleduck Nursery.

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