The Chelsea Nursery
The Chelsea Nursery is a day nursery in London for children aged 0 to 4, with 40 registered places. Ofsted report card, 7 May 2026: Expected standard in 6 areas; safeguarding standards met.
1a Gertrude Street, Chelsea, London, SW10 0JN
Key facts
- Type
- Day nursery (Full day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Ages
- 0 to 4 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered places
- 40 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered
- 25 May 2025 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Opening hours
Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00
Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 7 May 2026
Who runs it
The Chelsea Nursery is run by Forfar Chelsea Limited (Ofsted register).
Latest inspection
- Inclusion: Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard
- Achievement: Expected standard
- Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard
- Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard
- Leadership and governance: Expected standard
- Safeguarding standards met
Source: Ofsted, inspection on 7 May 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children at this nursery enjoy the activities that staff provide and they quickly become immersed in their learning. Children benefit from age-appropriate activities that support their learning needs. They enjoy learning about topics that motivate them, such as space. For example, babies explore orbs and balls in an activity that engages their senses. Older children learn about planets and practise their numeracy and mathematical language skills. All children delight in singing and music opportunities and they engage confidently as they move their bodies and perform actions. Children become engrossed in targeted activities that support all children's learning, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children look proud as staff praise their efforts and are keen to share their knowledge.
Children engage with staff throughout the day, who provide ongoing commentary to support children's learning. For example, as children are involved in play, staff help children learn about different shapes, sizes and measures, which further extends their understanding of mathematics. Children take turns with their friends and share resources, which develops their social skills. Older children confidently share their views and increase their vocabulary as they engage in conversations. Younger children indicate when they are happy or when they need a cuddle for comfort.
Children show their independence as they confidently fetch the 'sharing timer' to take turns with their friends. They are increasingly confident in managing their own care needs, for example putting on their coats for outside play and washing their hands before mealtimes. Children, including those with SEND or barriers to their learning, make progress from their starting points. This sets positive foundations for children's future learning and transitions to school.
What Ofsted found in each area
Inclusion: Expected standard
Staff ensure children's individual needs are identified swiftly and accurately when they start through observation and gathering information from parents. Leaders and staff consider every child's individual needs and consider these when planning for children's learning. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported with tailored plans designed to ensure all staff know how best to provide precise support. This means staff have the relevant information they need to meet children's individual needs from the outset. Staff update children's plans as they progress and, overall, implement these effectively within the setting. Leaders seek professional advice if required and they work in partnership with parents and carers to ensure continuity of care for every child.
Staff ensure there is time for children with SEND to get support on a one-to-one basis to help them achieve their early learning goals. Staff are guided in their roles by leaders, who regularly observe children with SEND. This ensures key persons and leaders have a secure understanding of children's current developmental levels and respond to each child's changing needs. Leaders ensure effective strategies are in place to support children with SEND to make progress from their starting points. Staff ensure any barriers to learning are reduced and children get the targeted support they need that reflects their individual circumstances. Parents are involved in decisions about children's learning plans and opportunities for external support are used effectively to support children's needs.
Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard
Staff have an effective understanding of what children already know and can do. They use regular assessments to establish the skills and knowledge that children need to learn next. Leaders use regular supervision and their observations to ensure staff have the skills needed to adapt their teaching and extend children's learning as they play. Staff sensitively consider the needs of children, who have been identified as requiring additional support. Experienced staff model to their colleagues how to enhance daily routines, such as mealtimes, to further extend children's personal and social skills. This is particularly important for those children who find mealtimes challenging and benefit from a consistent approach.
Staff skilfully balance children's interests with purposeful learning experiences that specifically support their individual needs. Staff remind children of what they have learned to support all children to successfully access the learning opportunities and daily routines. For example, staff ask children about activities they have previously enjoyed and give them the confidence to use that knowledge to further their learning. For instance, when children paint or explore numbers, they build on previous learning. Children get daily access to an outdoor area at the nursery. Older children go on a scheduled weekly trip to a local woodland, where they learn about nature and explore a larger outdoor space. At other times during the week, staff make use of local parks and the library to give children opportunities and experiences to further their learning.
Achievement: Expected standard
There is always something interesting to talk about at nursery, which promotes children's speaking skills. The opportunities for singing, reading and role play throughout the day promote children's early language skills and social interaction. Children thoroughly enjoy singing and dancing while a member of staff plays the guitar. They demonstrate their developing recall skills, when they suggest preferred songs and remember the associated actions. Overall, the daily routine supports children to enjoy their time at nursery. However, babies are often disrupted in their play, when older children need to access the outdoor space. When babies sleep in the afternoon the garden is not available for the older children.
Staff support all children to play well together, and this helps them form lovely friendships. Children confidently use age-appropriate mathematical language. They use descriptive language, such as 'big' and 'small', number songs and counting during activities, which develops their early numeracy skills. This boosts children's understanding of numbers and solving simple mathematical problems. Overall, children make secure and steady progress in their learning and this helps them gain the skills they need to transition to school.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard
Overall, staff manage children's behaviour well. They talk to children about the rules and the daily routine. This helps children to typically know what is expected of them and to understand what is happening next. Established routines that support children across the day are in place for most of the time. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the support they need to engage with their learning and manage their emotions. Staff help children to learn about their emotions and understand how their behaviour can affect others. This includes positive behaviour like sharing, turn-taking and listening which is celebrated.
Sometimes, children lose their focus on learning when the environment around them is distracting. During these times, children's attitudes to their learning are less positive. Staff deployment can mean less-experienced practitioners are concentrated in some areas of the provision. This means some staff get fewer opportunities to learn from more experienced colleagues and improve their practice. Staff are organised well enough during mealtimes. Children sit together and learn good manners and conversational skills. Staff work hard as a team to support children, who find mealtimes challenging. They ensure that children are fully supported to eat well and feel included in this important part of the routine. Ensuring children eat and sleep well supports positive behaviour overall at the nursery. Children's attendance is monitored to ensure any concerns are addressed promptly. Leaders explain the importance of routines to parents during settling in to promote the importance of punctuality and regular attendance.
Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard
Overall, children in this nursery enjoy a space that is specifically planned to engage their interests and support their learning. This promotes children's development in all areas of learning as they work towards their move on to pre-school and school. However, at times during the day, the routine in the baby room is disrupted by older children accessing the outdoor area. This has an impact on some children who are settling in the room and means they lose focus on their learning. Leaders are aware of the issue and are considering how they can reorganise the setting to better support the daily routine for the youngest children. Staff ensure there is a calm and relaxing space for children to sleep and eat. This supports children to learn about their bodies and eventually manage their individual care needs.
Children's wellbeing and welfare are important to staff and leaders. Effective key-person systems are in place to ensure continuity for children and positive relationships. Staff get to know all children well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders support staff to regularly revise and adapt children's learning plans in response to changes in a child's life. They gather information from parents and carers or professionals working with the child. This helps ensure children's needs are supported effectively.
Leadership and governance: Expected standard
Leaders are keen to raise the quality of the provision and benefit children's wellbeing further. They have identified areas for improvement that they would like to develop, particularly regarding the impact access to the outdoor space is having on the youngest children. However, there is no clear plan or timescales in place to ensure change is effectively implemented. Leaders support staff to increase their knowledge and skills through training opportunities and team meetings. As a result, staff are familiar with the curriculum and what they want children to achieve. However, deployment decisions mean some areas of the nursery have more inexperienced staff then others and this impacts the quality of the curriculum delivery.
Leaders are confident to work in partnership with parents, carers and other professionals. They ensure they gather appropriate information to ensure ongoing communication regarding children's learning and progress results in targeted plans and timely intervention if required. This includes additional support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff say they feel supported regarding their wellbeing and managing their workload during regular supervision sessions. Leaders understand the needs of the community in which they operate, and they help families to understand how they can take an active role in their child's care and learning.
What the setting must and should do next
The provider should:
- Leaders should continue their support for less-confident staff to raise the quality of teaching interactions to the same level across the setting.
- Leaders should modify routines to ensure consistency that supports the youngest children to focus without distraction.
- Leaders should consider how deployment of less-experienced staff in the nursery impacts the provision of high-quality care and education for all children.
Ofsted's words, from the report on the inspection on 7 May 2026. Read the full report on the Ofsted website. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Inspection history
- 7 May 2026: Full inspection, report card: Expected standard in 6
Ofsted report cards (England, from November 2025)
Since 10 November 2025 Ofsted has graded nurseries and pre-schools on a report card. There is no single overall grade. Instead, each of six areas gets one of five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement.
The six areas are inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children's welfare and wellbeing; leadership and governance. Safeguarding is judged on its own, as met or not met.
Expected standard means the setting does what Ofsted expects of every setting. Strong standard and Exceptional are above that; Needs attention and Urgent improvement mean Ofsted found things the setting has to put right.
Source: Ofsted reports
Funded childcare hours in England
All 3 and 4 year olds in England can get 15 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.
Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years old can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year (Free Childcare for Working Parents), if they meet the earnings rules. You confirm your details every 3 months.
Some 2 year olds can get 15 hours a week when the family gets certain kinds of extra support.
The hours are used at a registered provider that offers them, so ask each nursery how it offers the funded hours.
Source: GOV.UK: Free Childcare for Working Parents, check if you're eligible · GOV.UK: Free childcare and education for 2 to 4 year olds (checked 31 October 2026)
Other nurseries nearby
- Tadpoles Nursery School, Chelsea - Pre-school, London SW10 0AY, ages 2 to 4, 70 places, 0.1 milesOfsted, 9 January 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- Park Walk Seedlings Nursery - Day nursery, London SW10 0AY, ages 1 to 3, 25 places, 0.1 milesOfsted, 13 June 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- Chelsea Pre-Prep School & Nursery - Day nursery, London SW10 0AU, ages 2 to 4, 60 places, 0.1 milesOfsted, 7 December 2021: Outstanding overall; safeguarding is effective
- Kingsland Pre-Prep - Pre-school, London SW10 0LJ, ages 2 to 4, 78 places, 0.1 milesOfsted, 14 September 2022: Outstanding overall; safeguarding is effective
- Ohana Centre - Day nursery, London SW10 9EL, ages 2 to 6, 22 places, 0.2 milesOfsted, 4 June 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
Schools nearby
- Park Walk Primary School - Primary, 0.1 miles
- Servite RC Primary School - Primary, 0.2 miles
- Ashburnham Community School - Primary, 0.2 miles
- Cameron Vale School - Prep, 0.3 miles
- Chelsea Academy - Secondary, 0.4 miles