FAQs

To express interest in a place, find out more about the nursery or secure a place with us please email us admissions@parsonsgreennursery.com with your child’s due date/DOB, desired nursery (if you have a location preference), when you would be looking for them to take up a place and what kind of attendance pattern you would like. Our Admissions team will be able to provide you with more information on both of our nurseries including our prospectus, virtual tour, photo galleries and how to secure a place or join our waiting list.

We recommend registering your child as early as possible to avoid disappointment, we accept registration 12 weeks pregnant. Early registrations means we will be more likely to be able to offer your desired start date and attendance pattern.

You will be invited into the nursery for an all about me meeting with the nursery head the term before your child’s start date.

Please note that we do not offer in person tours, we believe strongly that children’s nurseries should be a protected, familiar and uninterrupted place of learning safe from unvetted members of the public and free from distractions and strangers being able to “view” the children and interrupt their day. This approach is very much valued by our current families and adds an additional level of privacy, safeguarding and respect for the children in attendance.

We kindly ask that parents update us with your baby’s name and DOB once they are born. We will then be in touch the term prior to starting to book in their three settling in sessions. At this stage, our head of admissions will send you a copy of our parent handbook with more information on life at PGN.

You will be invited in for an all about me meeting with the Head of the nursery around two weeks prior to starting with us.. This also gives us the opportunity to learn all about your child’s routine, likes and dislikes and to ensure everything is in place ready for your child’s first day at nursery. This meeting will also give you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have and get assess to our online system and app.

To register with us a £150 non refundable registration fee is due. If we are unable to offer you a confirmed place upon registration we will add you onto both or one of our waiting lists with this fee.

If we are able to offer you a secured place a £1000 Acceptance fee is due at this time to secure this place. This fee is a commitment to the nursery and non refundable should you not take up the place for any reason including changes to personal circumstances. We require at least three months notice of your desire not to take up a place or three months fees are due in lieu of notice.

Once you have a secured place at PGN we are unfortunately unable to provide a deferral of your agreed start date.

We require three month’s notice to reduce attendance. Please note you cannot reduce attendance on a temporary basis, if you decide to give up one of your sessions this will be added to the next family on our waiting list and we cannot guarantee if this will become available again.

We require three months written notice to leave the nursery. Your Acceptance Fee / Deposit will be refunded within a month of leaving the nursery.

Please note if you secure a place an decide not to take up your place for any reason regardless of circumstances or notice provided your Acceptance Fee / Deposit becomes non refundable.

If you give less than three months notice that you will not take up a secured place three months fees will be due in lieu of notice.

Yes, all staff members have to have a DBS check completed when they start with Parsons Green Nursery. Teachers are registered on the update service so that they can be checked regularly at every supervision, termly.

The ratios, as outlined by Early Years Foundation Stage, are;

• 0-2 years – 1 qualified adult: 3 children

• 2-3 years – 1 qualified adult: 5 children.

• 3 years and above – 1 qualified adult: 8 children (or 1:13 with a further qualification in Teaching).

Parsons Green Nursery aim to exceed this minimum requirement we aim to have two bank staff to cover staff holidays and staff sickness and we also have separate house keeping and cleaning staff on site to ensure your teachers spend all their time leading children's learning.

We hold regular First Aid courses throughout the year for all of our staff. Our aim is to ensure everyone is First Aid trained shortly after joining the team.

Our team's qualifications range broadly from qualified teachers and staff with post graduate certificates in education to level 3 trained practitioners and talented apprentices. We endeavour to ensure all classes have a good mixture of qualifications and experience levels.

Parsons Green Nursery has a bespoke pre school curriculum that ensures children are exposed to a broad range of experiences while at nursery. We operate our own phonics and maths curriculums which ensure children are fully prepared for school by the time they leave us. Our PGN learning goals are set in each classroom and guide the teachers in planning age appropriate activities at every stage of children time with us. We balance opportunities for independent creative play with more structured adult lead learning and find this approach ensures children make optimal progress. All children have access to our world of wonder events which gives children opportunities to participate in a range of diverse and rich experiences that foster a love of learning and develop knowledge and understanding of the wider world.

Our approach to Early Years Education is influenced by some of the most (and least) well know pedagogues. We believe we have a unique family focused approach to early education. Please see some of the approaches that have inspired the PGN Ethos.

The Waldorf Approach

The Reggio Emilia Approach

The Curiosity Approach

The Montessori Approach

The High Scope Approach

All Schools and Nurseries inspected by OFSTED are required to follow the EYFS which sets the basis for our curriculum.

We carry out termly progress checks on all children to ensure they are making expected progress in all areas, these progress checks are followed up by in person parents evening to discuss how you child is doing in more detail.

Children have at least one hour of outdoor play every day in our nursery garden. We use local parks for our football and out door PE sessions and children go on regular outings to local shops, markets, libraries etc.

Parsons Green Nursery will endeavour to adapt our provision to meet the needs of all children who wish to attend. If we feel that we are unable to provide the right environment for your child or that they would be better suited to another setting we would discuss this with you directly.

We believe that every meal time is a learning opportunity for young children. Children who attend nursery in the mornings will have a morning snack of different fruits and vegetables, milk and water.

We provide meal alternatives to children who have allergies to all major allergens and dietary preferences. Please keep us informed of your child’s dietary requirements by mailing admin@parsonsgreennursery.com. You should also update your child's family profile to ensure allergies and preferences are reflected here too.

Yes! Both of our nurseries are nut free! please do not leave any nuts in children's bags, buggies or pockets these could endanger children on site who have anaphylaxis allergies to nuts.

Please note according to the needs of children attending we may also impose bans on other food items such as eggs. This will be noted at the nursery entrance and via the family app. We kindly ask parents to support us in keeping children with allergies safe while at nursery.

Parsons Green Nursery has fed into some of London’s most exclusive primary schools since our inception in 2014. We pride our self on our strong relationships with future schools and work in partnership with parents to ensure their child choose the right school for them. We fully support children and parents throughout the process and preparation for 4+ assessments.

Preparation for 4+ assessments is a long process that starts the moment your child joins PGN. The Majority of assessment based schools are looking for happy confident children who are keen and ready to learn. Every school environment is unique and it is important for schools to assess which children will be able to fully access the curriculum and thrive at the school.

Our understanding of what each school is looking for enables us to help match children to schools that will suit them and advise parents on the application and assessment process.

No unfortunately we have a strict policy on exclusion periods. For sickness and diarrhoea children must be away from nursery school for 2 full days after the last symptom, to mitigate any possible transmission . Children must be absent from nursery for one full day after a high temperature. PGN operates some exclusions above and beyond NHS guidance including for specific illnesses such as hand foot and mouth and conjunctivitis. Please see our illness and exclusion list in the parent handbook for a full list of exclusions. We appreciate that having children home from nursery is inconvenient especially to working parents but we believe that strict adhesion to exclusion periods ultimately reduces the amount of illness children collectively face at nursery and protects the nursery communicate including pregnant mothers, and reduces staff sickness. We appreciate parents support with this.

We do all we can to prevent accidents from happening at nursery but unfortunately they do occasionally occur. If your child has an accident we will let you know via telephone or upon collection depending on the severity of the accident. We will fill in an accident form to outline the incident (causes, treatments, outcomes etc). We will also provide any First Aid required. We record all accidents on our family app and you will be asked to acknowledge these via the app each an accident occurs.

We have set collection and drop off times; drop off is: 8.00-9.00am lunch time collection/drop off: 12.45pm-1.00pm and evening collection: 5.00-6.00pm. If you would like to collect outside of these hours please speak to the nursery head. Please note we do not permit collections or drop offs during meal times for the safety of children.

Fees are payable in advance, on or before the first working day of each month. We recommend that parents set up a standing order to ensure fees are paid on time or fees can be transferred via BACS payment. Please note daily late fees are incurred if fees are not paid by the 5th working day of each month.

Nursery fees are calculated on an annual basis and then split into 12 monthly payments. Your annual fee is calculated based on your agreed attendance pattern. We publish a daily rate so that parents can calculate how different attendance patterns affect their monthly fee which is worked out using the following formula: Weekly fee x 52 / 12. Please note that the daily rate takes into all days of closure which are published at the same time as fees for the year are set. These days of closure include inset days, Christmas holiday closure and all bank holidays.

Our nursery settings are registered with childcare voucher issuers for parents who receive childcare vouchers through work. This amount will be credited to your monthly or termly invoice. Please speak to us directly for more information on what vouchers we use.

We will require a £150 registration fee upon registration onto our waiting list or when registering for a secured place. An Acceptance Fee / deposit is also payable upon the confirmation of a place. Please note once you have secured a place this Acceptance Fee / deposit is not refundable should you not take up the place for any reason. You will receive a refund of the Acceptance Fee / Deposit once your child has left the nursery after having started and given three month’s notice. If Less than three months notice is given of not taking up a place three months fees are due in Lieu of notice.

Yes, we offer 3 & 4 year old universal funding to all children the term after their turn 3. We also offer a limited number of funded places for eligible 2 and 3 year olds that are entitled to 15 and 30 hours free childcare. Please email admin@parsonsgreennursery.com for details on availability and how these amounts affect your fees.

Please note that additional fees apply to all funded places and parents remain ultimately responsible for all fees.

Yes we currently offer sibling discounts while you have two or more children attending the nursery 5% if one or both children are part time and 10% if both children are attending full time you have two or more children attending. The sibling discount is not applicable to the first child.

We understand that occasionally due to unforeseen circumstances parents can run late to collect their children from nursery. We ask for you to let us know if this is going to happen as soon as you are aware you will not be able to collect on time. Parents will be charged a late fee which will be automatically added to your invoice this goes towards paying staff overtime.