Free 15 & 30 Hours Childcare Funding

We’re Proud to Be Named a Top 20 Nursery in London

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 11:31:16 GMT

Top 20 Nursery in London

We are delighted to share that The Playhouse Nursery has been recognised as one of the Top 20 Day Nurseries in London by daynurseries.co.uk.

This award means a great deal to us, as it is based on feedback from our parents and carers - the families who experience what we do every day.

Their kind words and continued support reassure us that the care, attention and dedication we put into creating a nurturing environment for children is truly making a difference.

At The Playhouse Nursery, our ethos has always been centred around providing a safe, warm and engaging space where children feel happy, valued and supported in their development. We believe that building strong relationships with both children and families is key to creating a positive early years experience.

Our team are incredibly proud of this achievement. They work hard every day with passion and commitment, and this recognition is a reflection of their efforts to give every child the very best start in life.

We’re also grateful to daynurseries.co.uk for organising these awards and for highlighting the importance of parent feedback in recognising quality childcare.

This award is not only something for us to celebrate, but also motivation to continue maintaining the high standards our families expect from us.

Nursery Closure Dates 2026

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 11:02:04 GMT

Important Dates

The Playhouse Nursery will close on Wednesday 23rd December 2026 at 1pm and re-open on Tuesday 5th January 2027 . We are also closed on all Bank Holidays.

We have 2 Inset Days each year as listed below:

Tuesday 1st September 2026
Monday 4th January 2027

Our normal opening hours are Monday to Friday between 8am-6pm. Morning sessions run between 8am-1pm and afternoon sessions are between 1pm-6pm. Any care outside of these hours will have to be arranged in advance subject to availability of staff. Please note, there will be an extra charge for late pick-ups that have not been pre-approved by the manager.

Childcare Funding Options Updated August 2025

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 09:04:29 GMT

Changes to Funded Childcare from September 2025

The Government announced plans to increase access to funded childcare hours to include younger children. The phased introduction of this plan begins in April 2024 through to September 2025:

From April 2024, children aged two to receive 15 hours of funded childcare
From September 2024, children aged 9 months also to have access to the 15 hours of funded childcare
By September 2025, all eligible children aged from 9 months to school age to receive 30 hours of funded childcare

The updated eligibility checker on childcarechoices.gov.uk is live and allows parents to access personalised information on the support available to them, including which of the new transformational childcare offers they will be eligible for depending on the age of their child and earnings.

The website will also give parents the opportunity to sign up for regular updates letting them know when they should take action to make sure they are getting the support they are entitled to – including when the new 15 hours for two-year-olds becomes available for sign-ups, with the offer beginning in April 2024.  

Please take some time to check your eligibility to ensure that you take advantage of any government help that may be available to you in the future.

Currently, there are some funding options available to parents / carers such as TAX-FREE CHILDCARE, 15 HOURS FUDNING for 2,3 & 4 years olds, and 30 HOUR FUNDING for 3 & 4 years olds for eligible families.

To find out more about the options available to you, click on the button below.

Update: 22/05/24

Childcare applications for parents of 9-month-olds now open

Working parents whose children will be aged between 9- and 23-months old on 31 August 2024 can apply for their government-funded childcare code via the childcare service , which they then take to their chosen childcare provider to validate.

Update: 12/08/2025

Expanding childcare support can help give your child a great start and give you the choices you need to balance work and family life.

From September, eligible working parents of children from 9 months old up to school age can access up to 30 hours of childcare a week, over 38 weeks of the year – starting from the term after your child turns 9 months old.

Apply for your code by 31 August to start using your hours from 1 September.

Already using 15 hours childcare for working families?

You don’t need to reapply for a new code. Simply continue to reconfirm your details every 3 months on your GOV.UK account and your existing code will update automatically to enable you to take up 30 hours from September.

If you're already using your 15 hours childcare and want to increase your hours from September, speak to your provider directly, as places may be limited. If you're struggling to find a place, contact your local authority to find out what support and options are available.

You can now use your Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account to pay for before and after school activities and holiday clubs through your school’s payment provider.

HMRC has introduced a new system to make this possible, but it depends on your payment provider, school, and childcare provider being signed up to TFC. we are happy to confirm that we are registered with HMRC to receive Tax-Free Childcare payments.

Summer Term 2025 Newsletter

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 12:54:05 GMT

Spring Term 2025 Newsletter

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 14:35:28 GMT

OFSTED Inspection Report

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 13:47:58 GMT

OFSTED Inspection Report 2024

We are delighted to inform you that our recent OFSTED inspection, conducted on the 14th of November 2024, was a tremendous success. The inspectors have rated our nursery as "GOOD," reflecting our commitment to providing an excellent environment for your children.

This outstanding result is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff, our wonderful children, and our nursery community. We are incredibly proud of this achievement and are committed to maintaining and further improving the quality of our nursery.

Click here to view the full report or altenatively visit OFSTED's Website .

Autumn 2024 Newsletter

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 08:31:10 GMT

Opening Hours & Term Dates 2025

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:23:52 GMT

Important Dates

The Playhouse Nursery will close on Tuesday 23rd December 2025 at 1pm and re-open on Monday 5th January 2026 . We are also closed on all Bank Holidays.

We have 2 Inset Days each year as listed below:

Tuesday 26th August 2025
Friday 2nd January 2026

Starting at The Playhouse Nursery

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:23:24 GMT

We want your child to feel safe and happy in the absence of their parents. We also want parents to feel welcome and involved from the beginning.

We understand that choosing a nursery is one of the first important milestones in your child’s life and we are here to support you on this exciting journey. We are always eager to provide a happy, smooth and memorable transition into nursery for every child when they start with us. Your child's key person will work together in partnership with you so that your journey with The Playhouse Nursery is positive from the start.

During your settling in sessions, we aim to understand everything about your child such as their current routine, how they like to be comforted, if they have a special comforter, a favourite story or activity they enjoy. Throughout your child’s time at nursery, their key person will always take into account their needs and interests and provide activities that promote learning through play.

After the initial visit, we encourage you to talk to your child about coming to the setting. Your child will have a peg where they can hang their coats and belongings, and this will make them feel they have a place at the nursery. A photo of themselves on the wall above their coats will make them feel valued.

Children cannot play or learn successfully if they are anxious and unhappy. Our settling in procedures aim to help parents and children feel comfortable in the nursery, and help to ensure that the child has the opportunity to benefit from their time at nursery, confident in the knowledge that their parents will return to collect them at the end of the session.

We aim to ensure your child’s introduction to our setting is as stress free as possible. Children develop in individual ways and at varying rates and that is why at The Playhouse Nursery we offer a settling in procedure that is flexible to meet those needs. Therefore the nature and personality of the child will dictate how many settling sessions are needed.

BENEFITS OF ATTENDING NURSERY

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:22:46 GMT

Attending nursery may bring:

Routine

The benefits of routines in the lives of young children is a subject often spoken about as a way of establishing a feeling of security for little ones. Attending nursery provides children with a strong routine and structure to their day, this means that they are aware of what is expected at certain times of the day. This strong foundation enables children to play a more active role in tasks as they know what to do and when to do it. For example, they will know that before home time they need to tidy up, before lunch time they need to help set the table and wash their hands.

Developing social skills

Crucial social skills such as taking turns, listening to other people, playing with other children and communicating their feelings and opinions are all skills that can be learnt at nursery.

Children will learn more about interacting with other adults and children, along with gaining a greater understanding of other people’s feelings and empathy. Playing with the other children at nursery or playgroup provides an ideal opportunity to put these emerging social skills into practice.

Making new friends

Nursery is the perfect opportunity for your child to begin forging those first friendships. They will be surrounded with children of a similar age to themselves and will see the same faces each time they attend nursery.

Being around all these extra children is also perfect for creating new opportunities for play. Even when simply playing side by side with another nursery age child, children will be aware of each other and may start imitating each other to establish a connection. Of course, being surrounded by their peers is also perfect for taking part in group games and role play activities too.

Preparation for school

Being at nursery is a useful way to ease your child’s transition to starting school. Starting school will not come as such a shock to a child that is already used to spending time in a learning environment.

Taking part in structured activities, spending time with peers, following rules and listening to instructions from nursery staff will all help them to feel prepared for life at ‘big school’ when the time comes.

Learning new skills

Starting nursery can be an exciting new adventure for young children and will nurture a wide range of new skills. From learning to hold a pencil correctly through to developing their emerging numeracy skills, your little one will soon be rapidly expanding their skill set once they start at nursery or pre-school.

Personal skills such as being responsible for washing their hands before they eat and putting on their own coat and hanging it up by themselves will all be developed at nursery.

Confidence

For some children attending nursery or playgroup may be the very first time they have spent a few hours apart from their parents. The added independence that comes from being away from their main carers can nurture a child’s self-confidence as they learn to complete basic tasks by themselves and discover more about life outside of their family unit.

Attending a nursery or playgroup will widen your child’s experience of the world. Taking part in different activities, spending time with different children and adults and visiting different places will help their confidence to grow and build a foundation which prepares them for life in the outside world.

Me time!

From a parent’s perspective, your child attending nursery or preschool even for just a few hours a week can provide some much needed me time. Let’s face it, looking after an energetic pre-schooler can be pretty full on, so it’s handy to have a few hours to yourself each week.

For more information, visit https://www.emmasdiary.co.uk/

Nursery Uniform

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:22:14 GMT

How to order Nursery Uniform

Based on the positive feedback that we have received from parents and carers, the majority have voted for nursery uniforms to be introduced therefore we have made the decision to incorporate uniforms in our policy starting from September 2022. Uniforms create a sense of belonging to a particular school/nursery and an identity for the nursery in the community.

When everyone is dressed in the same uniform, it promotes a sense of teamwork and breaks barriers between peers. Our uniform consists of a plain white t-shirt / polo shirt which you can purchase from anywhere and a navy sweatshirt or cardigan with our logo on, these can be purchased from https://myclothing.com/collections/the-playhouse-nursery-27887 .

Children can wear any colour trousers, joggers, shorts, leggings, and skirts. There are also other clothing options available from our suppliers, please feel free to purchase any other item that you wish your child to wear but this is not mandatory. (Our babies and toddlers do not need to wear uniform).

Please make sure that your child has suitable outdoor clothing and some outdoor shoes with them that they can change into when going out to play in the wet months. Please continue to supply spare clothes for your child, especially when toilet training.

We will provide a drawstring bag for you to put these items into and bring along with your child every day. Thank you for your support in ensuring our policies are followed and making sure your child is dressed appropriately for nursery each day.

Opening Hours & Term Dates 2025

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:21:35 GMT

Important Dates

The Playhouse Nursery will close on Monday 23rd December 2024 at 3pm and re-open on Friday 3rd January 2025 . We are also closed on all Bank Holidays.

We have 2 Inset Days each year as listed below:

Thursday 2nd January 2025
Tuesday 26th August 2025

How to apply for funded childcare

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 09:51:33 GMT

How to apply for funded childcare

for Working Parents with 2, 3 or 4 year-old children

Childcare Funding Options

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 08:32:25 GMT

Changes to Funded Childcare from September 2025

The Government announced plans to increase access to funded childcare hours to include younger children. The phased introduction of this plan begins in April 2024 through to September 2025:

From April 2024, children aged two to receive 15 hours of funded childcare
From September 2024, children aged 9 months also to have access to the 15 hours of funded childcare
By September 2025, all eligible children aged from 9 months to school age to receive 30 hours of funded childcare

Please take some time to check your eligibility to ensure that you take advantage of any government help that may be available to you in the future.

To find out more about the options available to you, click on the button below.

Update: 22/05/24

Childcare applications for parents of 9-month-olds now open

Update: 12/08/2025

Expanding childcare support can help give your child a great start and give you the choices you need to balance work and family life.

Apply for your code by 31 August to start using your hours from 1 September.

Already using 15 hours childcare for working families?

You can now use your Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account to pay for before and after school activities and holiday clubs through your school’s payment provider.

Daily Routine

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 09:46:53 GMT

A day at The Playhouse Nursery

08:00 - 09:00 - Welcoming time / Breakfast

09:00 - 09:30 - Circle time / Singing time

09:30 - 10:30 - Planned activity / Focused group

10:30 - 10:45 - Mid-morning Snack time

10:45 - 11:45 - Free Play / Outdoor / Soft Play

11:45 - 12:00 - Tidy up time & Wash hands

12:00 - 13:00 - Lunch

13:00 - Morning session ends, and afternoon session begins

13:00 - 14:30 - Nap time / Quiet time (reading or drawing) / Outdoor play

14:30 - 14:45 - Mid-afternoon snack

14:45 - 15:45 - Planned activity / Focused group

15:45 - 16:00 - Circle time / Singing time

16:00 - 16:30 - Afternoon tea

16:30 - 17:15 - Free play / Outdoor / Soft play

17:15 - 18:00 - Tidy up time / Stories & Goodbye

The above times are for guidance only and are subject to change

Healthy Start

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 16:57:55 GMT

Healthy Start card from NHS

If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk.

If you’re eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. Please click on the link below to find out if you are eligible.

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/

FREE and Low-cost fun activities for children

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 09:16:15 GMT

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS - Free & Fun activities for children

As the cost-of-living crisis starts to take hold, many families will be wondering how they can offer their children low- or no-cost play opportunities in the home this winter.

A key message to share is that it’s not what you have, it’s what you do. The simplest of activities, with little or no cost attached to them, can become magical moments when they are shared with children. Often, the key ingredient is our time. Children thrive when we as adults show them that they are worth our time and that we value and want to be a part of their world of play.

Our time is the greatest gift we can give our children. That doesn’t mean going on expensive trips out – it could just be playing a family game, going for a walk, jumping in puddles or reading a book together.

As parents and carers, spending time with our children brings so many benefits, including:

• Building our children’s self esteem

• Strengthening family bonds

• Encouraging communication

• Teaching children how to interact with others socially

• Developing children’s interests

Reducing Food Costs

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 09:16:13 GMT

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS - REDUCING FOOD COSTS THIS WINTER

The rate of food poverty in the UK is currently among the worst in Europe. The severity of this worrying trend was exposed by the pandemic and now, as prices soar and more and more families across the country are being pushed into poverty in the current cost-of-living crisis, the situation is

likely to get even more difficult.

With winter approaching, many families are likely to face the added challenge of additional strains on household budgets as they start use more fuel to heat our homes and cook meals. We know that it is much harder for people to afford to eat as well as they used to, or in many

cases, to eat at all and that many families are actively looking for ways to save money on food, so here are a few helpful ideas for reducing the amount you spend on food and saving money.

Nursery Milk

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 08:27:09 GMT

Fresh milk for your child

Milk and dairy products are an important part of a young child's diet. They're a good source of energy and protein, and contain a wide range of vitamins and minerals, including calcium. These will help young children build bones and keep teeth healthy. We are pleased to announce that we have teamed up with CoolMilk to provide our children with freshly delivered milk every day.

Nursery Outings

Sat, 25 Jun 2022 08:57:33 GMT

Benefits of Outings

Outings provide rich learning opportunities, stimulate children's curiosity and inspire new interests. Outings will also help boost children's social skills and self-confidence.

At The Playhouse Nursery, we aim to promote this by taking children to outings to local parks, library, supermarkets and etc. We are privileged to be located 0.2 miles (3 minutes walk) from Hollickwood Park which provides a play area for children between the age of 2-6 years as well as a water feature and wildlife.

How to make Gloop?

Tue, 31 May 2022 18:28:33 GMT

Sensory awareness goes hand in hand with creativity.

Gloop is an interesting mixture with a unique texture and is great for sensory play. It is also great for learning about the concepts of what a solid and liquid is.

Sensory play arouses children’s imaginations, creativity and curiosity through exploration of texture, temperature and fun!

Click here for instruction on how to make it at home with your child. ENJOY!

15 & 30 Hours Free Childcare

Mon, 23 May 2022 19:28:22 GMT

The term following a child’s 3rd birthday is when a child qualifies for government funding. All children aged 3 and 4 years are eligible for 15 hours of government funded childcare for 38 weeks of the year (570 hours).

Some children qualify for 30 hours of funding! Children of a single parent who work, on average, a weekly minimum equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or national living wage and does not earn more than £100,000 per year.

Children of a couple, BOTH of whom work, on average, a weekly minimum equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or national living wage minimum of 16 hours a week with neither independently earning more than £100,000 each.

The government have launched a website where parents will be required to register and enter their personal details, they will then receive confirmation of eligibility. All eligible parents will then receive an 11-digit code that they must share with their chosen childcare provider along with their national insurance number and the child’s birth certificate. The funding can be used at up to TWO different settings.

How to apply and find out more?

The government website https://childcare-support.tax.service.gov.uk/

Does this affect other childcare benefits?

Yes, this website will help you chose the best option https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

How will The Playhouse Nursery will be delivering the funded hours?

To provide flexibility and to help parents take full advantage of the funded hours throughout the whole year and NOT only term time, we split the funding over 52 weeks. Please speak to us and we will explain this to you in more detail.