If you’re choosing a nursery or pre-school for your child in or around Streatham, Furzedown, Tooting or Balham, making your final choice may not be as hard as you think. Take a look at 18 compelling reasons to choose Little Cedars Nursery below. You’ll soon see why we’d make an unbeatable choice for the childcare of under-fives in the area.
1. Superb Parent Feedback
Independent feedback from other parents is worth its weight in gold. In the last five years, Little Cedars has received only 5-star reviews on Google and Facebook. That’s top marks, consistently for 5 years running.* Comments that accompanied these independent reviews were equally compelling — here are just a few examples:
“Amazing nursery! Our daughter loved it here and all the staff are fantastic!”
“[The] team are amazing in every way, with the attention and time they give to the children. Very good knowledge on childhood illnesses and allergies.”
“With the new management this nursery is better than ever. Well done Maggie!”
“Lovely nursery, great team and an amazing outdoor space — they have animals which is fantastic. Amazing management team …”
“I just love the friendly vibes, the lovely facilities (including resources, grand garden and animals!). Maggie, the manager, has been just wonderful and you can see her deep commitment as she often supports her team in the rooms! [A] hands-on manager that will always give you time to talk about your child is a recipe for a success! Highly recommended!”
Ofsted also remarked that parents gave them wonderful feedback about the nursery in their recent Ofsted inspection.
2. Rated as a “Good Provider” of Childcare by Ofsted
In Ofsted’s recent appraisal, they consistently rated Little Cedars Day Nursery as “Good” — in every category. The Ofsted report sang our praises across the board. Here’s how they rated each of the core, specific areas in their opening synopsis:
Quality of education is rated as ‘Good.’- The quality of leadership & management is rated as ‘Good.’
- Behaviour & attitudes are rated as ‘Good.’
- Opportunities for personal development are rated as ‘Good.’
Learn more about the excellent Ofsted report for Little Cedars Day Nursery, here.
3. A Home-From-Home for Under-5s
Little Cedars is a warm, welcoming and nurturing environment. To the babies and children, it very much becomes a home-from-home where they feel safe, valued, cared for and all with wonderful, close relationships with both peers and our childcare professionals. It’s also a place of immense fun where little ones are happy, stimulated and nurtured in order to bring out the best in them.
4. Exceptional Resources, Equipment & Facilities
Little Cedars Nursery is extremely well resourced and equipped, both inside and out. Take a look at our photo gallery to see the high quality equipment outside to give you an idea. We have an amazing array of facilities that children will love, as they play and learn. They will have immense fun while also learning in the most natural of ways. We have multi-sensory areas, carefully-chosen reading materials, interactive toys and equipment and specially designed areas for each specific age group.
5. Affordable Childcare Fees
For those childcare hours that are not covered by Government schemes, our nursery and pre-school fees are very good value. What’s more, prices are discounted for children attending all five week days each week. Siblings attending at the same time also receive a 13% discount, making childcare services at Little Cedars Day Nursery even more affordable.*
6. Free Childcare Funding Schemes for Eligible 2-Year-Olds
If your 2-year-old is eligible for the Government’s free childcare scheme for this age group, rest assured that Little Cedars Day Nursery supports them and this can potentially give your little one 15 free hours of childcare per week for as many as 38 weeks of the year. That’s 570 free childcare hours per year for your 2-year-old!
7. 15-30 Hours of Free Childcare Per Week for Eligible 3 & 4-Year-Olds
We also support the free, Government-funded childcare schemes for eligible 3 and 4-year-olds, giving them 15 to 30 free childcare hours per week over 38 weeks of the year. That’s 570 to 1140 hours of free childcare each year if they’re eligible. The good news is that all 3 and 4-year-olds living in England are eligible for the 15 free hours per week as a bare minimum.
Check out our Rough Guide to Free Childcare Funding in England for more details.
8. Free Childcare Vouchers Accepted
Little Cedars Day Nursery accepts recognised and valid childcare vouchers, which can really help with affordability. That’s never been more important and useful for families.
9. Great Support for Children with Additional Needs
If your child has additional special needs, choosing the right nursery/pre-school for them is an even harder task. However, Little Cedars Day Nursery has that covered too. Here’s what the independent Ofsted inspector had to say about the topic in their recent visit:
“Children who have additional needs are making good progress from their starting points. Managers and staff offer highly effective support and work closely with parents and other agencies … enabling targeted support that helps children reach their full potential.”
10. Healthy, Balanced Meals & Snacks
Our in-house chef prepares healthy meals for the children each day, along with healthy snacks. Only fresh, high quality ingredients are used to produce the children’s healthy, balanced meals and all special diets are catered for.
Food and snacks are included in our standard fees with the exception of 3 and 4-year-olds receiving Government funding for their nursery places. For those alone, there is a small fee for meals because those are not covered by Government funding. There is, however, no fee for food for 2-year-old funded places.*
11. A Key Person Assigned to Every Child
A Key Person is assigned to each child at Little Cedars Nursery. This is an early years practitioner who ensures that the child’s needs are being catered for and that their care at the setting is tailored to them as an individual. They help children settle in when they first join the nursery and build strong relationships with both the child and the parents. They are therefore usually the natural and key point of contact at the nursery.
12. A Learning & Development Programme Tailored to Your Child
A totally bespoke learning and development programme is developed for each individual child at the setting. This is designed to bring out the very best in them — in every area. So, areas where they’re naturally gifted are made even stronger and any areas where they need extra focus are identified, with appropriate measures introduced as required — including in any areas of special need. In this way, children achieve personal bests across the board and their potential outcomes are absolutely maximised.
13. A Progress Journal for Every Child
The early years practitioners at Little Cedars are so much more than childminders and Little Cedars should not be thought of as just a crèche. Our childcare professionals facilitate the early learning of children and constantly monitor their progress. Indeed a progress journal is maintained for every child as a continuous record of their learning journey. Parents/carers have access to this at any time and are also encouraged to add to it, using its findings to aid the continuation of the child’s learning and development programme even when at home. It’s all an integral part of ensuring that each child thrives in every area of their learning and development.
14. Hand Picked, High Quality Staff
We have a very special team at Little Cedars Nursery. Every one of them has been hand picked to ensure they are the perfect fit for the nursery and for the children therein. They’re warm, natural carers who will form wonderful relationships with children and bring out the very best in them. They become the children’s safe, familiar and friendly faces at the setting as well as facilitating top-notch learning and early years education. They also ensure every child is happy and is having fun whilst under our care.
15. Everything Has a Purpose at Little Cedars Nursery
At Little Cedars nursery/pre-school, everything has a purpose. Whether it’s a hand-picked book or piece of equipment, an interactive game or a particular activity the children are undertaking, it is there for a specific reason and is there to benefit each child in a particular way. An awful lot of thought goes into every little detail at Little Cedars in order to give children the tools to fulfil their utmost potential.
16. A Complete, All-Round Early Years Education
At Little Cedars we do so much more than simply look after babies, toddlers and under-fives. We educate and nurture them too. In fact, we ensure that our little ones achieve personal bests in all 7 areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This is a high quality, all-encompassing learning and development framework that covers communication and language, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design. It pretty much covers everything children need to blossom and thrive.
17. We Prepare Under-Fives for Starting School
One of the key goals at Little Cedars Day Nursery and pre-school is to prepare the children for when they transition to school at the age of five. That’s a key milestone in their lives and we ensure that their transition goes as smoothly as possible. This includes a good early years education, as well as the fostering of good physical and mental skills, independence, good social skills and suchlike. When they leave us for school, they leave as the very best version of themselves, fully equipped to absolutely hit the ground running.
18. Safety is Always Paramount
The safeguarding of all babies and children under our care is of paramount importance to Little Cedars Nursery. Ofsted recognise this too, commenting in their recent report that our arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with risk assessments and appropriate procedures all being in place. So, as a parent or carer, you can rest easy in the knowledge that your baby, toddler or under-five child is in very safe hands — and that’s even independently verified by the experts.
Apply for a Place at Little Cedars Nursery & Pre-school
A nursery place for your child in Streatham, near Furzedown, Tooting, Balham, Norbury & Colliers Wood
We hope you can now see all the benefits of sending your baby, toddler or preschooler to Little Cedars nursery/pre-school. If you are looking for a good nursery/pre-school in Streatham, or high quality childcare near Streatham Hill, Streatham Park, Streatham Common or Furzedown, Little Cedars Nursery would make an excellent choice. We’re also close by if you live or work near Tooting, Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway, Tooting Common, Balham, Norbury or Colliers Wood. Contact us today to get started with your child’s nursery application or to arrange a visit, so you and your little one can see it for yourselves. Please choose a button to get started:
* Correct at time of writing (mid-August 2022).
In a follow-up to last month’s post about 
Reading with children, well ahead of them beginning school, has also been shown to boost their language skills, incredibly by the equivalent of as much as 8 months before they’re even five! The key is to read with them; not just to them. Learn more about 
Listen to any reservations your child may have about the prospect of starting school. Listening is important, so be on the look-out for any concerns and reservations they may have.
Children will greatly benefit in Reception Year at school if they’re already independent when they start. So, nurturing aspects of their independence well ahead of them beginning school is a good policy. For example, ensuring they know how to independently look after personal hygiene, dress themselves, tie shoe laces, dress, use the toilet, pack their bag and so on. If they can do this before they start school, it will help them enormously.
Parents/guardians will also be wise to identify one or more of their children’s friends (or potential friends) that will also be starting school at the same time. Ensure they meet up and play regularly, before they’ve started school. In this way, there will be a friendly face at the school from the moment they start. It’ll help them feel more at home and less alone.
Several weeks before they start school, children should start to synchronise their day with the timings of the new school day. This should include getting up time in the morning and ideally even timings for lunch and suchlike. In this way, children’s body clocks will have adjusted in good time, before they actually start.
Ensuring children have everything they need, at least a little ahead of starting in Reception, is a good approach. Check that you have all items of their uniform, PE kit, any stationery, lunch box if appropriate, backpack or bag and so on. Is everything marked with your child’s name? Usually it should be.
Your child will need to know, ahead of time, who is collecting them. If it’s not you, then they need to know clearly who it will be. They also need to be clear around their general safety rules, stranger danger and so on. Schools should also have safeguarding policies in place for unexpected scenarios. For example, if you are unexpectedly delayed and need to send someone else to collect your child, does the school have a password system in place to ensure that only the right person can collect your child? Find out.