First Steps To Learning Pre-School & Day Nursery
Good★ 4.8 on GoogleBirth to 5Long established
A day nursery in Upmimster for children from birth to 5, open 07:15 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2023. Open since 2019, with 36 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Havering
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Havering from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
RM14 2QAWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
- 30 August 2023 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 16 January 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are warmly greeted by the kind and friendly staff as they arrive at the setting. They settle quickly and are eager to start their day. Children benefit from a broad range of fun, exciting and educational activities, which capture their interest and curiosity extremely well. Staff know children well and have high expectations for their learning and behaviour. As a result, children show a positive approach towards new experiences and behave very well.
Babies show curiosity as they explore messy play activities. For instance, they enjoy exploring bugs in crumbly mud and use tools such as magnifying glasses and tweezers to investigate. This helps to develop their interest in the wider world.
Toddlers participate in decorating plant pots and enjoy discussing how plants need sunlight and water to grow. This helps to develop their creativity and understanding of the world.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- continue to develop the outdoor learning space, to provide children with more opportunities to engage in a wider range of activities that support their development across all areas of learning n build on the consistency of some staff member's interactions with children to strengthen their questioning techniques, in order to extend children's thinking skills further.
- 16 January 2023Good
- 23 February 2022Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 1 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for First Steps To Learning Pre-School & Day Nursery
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Is there a place for my child's age? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.