Little Bear's In Elephant And Castle
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.9 on GoogleBirth to 5Long established
A day nursery in London for babies from 3 months up to 5 year olds, open 07:30 to 18:30, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in August 2025. Open since 2019, with 72 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
15 & 30 hours of Free Childcare for those eligible; 15 hours for 2-year-olds subject to eligibility criteria.
Worth knowing. Stretched Funding spreads the 38-week academic year's fund over 52 weeks, giving 11 hours (Universal Entitlement) and 22 hours (Extended Funding) per week. If entitled to Extended Funding but only attending two days per week, only 20 hours of funding can be claimed, as the Government has a maximum daily funding period of 10 hours.
What childcare usually costs in Southwark
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Southwark 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
SE17 1ENWhat 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.
Ofsted inspector, 18 August 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children arrive eager and happy to begin their day. They separate easily from parents, waving goodbye as they run into their base room to see their friends and join in activities. Children have strong attachments to staff. They check in regularly with them, coming over to quickly hug the leg of their key person before happily going off to play with their peers.
Children are focused and engaged as they take part in activities that form part of the setting's broad and ambitious curriculum. They are curious to explore and inquisitive to learn. Babies bounce up and down with glee as they discover the different sounds instruments make as they tap them. Toddlers all sit round together unwrapping items in foil and holding up with excitement what they have discovered. Staff use this activity to develop children's vocabulary as they label the different resources found and describe its features. In pre-school, children build volcanoes out of dough, they discuss their knowledge of volcanoes, using words such as 'mountainous' and 'lava'.
The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength of the setting. Staff work tirelessly with outside agencies to ensure children receive the additional support they need and provision is in place before they transition to school.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- review the organisation of lunchtimes to ensure children are not waiting for extended periods and that they have the tools needed to self-serve independently n promote children's understanding of why there are rules and boundaries in the setting so they can develop their knowledge of how to keep themselves and others safe.
- 18 August 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 13 September 2022Good
- 17 March 2022Inadequate
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Little Bear's In Elephant And Castle
- What it costs
- 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
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? 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.