Pencil Pots Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Ilford for children from birth to 8+, open 07:00 to 19:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in February 2025. Open since 2012, with 34 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
2 year old funded places available; 3-4 year olds funded places available.
What childcare usually costs in Redbridge
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Redbridge 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
IG1 3PWWhat 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, 12 February 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff are warm, friendly and caring. Children are visibly happy and content at this setting. Staff form close bonds with children and support their emotional needs well. They are responsive to children's needs, giving reassurance and comfort when needed. Children show they feel safe and secure. Staff plan activities well to interest and engage children. Children are keen to join in and try and have good levels of concentration during their play. Overall, staff manage children's behaviour well. They remind children of the rules and what is right and wrong to help them understand what is expected of them.
Leaders have an ambitious curriculum intent. The setting has a clear focus on developing children's communication and language, and their personal, social and physical skills. Staff know what children need to learn next and they generally plan activities well to help them build on what children already know and can do. They adapt the way they teach well to meet the needs of all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For instance, staff provide regular small-group sessions for children who may need extra support in their development to help meet their individual learning needs. All children make good progress in their development.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to strengthen their interactions with children to extend the opportunities children have to enhance their conversation skills n improve the support that staff provide for children when teaching about behavioural expectations to help deepen children's understanding of the consequences of their actions.
- 12 February 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 13 August 2024Inadequate
- 22 October 2018Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Pencil Pots Day Nursery
- What it costs
- 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
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.
- 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.