Railway Children Kindergarten
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Epsom for from 1 year 6 months up to school age, open 08:30 to 17:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in October 2024. Open since 1998, with 18 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Early Years Free Funding up to 30 hours for eligible working parents for all children, and Universal Funding for three and four year olds.
What childcare usually costs in Surrey
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Surrey 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
KT17 4JPWhat 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, 31 October 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children have a strong sense of belonging. They happily enter the setting, where they are welcomed in by nurturing staff. Children are developing key skills for school by following routines. For example, they hang up their belongings and find their name to self-register when they arrive. The well-established key-person system and the bespoke settling-in process help children make strong and secure attachments. Staff gather key information from parents before their children start at the nursery. They use this information to develop a well-sequenced curriculum.
Leaders set high expectations for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children with gaps in their learning are quickly identified and referred swiftly to other professionals. Staff have a good understanding of what they want children to learn. They plan engaging play opportunities to build on what children already know and can do. Laughter and excitement echo through the nursery as children have fun. For example, they enjoy exploring pumpkins using spoons to scoop the inside out. Staff introduce words, such as 'sticky', 'scoop' and 'smooth', as children play to develop their vocabulary.
Children behave well and demonstrate kindness. Staff remind children of the behaviour expectations and encourage them to share and take turns. This helps children to understand what is expected of them and contributes positively to their attitude to learning. Children willingly follow instructions and complete simple tasks, such as helping tidy up toys for lunch.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- build on the support for children's communication and language development n develop the curriculum to ensure that children have opportunities to learn how to stay safe online.
- 31 October 2024Good
- 5 February 2019Good
- 15 March 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Railway Children Kindergarten
- What it costs
- 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.
- 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.