Smart Start Nursery Limited
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in London for babies from 6 months up to school age, open 8am to 6pm. £86.00 a day for 2-3 Years, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in September 2025. Open since 2017, with 44 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
51 weeks a year, minimum 3 days a week, price list dated 2026.
| Age | Full day | Weekly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-2 Yearsbirth to 2y | £104.005 days £109.254 days £116.673 days | £350.003 days £437.004 days £520.005 days | |
| 2-3 Years2y to 3y | £86.005 days £90.254 days £96.333 days | £289.003 days £361.004 days £430.005 days | |
| 3-5 Years3y to 5y | £80.005 days £84.004 days £89.673 days | £269.003 days £336.004 days £400.005 days |
Before you start
One-off charges to take a place.
- £520.00 One Week Depositrefundable
- £25.00 Registration feenot refundable
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
15 Hours a Week (3&4 year olds Universal Entitlement, 2 year old Entitlement); 30 Hours a Week (9-23 month Working Parent Entitlement, 2 year old Working Parent Entitlement, 3&4 year old Working Parent Entitlement).
Worth knowing. Parents can choose to use their 15 funded hours in one of the following ways: 2 full days per week, 3 shorter days per week, 5 mornings or afternoons per week. Parents can choose to use their 30 funded hours in one of the following ways: 5 days per week, 4 days per week, 3 full days per week. 5 EXTRA HOURS A WEEK FREE for funded families. Families using the setting exclusively under the Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) scheme are not required to pay the registration fee.
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
SE1 4TLWhat 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 September 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children arrive at the setting to a warm, welcoming staff team that greets them with smiles and gentle encouragement. This helps children separate from their parents and settle quickly into their day. The curriculum is ambitious for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Staff have high expectations of what every child can achieve and adapt activities to ensure that all make good progress.
Children respond positively to these high expectations, showing curiosity and engagement in their play.
The environment is calm and nurturing. Staff take time to build strong and trusting relationships with children, which supports their emotional well-being. Staff follow children's interests and encourage them to interact with their peers and build friendships. As a result, children feel safe and are confident to explore and engage in play.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen staff supervision processes to provide more targeted support and guidance that brings consistency in the quality of teaching and practice across the setting n enhance partnerships with parents and consistently share children's next steps in learning and development to help support children's learning at home.
- 12 September 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 5 December 2019Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Smart Start Nursery Limited
- 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.
- Is £86.00 a day still the rate? 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.