FAQs

You can find us at 185a Elmers End Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4EH

Please call 020 8658 6222 for Pickles 1 and 020 8776 5352 for Pickles 2. You can also email [email protected] or fill in our contact form

We are rated Good by OFSTED on the Early Years register. You can read the reports for both Pickles and Pickles 2 on the OFSTED website.

Yes, we are open during the school holidays.

We operate a crèche where you can choose childcare for as many hours as you like. Availability changes daily, but we can often look after your child at short notice. See more information about our crèche.

We can look after babies from the age of 3 months.

Of course! Please just book a visit – we will be happy to take you around our nursery and preschool. Visit our booking page to request your visit.

Our current availability changes all the time depending on the sessions children are attending. Please enquire if you would like to find out our current availability.

If there isn’t immediate availability, you will be able to go onto our waiting list. We can let you know when you enquire.

Please see our pricing page for full details

Fees are payable on the first day of each month.

We have all kinds of different activities for children that are appropriate to their age. A typical day might include arts and crafts, cooking classes, daytrips and outdoor play. All our activities are designed to help children learn through play.

Yes, that’s not a problem, please just let us know in advance.

Meals are included for fee-paying children. They are an additional £3 for funded children, though they can bring along a packed lunch if you prefer.

Yes. All our food is supplied by a caterer who adheres to government guidance on healthy eating, and our own healthy eating policy.

Yes please – we cannot provide nappies and wipes for hygiene reasons, and we would prefer to use those chosen by parents.

We can. Let us know your child’s home routine and we will be happy to support them through potty training. We will also teach them about general hygiene and make sure they wash their hands.

We encourage children to learn through play, which teaches them invaluable life skills like sharing and turn taking. Older children learn skills that will help them make a smooth transition into life at school.

In preschool, we teach children to be more independent to set them up for success when they begin school. Their day will be more structured, and they can take part in lessons like phonics and early stage mathmatics. Children in our preschool learn skills like putting their coats on and washing their own hands to make sure they are all ready for school. This helps to make them more confident and more able to deal with the transition.

The funding covers your child’s place at nursery or preschool. They can book into any of the same sessions as a fee-paying child.

If you are eligible for 30 hours of funding a week, this will be for 38 weeks of the year. If you prefer, we can stretch the funding, which works out at 22 hours a week over 50 weeks.

Funding does not cover meals in nursery.

We accept childcare vouchers and use companies such as Busybees, EdenRed, Computershare and You At Work, to name but a few.

Children are eligible for funding the term after the turn 3. If you want to enroll them sooner, you are very welcome to apply for a fee-paying place at Pickles for the term before they become eligible.

We will help you with paperwork if you receive 15 hours of funding. However, if you receive 30 hours of funding, you will need to apply for this directly – this can be done on the government website.

We can provide lunch and tea for all children, but it will cost an additional £3 per meal if your child has funding. Your child is very welcome to bring a packed lunch if you prefer.