About us
About Us
Skallywags
Welcome to Skallywags, proudly operated by PLAYDAYS UK LTD since 1997. Located in a beautifully repurposed church with three vibrant and stimulating rooms, our nursery provides a warm and welcoming environment for children aged 3 months to 5 years.
Skallywags is Ofsted registered and was rated “GOOD” in May 2020, with inspectors praising our friendly and nurturing atmosphere. We also received the highest 5-star rating from Southwark Council in 2020 for our exceptional care.
Our dedicated team of 14 includes three staff with BA degrees in Childhood Studies, two with Early Years Professional Status (EYPS), and all others qualified to Level 3. We ensure that all staff are fully trained in paediatric first aid.
We accept all Childcare Vouchers and are registered to provide 2, 3, and 4-year-old free entitlement. Open year-round from 8am to 6pm, with closures only on bank holidays and early closing at 1pm on Christmas Eve. We are conveniently located near Bermondsey station and local bus routes, perfect for commuters.
Our Philosophy:
Happy Children and Happy Parents
At Skallywags, we nurture each child’s creativity, individuality, and confidence in a safe, caring environment. We emphasize a sense of security and belonging, allowing children to thrive emotionally and socially. Our approach, aligned with the Early Years Foundation Stage, provides personalized learning in key developmental areas.
We support holistic growth through healthy routines, play, and tailored activities based on each child’s interests. Regular assessments ensure timely support, and our inclusive, loving environment respects every child’s unique background, preparing them for future educational success.
This is our Mission
We adopt a Child-Centred Approach where children are encouraged to develop their creativity, individuality and self confidence in secure surroundings, led by trained staff who have a real rapport with the children in their care.
Children need to feel a sense of Security and Belonging when they are away from their parents and carers, this is key to the philosophy of Skallywags.
We strive to ensure that all children feel Happy, relaxed and safe and encourage them to feel confident to cooperate and develop good relationships with the adults caring for them and the other children at Skallywags too.
Children are provided with a varied healthy diet, fresh air, exercise, rest and play, all contributing to their physical, emotional and educational development.
Our aim is to provide the best outcomes for all children, to achieve this we ensure that all of our Planned Activities and In the Moment learning opportunities are underpinned by the Early Years Foundation Stage, which is a learning programme for the under 5’s.
We use this curriculum to plan individually for each child in the 7 areas of learning: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Communication and Language, Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding of world and Expressive Arts and Design.
6 weekly observations and 12 weekly assessments for each child ensure that we are able to track development and guarantee that any needs are targeted quickly with early intervention.
Surrounded by their peers they can develop at their own pace, play a full part in activities devised for their age and enthusiastically learn new skills.
All our Skallywags children are treated as individuals and are given total Love and Affection regardless of gender, religion, culture or disability. We understand that each child is Unique and joins the group with very different home experiences. We endure to provide each child with Cultural Capital by providing ALL children with experiences that ignite their imagination and ambition to succeed. our Intention is to provide children with activities based on their own interests, as we find this has the best Impact on their ongoing learning and prepares them for their next stage in life. This was observed by our Ofsted inspector who said “Children are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage in their education, including starting school” (Ofsted 2015).
