Abacus Nursery School | Ofsted Reports, Reviews (2025)

Abacus Early Learning School is a family run business founded in 1989 by a mother of five Shaaron Petgrave with the help of her mother Marjorie Taylor and her grandmother Margot who was then known as just nanny.
Marjorie, also known as Ms. Taylor, had previously worked as a teacher at the Belleville School for a number of years. She was able to use her experience in the early years to help establish Abacus as an early learning centre where children could develop into self-assured learners and frequently go above and beyond expectations.
Abacus continued to gain popularity, and a second location was established in 1994 in the St Andrews Church Hall on Laitwood Road in Balham. This was followed by our most recent endeavour, Abacus West Norwood, which runs out of a Victorian building in West Norwood's perennially well-liked Julians Farm neighbourhood.
We pride ourselves on delivering high quality childcare for children aged 6 months to 5 years.
Every day from 8 am to 6 pm, excluding Christmas and two additional weeks each year, we are open.
Our goal is to give your baby a cosy, loving environment where they may explore safely at home.
The routine is a little more structured in order to prepare them for school.
We encourage independence, listening, and sharing throughout the course of the day.
Your child will receive meals, snacks, beverages, and fresh milk over the course of the day at Abacus.
We believe nursery children should enjoy variation in their day as they would if they were home.
As a result, we make good use of the neighborhood's parks and other amenities by scheduling weekly expeditions to places like Balham, West Norwood, and Streatham libraries, as well as Tooting Bec and Streatham Commons.