Maureen Turner’s first class at Strawberry Fields, photographed in the nineteen eighties
Who we are

A family schoolsince 1986

Strawberry Fields is an independent, family-run nursery school in the heart of Notting Hill for children from the age of two until they leave for Reception. Maureen Turner founded the school in 1986 and still leads it every day alongside her son Nathan.

A teacher and children holding hands in a ring beneath a pointed archway
Our name

Named after a song

Maureen Turner was a primary school teacher and a professional singer when she started the school, with her own two children among its first pupils. She wanted a name that was colourful, friendly to children and connected to music. She chose “Strawberry Fields Forever”.

Only later did she learn that John Lennon had been inspired by Strawberry Field in Liverpool, in whose grounds he played as a boy. It was his place of refuge, innocence and imagination, which suited a nursery school very well.

One girl whispering to another at a table laid with a pink gingham cloth
Children at a classroom table beneath a wall of their own portraits
The building and outdoor space

Two floors of a landmark church

Since 2007 we have occupied two light-filled, custom-designed floors in the wing of Notting Hill Community Church on Kensington Park Road. Our four classrooms, Red, Yellow, Green and Blue, are spacious. The children cook in a proper kitchen, and we adjoin a huge church hall where many of our events and activities take place throughout the year.

You arrive through our open front garden space, redesigned in summer 2025 by Gabriel Chipperfield, who came to Strawberry Fields as a child and now brings his own children. It gives the children a welcoming, open outdoor area where they can play, run and learn outside throughout the day.

Inside, our entrance hall is hung with photographs of pupils past and present, alongside large-scale canvases, mosaics and ceramics made by the children.

Teachers crouching with a group of children beside a tree hung with strawberries
A girl hanging a felt strawberry on a branch
The family and the team

The people who are always here

Maureen Turner

Founder and Headteacher. A qualified primary school teacher who held senior management posts before founding Strawberry Fields. She also worked as a professional musician on television, radio and the West End stage, and her musical plays have been performed in schools across Great Britain. She leads the school daily, teaches music, and meets every visiting family.

Nathan Turner

Managing Director, and one of our first two pupils alongside his sister. He received a first-class degree in mathematics from UCL and spent ten years in fixed income trading at Lehman Brothers and Barclays before returning to run the family school with Maureen.

Our teachers

Many of our Early Years teachers have been with us for the best part of a decade, holding degrees in Education, PGCEs, Montessori and Royal Academy of Dance diplomas. Visiting specialists join us each week for French, music, dance, sport, tennis, swimming, science and Forest School.

What we care about

Every class follows the spirit of the Strawberry Fields Golden Code: learning to say please and thank you, wait their turn, listen carefully, try their best, share, and be kind to everyone in the school.

What others say

Ofsted has rated Strawberry Fields Outstanding at every inspection, most recently in September 2024.

“Maureen Turner, a gentle, unimpeachably discreet head who believes her celebrity-magnet nursery is the best-kept secret in London… Music is said to be the best in London, and pupils move on to the top preps.”
Tatler
“A good nursery is the first rung of a ladder that will take a child to the best public schools.”
The Sunday Times
“This elite nursery hidden modestly on the side of a church hall has immaculate surroundings and a charismatic headmistress.”
Absolutely Mama