The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have selected a nursery close to their Kensington Palace home for their daughter, Princess Charlotte, it was announced as they released a new family photo that features on their official Christmas card.

Charlotte, two, will start in January at the Willcocks nursery school, which occupies the hall of Holy Trinity church in Kensington, west London, and was rated as “outstanding” when last inspected by Ofsted five years ago.



Its website describes it as “a traditional nursery school which strives to maintain its ethos for high standards, excellence and good manners”.



A Kensington Palace spokeswoman said the couple “felt it was ideal as a first step for Princess Charlotte’s early education and they were impressed by the team that work there”.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest The new photograph of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images /Handout/EPA

The school charges fees of £3,050 per term for three to five- year-olds attending its morning school for three hours, five days a week. The £1,800-per-term afternoon school is less structured and tailored for two to three-year-olds and runs three days a week. It is understood Charlotte, who will be three in May, will be a full-time pupil.



A school spokesman said: “We are delighted that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have chosen the Willcocks nursery school for Princess Charlotte. We look forward to welcoming Charlotte to our nursery in January.”



The announcement was made as Kensington Palace released a photograph of the Cambridges, who are expecting their third child in April. Taken earlier this year, it shows Charlotte staring confidently into the camera lens while a more diffident looking Prince George clutches his father’s hand.



The nursery was founded in 1964 by Diana Willcocks and is owned and run by the headteacher Lavinia Taylor and her fellow teachers.



Its website says pupils experience “a fun and structured morning with lots of free play where children embark on the first stages of learning to read, write and to understand simple numbers with the minimum of pressure”.



Apart from nursery basics, visiting teachers also offer to “nurture young children’s imaginations through dance, French, sport and music”. It offers a teacher-to-child ratio of at least 1:8 in the morning school, and 1:4 in the afternoon school.



One testimonial from a grateful parent on the nursery’s website reads: “The Willcocks nursery school, where only the kindest and most encouraging teachers make every day quite wonderful so that by the time goodbyes are said your children hardly realise they’ve become almost grown up and the most well behaved, caring, sharing and cheerful children you could ever hope to find.”



Earlier this year George, four, started at Thomas’s Battersea, an £18,000-a-year prep school. Previously he attended the Westacre Montessori school nursery, close to the couple’s Norfolk home, Anmer Hall, and before that the Minors nursery school, which was also close to Kensington Palace.



The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall chose a photograph taken at her 70th birthday party in July to feature on their official Christmas card.