Tots and Scholars Nursery and Preschool, Borehamwood

In September 2025, children explored an ostrich egg, used real vegetables in pretend soup and played in a garden construction area. Everyday objects became starting points for conversation and discovery. At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, judged safeguarding effective and found that teaching followed a carefully ordered curriculum shaped around children's learning needs.

Babies through to children aged five are welcomed at 299 Shenley Road, with capacity for 140 children across the setting.

The current learning offer combines EYFS, the framework for children's learning, development and care through play, with Montessori principles. Language activities and performing arts add further variety. Opening hours run from 7.30am to 6.30pm on weekdays, with a separate breakfast club within that window.

Learning and Activities

Montessori principles sit alongside EYFS here; they are an additional approach rather than a replacement framework. English is the teaching language, while French and Spanish activities accompany classes in Sports, Drama and Dance. These give families interested in languages and expressive activities concrete additions to consider alongside the nursery's everyday play.

In September 2025, staff used children's interests to shape activities and joined their play to extend conversation. Pretend autumn soup involved handling real vegetables, with adults adding vocabulary as children played. The useful detail is the connection between an object, an action and a word: conversation developed from something children were already doing, rather than being detached from their play.

Science also had a physical starting point. During September 2025, children examined an ostrich egg and discussed how eggs hatch, passing it carefully between one another. Passing the egg combined learning about hatching with practising patience and taking turns.

Early literacy and mathematics were woven into the September 2025 nursery day. Children practised identifying letters, sounds and their own names, while counting and numbers appeared within play. This gives a more useful picture of preparation for school than a general promise of readiness: the foundations were being practised through familiar activities.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden had a construction role-play area in September 2025, with hard hats, high-visibility clothing and bricks joined using foam as pretend cement. Obstacle courses added opportunities to practise movement and balance. These were different uses of outdoor space: one invited imaginative building, while the other involved physical challenge.

Outings in September 2025 included train travel, woodland walks and visits to restaurants, pharmacies and pet shops. Staff returned to these experiences afterwards through further nursery learning. The neighbourhood supplied real places and encounters to talk about, extending the children's reference points beyond indoor activities.

Children also helped identify hazards as part of risk assessments in September 2025. Adults involved them in thinking through safety, rather than only giving instructions. For parents, this is a practical example of children being invited to make decisions and explain their thinking.

Relationships and Communication

Settling sessions in September 2025 gave staff time to understand individual children's needs and work with their families. Parents had contact with their child's key person, progress updates through an online platform and opportunities for discussion at parent evenings. Those channels served different purposes: ongoing updates could keep home and nursery connected, while a meeting allowed fuller conversation.

Grandparents' Day brought relatives into nursery events in September 2025, alongside cultural celebrations. These were opportunities for families to participate in children's nursery lives, rather than communication being confined to progress updates. They also gave family relationships a place within the wider nursery experience.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received highly effective support, and that settling and preparation for school were handled exceptionally well. Individual support plans set out targeted strategies, with staff exchanging information with families and external professionals as children's needs changed.

School preparation in September 2025 included parent workshops and a dedicated classroom where children could become familiar with a school-style environment. Families therefore had a role alongside the children's own preparation. This was transition work centred on skills and familiarity, rather than simply a change of setting at the end of nursery.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 299 Shenley Road, Borehamwood, WD6 1TH. Monday to Friday opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, and breakfast club runs from 7.30am to 9am. The breakfast club is a specific attendance option; the wider opening window describes when the nursery operates.

Across the year, the nursery opens for 50 weeks. Closures include bank holidays, a week at Christmas and selected INSET days. Families organising work around childcare should account for those selected closure days as well as the holiday breaks.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0207 018 1313 or by email at totsandscholars@gmail.com. These provide a direct route for starting a conversation about joining.

Funding and Paid Extras

In September 2025, the nursery provided funded early education for eligible children. Eligibility remains part of that statement: it is not a promise that every family can use funded hours. Families should obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation.

• Youngest children's room arrangements. The nursery has capacity for 140 children overall and welcomes babies. At a visit, ask how many children share the youngest room and how the daily routine accommodates individual sleep and care needs.
• Breakfast club and the working week. Breakfast club runs from 7.30am to 9am within longer weekday opening hours. Discuss which attendance pattern fits your working day and how it connects with the rest of the nursery day.
• Closure planning. The 50-week calendar includes selected INSET closures as well as bank holidays and the Christmas break. Those dates matter for families who need continuous weekday childcare.

Tots and Scholars Borehamwood suits families interested in an EYFS-based nursery with Montessori principles, language activities and classes involving movement and performance. It can also appeal to those using breakfast club or seeking care within the longer weekday opening window, although opening hours alone do not define a full-day booking pattern.

The strongest reasons to consider it are concrete: the September 2025 account of object-based learning, community outings, individual support plans and a classroom used for school preparation. Parents of babies should give equal weight to the youngest room's daily organisation when deciding whether this sizeable setting fits their child.