Little Garden The Finchley Day Nursery & Pre-School

Personal, social and emotional development is the defining thread at this Finchley nursery. Ofsted judged it Good in January 2024, finding high expectations, carefully planned progress and children who behaved well and cared for their surroundings. It has 68 places for children aged three months to five years at 2a Hertford Road, London N2 9BU.

The most memorable learning is concrete: babies practised crawling, climbing and cruising, while older children moved on to dance, drama and yoga. Communication was equally deliberate, from Makaton with babies to descriptive vocabulary with older children.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) gives this curriculum its framework: staff observe what children know and plan next steps across areas of learning. In January 2024, that meant building learning from what children already knew. A crocodile story and puppet prompted counting teeth, then conversation about healthy eating, toothbrushing and oral hygiene. Family photographs helped children talk about people important to them and learn about one another's home lives.

The nursery had earned the Healthy Early Years London bronze award and was working towards silver. It also took part in the Barnet Young Brushes oral-health project. These branch-specific examples give the curriculum a clear emphasis on communication, physical confidence and everyday health.

Progress was not treated as a generic group outcome. Staff planned from individual starting points, including for children receiving additional funding. Babies could express needs through signs, while older children were challenged to use newly introduced words when discussing holiday landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower. The sequence matters: language support changed with age rather than stopping at simple exposure.

Personal development ran through ordinary routines. Children were encouraged to share, use good manners and look after the learning environment, with praise used to build confidence and self-esteem. The family-photograph discussion also linked home experience to nursery learning, giving children a specific route into recognising different families and talking about their own.

Before enrolment, families could use an adaptable settling period to begin getting to know the staff. Ofsted found that staff knew children and families well, used individual plans, and worked with parents and professionals to support children with special educational needs or disabilities. Parents received extensive information through an app.

That combination of a tailored start and child-by-child planning made care responsive to individual needs. Partnership working is important here: the inspection evidence connected parents, staff and outside professionals rather than presenting inclusion as a promise. Inspectors linked the planning for funded children to the progress they saw during the January 2024 visit.

Behaviour was supported through modelling rather than rules alone. Sharing, manners and care for the environment were reinforced through staff example and praise. For a parent, that points to a setting where confidence and cooperation are taught within daily activity, not reserved for a separate lesson.

Safeguarding arrangements were effective at the January 2024 inspection. At that visit, support for children to manage their own hygiene was not consistent enough, and improvement was required.

The nursery has 68 places and operates from 2a Hertford Road in Finchley. No provider-published booking model was available, so its opening window cannot be treated as proof of bookable full-day or shorter-session products. Current session choices and minimum attendance therefore remain points for direct confirmation.

Current funding participation and the detailed charge structure are unpublished. A current written quotation is the reliable basis for comparing attendance costs.

• Hygiene follow-through. The January 2024 inspection asked the nursery to improve prompt responses to runny noses and children's self-help. Progress since then is an important discussion point.
• Attendance pattern. Opening hours do not establish which sessions can be booked. The current session sheet should set out both products and any minimum weekly commitment.
• Current terms. Funding participation and the charge structure are unpublished. Compare only a current written quotation.

This nursery suits families drawn to purposeful communication, physical development and a strong personal-development focus. Makaton, the crocodile activity and the two named health initiatives make the inspection picture unusually tangible. The hygiene improvement point deserves scrutiny. Attendance fit cannot be judged from the opening window alone because no provider-published session products were available.