N Family Club, Barnet

A former police station gives N Family Club, Barnet its character: Constable House is a locally listed red-brick building, now home to eight playrooms and an atelier for creative activity. The garden adds a separate baby play area, messy play and space for bikes and scooters.

Children can attend from 3 months to 5 years. No Ofsted inspection has been published for this setting yet.

Large windows bring daylight into the playrooms. The atelier is a dedicated art studio, giving children space for hands-on creative work through N Extras, the group's additional activities. Here, their practical expression includes messy artistic exploration.

The N Curriculum is the group's named learning programme, used in Barnet's playrooms. The studio and outdoor spaces provide different settings for play.

At the rear of the building, the baby room has its own play space and direct access to the garden. That arrangement gives the youngest children a separate outdoor base. Wisteria borders the garden, where a messy play zone supports Forest School inspired learning, an approach involving exploration outdoors. A separate zone accommodates scooters and bikes, keeping wheeled play in its own area.

Meals are cooked on the premises, bringing food preparation into the nursery itself. Private childcare fees include food, drinks, consumables and activities; funded hours have their own charge structure, which varies by age band.

Parents have a shared space too. N Café serves tea, coffee and snacks and provides somewhere to meet other families. Buggy and scooter stores beside the nursery allow families to leave those items on site during the day.

Sessions and Attendance

The standard day runs from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. An extended day runs from 7am to 7pm, subject to availability, with extra time also bookable on a pay-as-you-go basis. Plans require at least 3 full days each week, including either Monday or Friday. This is a substantial weekly commitment.

Attendance runs across 51 weeks. Bank holidays, public holidays and INSET days are charged despite closure. Up to 5 emergency day swaps per year may be agreed for healthcare or childcare emergencies, subject to availability; the replacement day must fall within the same calendar month, and closures are excluded.

Getting There

The address is Constable House, 5 Bulwer Road, Barnet, EN5 5JD. New Barnet station is an 8-minute walk away.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with entitlements stretched across the year: 15 hours for all children aged 3 and 4, starting from the term after their third birthday, and 30 hours for eligible working families with children aged 9 months to 4 years. Additional private days use an inclusive rate covering meals, consumables and activities. For funded hours, food and drink, non-food consumables and activities are itemised separately: some age-band charges are zero, while others carry additional charges. Families using funding can opt out of these additional charges.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. A waiting-list registration charge becomes a non-refundable joining charge when a place is accepted; a separate acceptance payment is credited against the final invoice.

• Weekly commitment. The minimum is 3 full days, including Monday or Friday. Assess whether that pattern fits your working week before committing.
• Funded costs. The additional-charge structure differs between age bands. Compare the itemised plan for your child's age with the private-hours component.
• Baby routines. The baby room has direct garden access. On a tour, ask how settling, sleep and key-person communication would work for your child.

N Family Club, Barnet suits families seeking either a standard day or an extended day across the year, with a minimum weekly commitment. Its recognisable offer is physical: an art studio, separate baby outdoor space and a garden divided between messy and wheeled play. The decision rests on those arrangements, the attendance commitment and the age-specific funded charge structure.