Twisty Tails Nursery, Colindale

Mindfulness sessions, laughter therapy and monthly home-learning activities give Twisty Tails Nursery Ltd a recognisable thread: wellbeing and family participation sit alongside the day-to-day programme. At the Colindale branch, children move through Dream for babies, Create for toddlers and Believe & Succeed for preschool children. The nursery accepts children from three months to five years, so that progression covers the full early-years span rather than one narrow age group.

Ofsted's April 2024 inspection judged the nursery Good overall, with Good judgements for education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management; safeguarding arrangements were effective, while respectful relationships, sensory exploration and calm behaviour support sat alongside priorities on keeping every child engaged in large-group learning and involving families more fully in extending learning at home. Those two priorities matter because they sit at the centre of both a child's day and a family's view of progress.

Spanish lessons, sport, yoga, cooking, gardening and creative activities are named in the Colindale programme. Spanish makes language a stated part of the offer; cooking and gardening put practical experiences alongside it. The branch also names mindfulness sessions and laughter therapy as its activities for wellbeing and emotional development.

Rooms and Ages

The published room sequence is simple: Dream is for babies, Create is for toddlers, and Believe & Succeed is for preschool children. That gives parents a clear route through the nursery, with each move tied to a child's stage rather than an all-age room.

Across Twisty Tails' group-wide approach, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guides learning. The EYFS is England's framework for children's learning, development and care from birth to five. In a nursery day, it means play, routines and planned experiences are used to build skills across the early years, rather than setting a miniature school timetable.

Learning and Named Experiences

The Colindale branch names Spanish lessons, sport, yoga, cooking, gardening and creative activities as part of its curriculum. Spanish makes another language an explicit strand; sport and yoga bring movement into the programme, while cooking, gardening and creative activities give children practical and expressive experiences. Mindfulness sessions and laughter therapy are the branch's named wellbeing activities, intended to support emotional development.

In April 2024, children used sand with scoops, spoons and tongs, then explored herbs and lemons as part of learning about the five senses. Older children used words such as minty, fresh and velvety as they handled the materials. Elsewhere, children compared dinosaur footprints made in dough with a character in The Gruffalo, testing their prediction against the book. That is a concrete picture of language, sensory investigation and problem-solving at that time.

Family Experiences

Regular workshops, seasonal events and monthly home-learning activities give family involvement a published rhythm. The monthly activity is useful because it gives parents a recurring way to connect with what children are doing, rather than relying only on occasional events.

In April 2024, babies and children were benefiting from trusting, respectful relationships with practitioners and friends. Babies were comforted when upset, while younger or newly arrived children settled with staff support. Staff also identified individual needs early, provided targeted support and involved outside professionals where needed, with arrangements for children learning English as an additional language.

Behaviour was handled consistently at that point: staff used praise and talked through how actions affected other children. This matters for families looking for a setting where children are helped to understand feelings as well as boundaries.

The April 2024 inspection found safeguarding arrangements effective. The Colindale branch also states that its team is trained in paediatric first aid, a practical arrangement that sits alongside that dated safeguarding judgement.

Family communication had both informal and planned elements in April 2024, including daily discussions, online applications and charity coffee mornings. The current branch programme adds workshops, seasonal events and monthly home-learning activities. Together, those details show how conversations and shared activities can connect nursery life with home.

Twisty Tails Nursery Ltd is at 25 Sheaveshill Avenue, Colindale, London NW9 6SE. Its Colindale contact details provide a direct route for families to discuss their child and the nursery's arrangements.

Twisty Tails' group-wide funding information lists government-funded childcare with term-time and 52-week options, including a stretched-across-the-year arrangement. Current nursery-specific prices are supplied in the provider's written quotation.

The Colindale branch describes school preparation through early writing, numeracy, independence and communication skills. These are useful foundations for a move to Reception, but they do not confer an admissions advantage at a named school.

• Large-group learning. In April 2024, keeping every child fully engaged in large-group activities was an improvement priority. Discuss how activities are now planned across Dream, Create and Believe & Succeed.

• Family partnership. Monthly home-learning activities, workshops and seasonal events are part of the branch offer. Explore how they connect to a child's individual next steps and what participation looks like for each room.

• Room progression. Dream, Create and Believe & Succeed provide the published route through the nursery. Ask what supports a child's move between rooms and how their familiar routines and learning information travel with them.

Twisty Tails Nursery Ltd suits families looking for a named progression from babies to preschool children, practical experiences including cooking and gardening, and a defined wellbeing strand through mindfulness sessions and laughter therapy. April 2024 provides a positive, dated account of relationships, sensory learning and behaviour support, while its priorities on group engagement and deeper home-learning involvement remain sensible discussion points. The group-wide funding information also gives term-time and 52-week routes for families to explore with the Colindale branch.