St Nicholas Nursery

St Nicholas Nursery is a small London setting for children aged three months to five years. At 22 Salmon Street, NW9 8PN, it serves babies through to the end of the early years.

Its September 2022 Ofsted inspection was Outstanding in every assessed area. The strongest evidence sat beneath the grade: children settled extremely well, spoke with confidence and built warm, respectful relationships. The nursery opens on weekdays from 8am to 6pm across the year, closing for bank holidays and one week at Christmas.

In September 2022, learning was carefully planned around what children already knew and what interested them. The nursery follows the Early Years Foundation Stage. This means children learn through play, stories, conversation and physical activity that build children's communication, personal development and early knowledge rather than separating the day into school-style lessons.

The inspection captured unusually concrete learning. Children used words including erupting and exploding while making a volcano, persevered with placing bones on a life-size skeleton, and retold Little Red Riding Hood with character voices. These were purposeful experiences: adults introduced language, encouraged sustained thinking and helped children take pride in completing a challenge.

Physical development had equal weight in September 2022. Mud-kitchen digging, mixing and stirring strengthened arms and hands, while baby yoga and teddy tennis developed balance and hand-to-eye coordination.

Relationships were a defining strength in September 2022. Children formed close bonds with practitioners, treated one another kindly and learned to listen, share and take turns. Photographs of the children helped small groups name emotions and discuss their causes, giving feelings a practical vocabulary.

Support for children with special educational needs and disabilities was exemplary at that inspection. Practitioners adapted support around each child, drawing in specialist help where needed and organising the day so individual needs shaped provision. Parents received regular progress information, ideas for learning at home and a story book each week, connecting nursery learning with family routines. This was more than a stream of updates. Weekly books gave families a concrete way to revisit language and stories, while progress conversations helped adults at home and nursery work from the same understanding of each child.

The inspection also found that children learned to express thoughts confidently and made exceptional progress in language. Targeted small-group support helped close gaps, while stories, rhymes and adult modelling extended vocabulary for children at different starting points.

Safeguarding arrangements were effective in September 2022. Staff knew how to respond to concerns, recruitment and ongoing-suitability checks were secure, and children learned to manage everyday risks. Leaders also prioritised staff wellbeing and collaborative work, which matters because practitioners need consistency and support to sustain thoughtful interactions throughout a child’s day.

The nursery is at 22 Salmon Street, London, NW9 8PN. Its published booking model includes full-day care, with an opening week running Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. It operates across the year except for bank holidays and one week at Christmas.

The accepted age range is three months to five years. Families should request a current nursery-specific written quotation for prices.

• Current room arrangements. Ask which room a child would join, its age range, the usual group size and how practitioners are deployed on the required days. This matters most for a baby, where the scale and continuity of care shape daily experience.
• Food and allergy procedures. Review the current written process for dietary needs, handwashing and cross-contamination, including how information reaches every practitioner. Clear, consistent routines matter most for an allergy-affected child.
• Attendance pattern. Establish which full-week or part-week patterns can be booked within the weekday opening window, along with settling visits and closure terms. A timetable only works when the offered pattern matches family working hours.

St Nicholas Nursery is best suited to families seeking weekday care for a baby, toddler or preschool child and who value strong language teaching, emotional development and carefully adapted SEND support. The September 2022 evidence is rich despite the setting's modest scale: volcano vocabulary, story retelling, emotion photographs, baby yoga and teddy tennis show practitioners turning ordinary activities into deliberate learning.

The Outstanding judgement is now dated, so parents should test that picture against current practice. The full inspection nevertheless gives a clear account of ambitious teaching and close relationships, with examples specific enough to guide the questions families ask today.