Nursery on the Green

WE CAN! learning, Forest School exploration of nature and weekly Yoga and Music sessions give Nursery on the Green a recognisable character. The emphasis is on children trying things for themselves: exploring, communicating, taking manageable risks and becoming more independent. At its June 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found safeguarding effective.

Based at Foresters Hall in Enfield, the nursery has capacity for 47 children aged six months to five years. Specialist Yoga and Music teachers visit weekly, adding regular sessions alongside everyday play. A sensory room and reading areas provide different spaces for exploration and books.

In June 2024, a strong thread was the connection between learning and ordinary tasks. Cooking, washing hands and experimenting with materials gave children opportunities to practise skills they could use beyond nursery.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and development, with play, everyday routines and observation helping staff plan what a child needs next. Alongside this, WE CAN! brings together exploration, communication, self-care and solving problems. Its practical value is the emphasis on participation at each child's own stage, rather than expecting everyone to develop at the same pace.

Weekly Yoga and Music sessions bring specialist teachers into the setting. Forest School adds opportunities to investigate nature and the creatures children discover. These are concrete additions to the daily learning offer: children have different ways to move, express themselves and explore their surroundings.

In June 2024, sensory activities included making flavoured tea and discussing its smell. Another activity used an imaginary crime scene, with children examining clues and exchanging theories. Both examples put conversation to work: children had something specific to notice, describe and debate, rather than simply answering an adult's questions.

Mathematics also had a practical purpose in June 2024. Babies explored blocks of different sizes, while older children experimented with crates and a board to create a slope for a ball. That linked quantities and size to a problem children could test for themselves. The task made thinking visible through play.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School gives nature a place in the learning offer. Its emphasis on investigation complements the nursery's indoor sensory experiences, allowing children to explore living things as well as prepared materials.

In June 2024, outdoor activities included using hammers to crush chalk into paint powder while wearing protective goggles. This brought tool use and safety into the same task. Children practised controlled movements with a clear purpose, making the outdoor area a place for careful work as well as physical activity.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is planned with each family around the child's needs. The key person system gives a particular member of staff responsibility for a group of children and a clear role in working with parents. For families, that creates a defined relationship through which interests, routines and changing needs can be discussed.

At the June 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children progressed rapidly from their starting points and that inclusive practice, parent workshops and detailed reviews helped families participate in their learning. These findings matter together: support extended beyond activities for children to helping parents understand and continue learning at home.

In June 2024, a shared cookbook connected nursery cooking with family recipes. Older children measured ingredients and took turns mixing blueberry and oat muffins with little adult help. The same activity practised cooperation, handling utensils and following a sequence, giving school preparation a practical form.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In June 2024, independence extended to meals for babies and handwashing before snacks for older children. Staff also involved babies in decisions about wiping noses and let younger children decide what to play. These small routines gave children an active part in their own care.

Meals are prepared fresh at the nursery each day, using seasonal ingredients. That places food preparation on site alongside the children's daily care.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm. It operates for 50 weeks of the year, closing on bank holidays and for a week in summer and a week at Christmas. Those planned breaks matter for families arranging care across the working year.

Personal tours can be booked, and enquiries can be made by telephone or email. The nursery's direct contact number is 020 8292 0262; its email address is admin@nurseryonthegreen.co.uk.

Getting There

The address is Foresters Hall, 44 Chase Side, Enfield, EN2 6NF, near Enfield Chase station. There are limited spaces at the front for drop-offs and a buggy store where pushchairs can stay during the day, useful for families continuing their journey after leaving their child.

Funding and Paid Extras

In June 2024, the nursery received funding for free early education for three- and four-year-olds. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Care across the year. Summer and Christmas each bring a week-long closure, alongside bank holidays. Families needing continuous weekday care should factor those breaks into their arrangements.
• Your child's daily pattern. The 8am to 6pm opening window provides a useful starting point. At a tour, which attendance pattern and funded-hours arrangement would fit your week, and how would meals and consumables be treated in the written quotation?
• Independence in practice. WE CAN! emphasises self-care, communication and problem-solving. During a visit, look at how activities and care routines are adapted to your child's stage, especially if they are starting as a baby.

Nursery on the Green suits families who value practical learning, individual settling and children gradually taking more responsibility for everyday tasks. Weekly Yoga and Music, Forest School and WE CAN! give the offer substance beyond a general promise of learning through play.

The June 2024 Outstanding judgement provides a strong inspection position, supported by concrete examples of conversation, experimentation and family involvement. For families organising weekday care around the Enfield setting, the opening hours and buggy storage are useful practical strengths; the summer and Christmas closures need a place in the family calendar.