Toddlers At St Barnabas

In June 2024, growing vegetables, comparing their height and choosing stories gave Toddlers At St Barnabas a practical, play-centred character. This Enfield preschool combines activities guided by adults with play that children initiate themselves. The emphasis is on communication, relationships and learning to manage everyday tasks.

At its June 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, found that children progressed well through an ambitious curriculum and judged safeguarding effective. There was also a clear improvement point: staff needed a better overview of children’s play so they could help those who lost interest get more from activities.

The nursery has 36 places in total and accepts children aged two to five. Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance are offered across a 38-week year. That combination gives families different ways to use preschool, while keeping the calendar closer to term-time provision than year-round childcare.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning, development and care: children build language, social understanding and practical skills through play and everyday experiences. Here, child-led exploration sits alongside adult-guided activities, with independence and communication receiving explicit attention. The useful distinction is how those aims translate into things children actually do.

In June 2024, water play gave children a way to explore quantity and capacity, while counting objects and recognising numerals made mathematics part of play. Vegetables growing in the garden prompted comparisons of height. These are concrete starting points for mathematical language: children have something to handle, measure or compare rather than only a word to remember.

Books also supported more than listening. In June 2024, children recalled familiar stories and connected facial expressions in illustrations with feelings of their own. Painting ice cubes introduced another kind of exploration, using a colour-mixing chart to observe changing colours and melting ice. Language, observation and experimentation met in the same activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

An outdoor play environment forms part of the preschool’s facilities. In June 2024, children spent time outside daily, rode tricycles, played football and cared for growing fruit and vegetables. Movement and gardening gave them different ways to use their bodies and take responsibility for living things.

Family participation extended into activities too. In June 2024, parents read to children, contributed to a food bank and joined a story café activity. The story café brought parents into children’s learning; it was a shared activity rather than simply an update sent home. These examples give the preschool a recognisable family-facing character, although they describe that period rather than a fixed current events calendar.

Relationships and Communication

A designated key person supports each child and follows their development. For families, that creates an identifiable relationship through which learning and day-to-day experiences can be discussed. Tapestry, the online learning journey, sits alongside face-to-face conversations and twice-yearly review days, giving parents both ongoing updates and planned opportunities for discussion.

In June 2024, children practised dressing, handwashing and using the toilet independently. Staff recognised their achievements, while children used their own golden rules to remember expectations about sharing and taking turns. School preparation therefore included ordinary routines and cooperation, skills children need beyond a particular activity or piece of equipment.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND received targeted help through cooperation between staff, families and professionals, with additional funding supporting resources and specialist teaching. This matters because the support described involved specific help and joint working, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

SENCO responsibilities sit within the management team. The preschool also plans activities to develop confidence, self-care and readiness for primary school. Those aims fit the practical independence seen in June 2024, but the dated observations should be kept separate from the current arrangements.

Healthy snacks are provided during the day; children attending full days bring a suitable packed lunch. Lunch therefore remains a family responsibility, an important practical detail when planning a full-day place.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at St Barnabus Hall, Enfield, EN3 5LE, with its contact address given as 165 Addison road. Attendance runs Monday to Friday: the morning session is 8.45am to 11.45am, the afternoon session is 12.15pm to 2.45pm, and the full day is 8.45am to 2.45pm. The afternoon finish is the same for afternoon and full-day bookings, which makes the choice mainly about how much of the day a child attends.

The operating year is 38 weeks, including two review days and five inset days. Families should factor those days into their childcare planning rather than treating every week as an uninterrupted attendance block. Telephone and email enquiries are accepted, and the first part of the enrolment form can be submitted for the waiting list.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and privately paid sessions are both offered. Accepted funding includes Terrific Twos, Working parent funded and Government funded provision, with 15 or 30 hours offered within the term-time operating year, subject to eligibility. Funding starts the term after the child’s birthday. The nursery’s terms accept funded attendance only where the child is not receiving government funding at another preschool or nursery, an important condition for families considering more than one setting.

Additional sessions are charged at the usual session rate. A full-day packed lunch is supplied by parents, including for funded attendance; healthy snacks are provided during the day. The session and funding terms set out the attendance patterns and funding conditions.

Getting There

There is a car park behind the preschool, alongside on-street parking. Wheelchair access is provided, which is a useful physical feature for families considering access to the setting.

• Keeping children engaged. In June 2024, some children moved between activities before staff recognised that they needed help. During a visit, ask how staff now notice and support children whose interest fades.
• The preschool calendar. The 38-week year includes review and inset days, while full-day attendance ends at 2.45pm. Compare the actual attendance calendar and finishing time with the care your family needs.
• Funding across settings. The nursery’s funding condition excludes children receiving government funding at another preschool or nursery. Discuss this condition before planning to divide funded attendance between providers.
• Packed-lunch planning. Full-day children bring lunch from home. For a child with allergies, ask how packed lunches and shared snack times are managed in current practice.

Toddlers At St Barnabas suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions, as well as those wanting the longer full-day pattern within a term-time calendar. Its strongest documented examples connect learning with tangible experiences: garden comparisons, books, water play and increasing independence in everyday care.

The Good judgement from June 2024 supports that picture, while the engagement concern deserves a direct discussion. For families comfortable with the 2.45pm finish and the packed-lunch arrangement, the key-person relationship and Tapestry updates add useful continuity between home and preschool.