BELZ Nursery School

BELZ Nursery School is a term-time nursery school for children aged three to five at 1-4 Belz Terrace, London E5 9SN. Its latest inspection, on 5 March 2024, judged it Inadequate and found safeguarding arrangements ineffective. This is the decisive fact for families: the report required urgent improvements in safeguarding knowledge, qualified staffing, curriculum consistency and mealtime supervision.

The setting has 64 places in total. In March 2024, children moved confidently between Hebrew teaching in the morning and English teaching in the afternoon, but the quality of teaching was inconsistent across those sessions.

In March 2024, children settled quickly into activities they chose during their first hour. Mathematics included counting and comparing quantities, with staff linking dots on a die to numbers on a cube. Threading, mark-making, tracing and independent letter writing gave older children a sequence towards early writing.

The Early Years Foundation Stage turns play and guided activities into progress across communication, physical, personal and academic development. The inspection found that planning did not reliably build on each child's knowledge, interests and next steps, and required a more consistent curriculum.

The March 2024 report found warm greetings, praise for children's efforts and a key-person system used to establish starting points. Parents told the inspector that they valued staff support.

However, safeguarding arrangements were not effective. Many staff did not know how to respond to an allegation against a colleague, some did not recognise signs of abuse, and morning staff had limited knowledge of referral systems. Inspectors also found occasions when rooms lacked qualified staff and children could walk around while eating, creating a choking risk. Bathroom and handwashing routines also needed improvement.

The age range is three to five years, with 64 places. The official record describes term-time opening. Families will need the nursery's current attendance options, written terms and quotation before deciding.

• Safeguarding and action plan. Ask what changed after the March 2024 findings, how staff knowledge is now checked and whether Ofsted has recorded any later outcome.
• Qualified staffing. Ask how the nursery now ensures every room has the required qualified staff throughout each session.
• Mealtime safety. Ask to see how seated eating, supervision and handwashing are organised now.
• Teaching consistency. Ask how morning and afternoon planning joins up around each child's next steps.

BELZ Nursery School had recognisable strengths in bilingual learning, early mathematics, writing preparation and warm relationships in March 2024. They sit beside serious current regulatory uncertainty: the latest published inspection judged the setting Inadequate and safeguarding ineffective. It may suit families seeking term-time, bilingual early education, provided they obtain clear, documented evidence that the serious inspection failings have been corrected.