Apple Tree Montessori Nursery, Harrow Weald

A library corner, naturally lit playrooms and a landscaped garden give Apple Tree Montessori Nursery, Harrow Weald a recognisable physical character. The setting at 44 College Hill Road, Harrow, HA3 7HE has capacity for 30 children, with a current age range starting at nine months and extending to five years. Montessori is an approach that gives children choice in their activities and room to work at their own pace.

At its July 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and recognised effective support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, but a subsequent safeguarding action notice changes the decision families now face. The dated learning observations remain useful context. They cannot settle the later concerns.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, children build language, physical skills and relationships through play and daily routines. In July 2022, practitioners put words to babies' actions during water play and expanded older children's sentences during pretend play. That connected language with something children were already doing, rather than treating conversation as a separate exercise.

Physical learning also had concrete resources behind it in July 2022. Magnetic fishing rods and wooden fish gave children practice coordinating their hands and eyes; sloping beams and a slide brought balance and larger movements into play. Carrying water created a shared problem to solve, with children discussing how to collect it and move it together. These examples show how one activity could combine movement, conversation and cooperation.

Independence was less consistent. In July 2022, babies depended on adults to reach a high handwashing sink, while practitioners poured drinks for toddlers. The improvement needed was practical: making everyday self-care something children could attempt themselves. Staff also needed better knowledge of the other languages children heard or spoke at home, so that this information could inform their learning.

Outdoor and Community Life

Today, the playrooms have direct access to the large outdoor garden area, giving outdoor activity a clear place within the setting's layout. A library corner provides a separate resource for books. These are useful features for families weighing the balance between movement and quieter activity.

Health learning in July 2022 included a visit by oral health professionals, followed by children practising brushing on model teeth. The follow-up mattered: children could try out the message rather than simply hear it. This was an inspection-time example, rather than a claim about a recurring visitor programme.

In July 2022, children shared their play with practitioners and discussed their feelings and the reasons behind them. Pretend shopping offered opportunities to wait for a turn, while adults modelled courteous language. Care and learning were closely connected in these ordinary exchanges.

Communication with parents was another part of daily practice in July 2022. Practitioners passed on information about children's learning, helping families connect nursery experiences with home. Support for children with additional needs involved agreed strategies used by staff and collaboration with outside agencies.

Following its 6 August 2026 regulatory visit, Ofsted found breaches involving safeguarding arrangements and failure to notify significant events affecting children's welfare, and required improvements to staff support and training, risk assessment when one practitioner cares for babies alone, and secure storage of personal mobile phones by 4 September 2026. The notice dated 7 August said the provider remained registered and that its response would be monitored; that is the latest published position as at that date. It does not establish whether the actions were subsequently completed.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Families can select morning sessions, afternoon sessions or both as a full day, with attendance choices covering term time and all year round. The morning and afternoon options are each five hours; a full day is ten hours. Wrap-around care is also offered from 8am to 6pm.

The session choices make this more than a single attendance pattern. A family seeking part-day care can choose one part of the day, while another can combine both. The distinction between term-time and year-round attendance also matters when matching childcare with work and family routines.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded-hour choices include 15 hours per week and 30 hours per week, alongside attendance without funded hours. Final charges are confirmed on enrolment and can depend on meals, extra sessions and settling arrangements. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

The on-site kitchen with freshly prepared meals provides food cooked daily within the nursery. That places meal preparation within the nursery rather than relying on an off-site delivery arrangement.

Enquiries and visit bookings use the Harrow Weald enquiry route or telephone 020 8416 0478. The address is 44 College Hill Road, Harrow, HA3 7HE.

• Safeguarding actions. The 7 August 2026 notice required changes by 4 September concerning training, lone working with babies and personal mobile phones. Before committing, ask to see the outcome of those actions and how the revised arrangements work in practice.
• Starting age. The current age range begins at nine months, while the Harrow Weald nursery description advertises care from three months. Families seeking care for a younger baby should resolve the accepted starting age before booking.
• Everyday independence and home languages. July 2022 practice exposed limits in children's self-care opportunities and staff knowledge of languages used at home. During a visit, ask how babies reach handwashing facilities, how toddlers serve drinks and how family language information reaches practitioners.
• Attendance and the quotation. Morning, afternoon and full-day choices sit alongside term-time and year-round attendance. Ask for the chosen pattern and the treatment of meals and non-food consumables to be set out together in the written quotation.

Apple Tree's garden access, library corner and on-site kitchen give families concrete reasons to consider the Harrow Weald setting. Its attendance choices suit parents seeking morning or afternoon care as well as those combining both into a full day, with term-time and year-round options.

The July 2022 learning examples are useful, but the August 2026 safeguarding actions carry greater weight in a current decision. This is a setting to assess through the outcome of those actions and the practical arrangements behind them, alongside the rooms and attendance pattern that fit the child.