First Years Pre School

First Years Pre School is a full-day early years setting based at Trinity Church on Hindes Road in Harrow. It has capacity for 89 children. Ofsted rated it Requires Improvement in August 2025, the same overall outcome as its September 2024 inspection, while finding that safeguarding arrangements were effective.

The sharpest distinction is between age groups. Older children experienced purposeful, sequenced learning, but babies and younger children did not consistently receive the same challenge or depth of resources. Families should weigh warm care and effective safeguarding against that uneven quality of education.

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the statutory framework, covering children's communication, physical, personal, social and early academic development through play and guided learning. In August 2025, older children matched and counted farm animals before using construction materials to design enclosures. That combined number work with practical problem-solving.

Language experiences included stories and action songs for babies and toddlers. Older children imagined shredded paper as falling snow, learned the word icicle and discussed clothing for cold weather. Outdoors, children ran, climbed and balanced; younger children used wheeled toys and joined parachute games. Babies were supported as they learned to crawl, balance and walk. Staff encouraged energetic movement through stretching games, modelled enjoyment and joined children as they took part. That linked physical development with a positive experience of exercise, indoors and outside, across the day and for different ages. Older children also practised turn-taking and shared play, building social skills through conversation with one another.

The weakest practice concerned younger children's creative learning. The provision did not consistently give them enough scope to explore ideas in depth. Leaders were told to create a better enabling environment and improve how staff deliver the curriculum for babies and younger children.

Children settled with their key person and formed caring relationships with staff. Practitioners met personal-care needs respectfully, soothed babies to sleep and supported children's food, exercise and rest. Children with SEND generally received appropriate help through timely referrals, external-agency advice and planning linked to their starting points.

Parents received daily care updates verbally and through an online platform. Information about supporting learning at home was inconsistent in August 2025. This matters because continuity between nursery and home was one of the specific areas identified for improvement.

Care was strongest in close, everyday interactions. Staff asked the youngest children before wiping a nose or changing a nappy, offered reassurance when children needed it and used warm conversation during personal care. Those details show respect for children as active participants in their routines, rather than care being treated as a task done to them.

In August 2025, the setting opened from 8am to 6pm on weekdays for 51 weeks a year and was described as full day care. Children attending at that time were aged one to four. The nursery received early-education funding for two-, three- and four-year-olds.

The setting operates from Trinity Church, Hindes Road, Harrow HA1 1RX.

• Progress since August 2025. The nursery was required to strengthen monitoring of staff practice by 30 September 2025, especially for those working with babies and younger children. Ask what changed and how leaders now check its impact.
• Younger children's learning. Creative resources and adult challenge were weaker for the youngest children in August 2025. Families considering a baby or toddler place should explore the current environment and examples of recent learning.
• Learning at home. Daily care updates were established, but guidance for continuing learning at home was inconsistent. Ask how the current parent-app and face-to-face routine cover both care and learning.

This is a setting with caring relationships, respectful personal care, energetic outdoor play and effective safeguarding at its latest inspection. The concern is substantial: Ofsted found teaching and curriculum delivery inconsistent, with babies and younger children most affected, and rated the nursery Requires Improvement for a second time.

It may suit families seeking weekday full-day care in central Harrow who value a key-person approach and are prepared to examine the nursery's improvement work closely. For parents of babies and toddlers, the response to the August 2025 findings should be central to the decision.