Little Stars Pre-School Nursery

A Black & White Corner for babies, cooking with child-friendly utensils and an Outdoor Sensory Room give Little Stars Pre-School Nursery a recognisable character. Based at New Bentley Neighbourhood Resource Centre in Harrow Wealdstone, it combines age-based rooms with shared activities and outdoor play. The practical appeal is the variety within the day: quieter sensory exploration, movement, making things and opportunities to spend time with children of different ages.

At its August 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that visual prompts, collaboration with parents and referrals to other professionals supported children with additional needs. That is a dated assessment, rather than a description of every aspect of today's provision. The current age range is three months to five years, with capacity for 52 children in total.

Attendance is term-time, with private morning, afternoon and full-day sessions alongside separate funded patterns. For families matching childcare to the school calendar, that distinction matters as much as the rooms and activities.

Rooms and Ages

Moonlight Room serves babies from three to 18 months, emphasising sensory exploration, communication, physical development and early relationships, with a Black & White Corner for soft toys and stories, a colourful ball pit and a Milk Kitchen for preparing and storing feeds. Having feed preparation within the room is a useful practical detail for babies whose routines still revolve around milk. Adults remove their shoes here under the room's hygiene policy.

Rainbow Room, for two- to three-year-olds, brings learning into play through puzzles, a book corner, construction materials and an indoor toddler trampoline, linking language, movement and early mathematical exploration. Sunshine Room's heading covers ages three to five, while its learning description concentrates on three- and four-year-olds preparing for Reception through reading, writing, early maths and computing, with a shared free-flow area for mixed-age activities. These are different emphases rather than a single programme applied identically to every age.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the learning framework: children practise communication, movement, social skills and early literacy and maths through play and planned activities. This is the baseline for early years education. Little Stars adds named activities with concrete content, rather than relying on a curriculum label alone.

Zumba for Kids combines dance steps with games and music for children aged two to four. Cookery Sessions, for the same age group, introduce utensils and food preparation, including salads and baking. Music and Movement uses instruments, songs and physical activity, while Sensory Sessions bring together sign language, bubbles, lights and objects to explore. Yoga uses movements linked to stories and imaginary adventures. These activities are included in the fees; their value lies in giving children different ways to participate, whether through sound, movement or handling materials.

In August 2023, practitioners used children's interest in putting objects into containers to introduce counting and recognising numbers. Doll-washing play also brought together sharing, taking turns and experimenting with everyday objects. Those examples show how a child's chosen activity could become a learning opportunity, rather than a separate lesson imposed on it.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outside, a mud kitchen, cycle/scooter track and planting area support active and exploratory play. The Outdoor Sensory Room was designed with additional needs in mind and is also open to other children. It gives sensory exploration a place alongside garden play, rather than confining it to indoor activities.

At the August 2023 inspection, Ofsted identified that staff needed to carry their intended curriculum into outdoor activities more consistently. The equipment and space are therefore only part of the decision: families should pay attention to how practitioners use them to extend learning.

Community experiences include regular library visits and short outings to places such as the post office, shops and parks. Fun Day takes place annually, with creative activities and games; picnics run during the year when the weather permits. International Day involves traditional clothing, food and flags, while World Book Day brings story-character costumes and discussion about the books behind them. There is plenty for families to join in with, including a Graduation Day story performance involving children moving on to school.

Relationships and Communication

A key person takes responsibility for settling, observations, learning plans and progress records. Parents meet that practitioner at the end of each term to discuss development. This gives families a clear relationship through which to share concerns and understand the next steps, while children are also encouraged to get to know the wider team before moving between rooms.

Settling begins with an hour on the first day, followed by two hours on the second, with attendance extended gradually across a week. The key person supports those early sessions. The staged approach makes the first days materially different from a child's eventual booking pattern, so families need to allow time for it.

Communication continues through a weekly newsletter covering recent learning, the following week's activities and ideas to try at home. EYLog gives parents access to individual observations and weekly activities. Daily feedback covers eating, drinking, sleep and learning, providing a practical complement to the longer progress discussions rather than leaving everything until the termly meeting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Staff training includes special educational needs, safeguarding, first aid and food hygiene. An individual child's routines are discussed with parents, including daytime naps. For a baby or toddler who still sleeps during childcare hours, that conversation connects the nursery day with the routine already established at home.

In August 2023, visual resources helped children understand routines and express choices, including children learning English as an additional language. Staff discussed developmental concerns with parents and involved external professionals when needed. These are specific support mechanisms from that period, alongside the current key-person arrangement and sensory provision.

Collection arrangements include a password system and photographic identification for an authorised adult collecting a child instead of the parent or carer. Visitors require approval and accompaniment by a senior practitioner. These are useful procedures to understand before arranging collections involving relatives or other carers.

Sessions and Attendance

Little Stars operates during term time, Monday to Friday, with opening hours of 8am to 4pm. Private sessions run from 8am to 1pm in the morning, noon to 4pm in the afternoon, or 8am to 4pm for a full day. Those private patterns cover children from three months to four years.

Funded morning sessions run from 9am to noon and funded afternoons from 1pm to 4pm, for children aged nine months to four years using the 15-hour offer. The funded full day is 9am to 3pm for three- and four-year-olds using 30 hours. A funded day therefore has a different start and finish from a private full day.

Booked sessions cannot be exchanged for another session. Requests for additional morning or afternoon care require a week's notice and depend on whether the nursery can accommodate them; last-minute extra care attracts a higher hourly charge. Missed sessions through illness or holidays are not credited or exchanged. Families taking a holiday longer than two weeks must give a month's notice, which makes these terms relevant even within a term-time arrangement.

Getting There

The address is the first floor of New Bentley Neighbourhood Resource Centre, Christchurch Avenue, Harrow Wealdstone, HA3 5BD. Enquiries can be made by email or through the contact form. Physical viewings are by appointment, and registration requires a completed form and a non-refundable registration charge.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the 15-hour universal offer for three- and four-year-olds, an extended entitlement bringing three- and four-year-olds whose working parents meet the eligibility conditions to 30 hours, and 15-hour offers for eligible two-year-olds and eligible working parents of children aged nine to 23 months. The universal and extended funding for three- and four-year-olds starts from the term after the child's third birthday. Delivery is term-time, for up to 38 weeks a year. Eligibility conditions apply; these arrangements do not guarantee a funded place.

Parents provide the snack foods and packed lunch described in the daily routine, while the nursery supplies milk and drinking water. Families managing allergies should confirm the current food-handling arrangements. Zumba for Kids, Cookery Sessions, Music and Movement, Sensory Sessions and Yoga are included in the fees, and current prices should come in the nursery's written quotation.

Tax-Free Childcare payments are accepted, as are childcare grants for eligible parents in further education and several childcare voucher schemes. Uniform is compulsory from age two, with purchase recommended after settling. That adds a practical consideration for families whose child is about to move into the older age groups.

• Term-time planning. The nursery closes outside term time and finishes at 4pm. Match both the calendar and the chosen session's finish to your working arrangements; a funded full day ends at 3pm.
• Outdoor teaching. In August 2023, carrying curriculum intentions into outdoor play was the improvement priority. During a viewing, ask how today's garden activities connect with children's next steps in learning.
• Room transitions. Moonlight Room's age band ends at 18 months, while Rainbow Room begins at two years. For a child approaching that transition, ask how room placement and the move between practitioners are arranged.
• Food and everyday costs. Parents supply snacks and packed lunches. The named learning activities are included in fees; registration carries a non-refundable charge. What should the written quotation include for funded sessions, meals and non-food consumables?

Little Stars suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions as well as those choosing a full day. Its strongest practical attractions are the different room environments, activities with clearly described content and regular contact through the key person, newsletter and EYLog.

The August 2023 Good judgement gives a positive inspection position, with outdoor curriculum delivery the point to examine closely. Families comfortable providing snacks and packed lunches, and able to work within the term calendar and session finishes, have a concrete offer to weigh here: sensory play for babies, dance and cooking for older children, and shared celebrations that involve parents.