Hornsey Day Nursery, Toddlers and Pre-School

A 400 square metre garden gives the New Orleans Walk site its strongest physical asset, while French, Spanish and Mandarin lessons add a clear language emphasis to the toddler and preschool offer. This is the Arkansas House setting, separate from the nursery’s baby site on Hornsey Road. Keeping those two addresses straight matters.

At its April 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the setting Good and found safeguarding effective, with staff working alongside parents and outside agencies to support children who needed additional help. The current age range is 36 to 60 months, with capacity for 49 children in total. That is whole-setting capacity, rather than the size of a room or a daily group.

Full-day attendance runs from 8am to 6pm, with a choice of weekday blocks. The garden, language lessons and parent involvement give families more to weigh than the length of the day alone.

Rooms and Ages

The toddler and preschool accommodation has separate rooms for the two stages, alongside the garden. Spaces within both rooms support emotional development, language, early number work, art and physical activity. The practical appeal is a day that can move between indoor learning and outdoor play on the same site.

Room descriptions distinguish toddlers from preschool children; the current accepted age range for this profile is 36 to 60 months. Families choosing this site should use that age range when considering whether it fits their child’s next stage.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: children build language, social understanding and practical skills through play and planned activities. Hornsey adds free lessons in Mandarin, French and Spanish, taught by native speakers, plus a weekly drama class. These give language and performance a place alongside everyday play, rather than leaving them as occasional special events.

The daily routine includes Singing Box and Story, a group activity combining singing with a story, as well as activities led by a key person. Free play and outdoor periods sit between these organised parts of the day. The timetable can change to suit the children, so its structure allows some flexibility rather than requiring every activity to follow an unchanging sequence.

In April 2023, children used play dough to invent food and brought counting and questions about cooking time into their play. Staff also used words from children’s home languages in songs and activities. These examples show how familiar experiences and languages became material for conversation and learning.

At the April 2023 inspection, Ofsted identified a teaching weakness: adults sometimes supplied answers too quickly, cutting short children’s chances to investigate, solve problems and develop their own ideas. This is the important qualification to the positive overall judgement. Planned activities need space for children’s own thinking as well as adult instruction.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden makes outdoor time part of the toddler and preschool day, with play outside in both the morning and afternoon routine. Access is on site, so outdoor activity does not depend on an excursion elsewhere.

Nursery-wide initiatives include Book time, which brings parents into story reading occasionally, and Father and child days, an annual event whose activities are planned jointly by carers and participating parents. Both offer concrete ways for families to contribute to nursery life. Neither needs to be mistaken for a weekly commitment.

Relationships and Communication

A key worker is allocated soon after a child starts. Daily verbal updates cover what the child has done, how they have felt and new achievements; the person giving that update may be another member of staff. This makes communication part of the everyday arrangement, while keeping the key worker’s role separate from whoever speaks to a parent that day.

In April 2023, staff combined information from families with their observations of children when planning what to teach next. They discussed additional needs with parents and involved outside agencies. That describes a practical support mechanism at the time, rather than a blanket promise about every child’s experience today.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In April 2023, stories, conversation and pretend play gave children opportunities to talk about emotions. Resources represented different cultures, and activities included celebrations important to children’s families. Everyday independence was also visible: younger children served food and drinks, while older children managed belongings and personal hygiene. Those are useful preparation for the practical demands of starting school.

Sleep arrangements respond to age, individual needs and preferences. The routine makes room for a story, sleep or a quiet activity after lunch, giving children different ways to spend that part of the day.

Meals follow a four-week menu, with breakfast, lunch and dinner served during the day. The nursery’s dietary arrangements allow menu adjustments for allergies, intolerances and cultural or lifestyle requirements.

Sessions and Attendance

The address for toddlers and preschool children is Arkansas House, New Orleans Walk, London N19 3SZ, off Cromartie Road. The baby site has a different address; it should not be confused with this setting.

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays. The nursery operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and two weeks at Christmas. Full-day bookings use one of three blocks: all five weekdays, Monday to Wednesday, or Thursday and Friday. These are specific attendance patterns, so a family’s preferred days need to fit the block it chooses.

Registration involves a non-refundable charge, followed by an offer process. If the requested arrangement cannot be matched, the nursery may propose an alternative or offer its waiting list. A place is held only after the contract is agreed and the relevant deposit has been paid. Registration itself is not a childcare contract.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded-only requests for 15 or 30 hours go directly to the nursery rather than through the paid registration form. Fully funded placements carry no additional charge for meals or consumables. That condition matters: it applies to fully funded attendance.

Private childcare is also offered, with prices varying according to attendance and funding eligibility. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation. The fees and registration page explains the booking process and funding contact route.

• The attendance blocks. Full-day bookings cover five weekdays, Monday to Wednesday, or Thursday and Friday. At a visit, discuss how your intended pattern would work, particularly if you are seeking funded-only hours.
• Space for independent thinking. In April 2023, adults sometimes stepped in with their own solutions before children had explored a problem. Ask how practitioners now balance guided activities with time for children to test ideas themselves.
• Dietary adjustments. The four-week menu can be adapted for allergies and intolerances. Families affected by these should confirm the current arrangements for their child before agreeing a place.

The garden, free language lessons and weekly drama class give this setting a recognisable combination of outdoor play and organised enrichment. Its April 2023 Good judgement provides a dated quality reference, with independent thinking the clear area requiring improvement.

It suits families whose childcare needs fit the five-day, Monday-to-Wednesday or Thursday-and-Friday attendance blocks, as well as those exploring funded-only attendance through the separate contact route. Daily verbal feedback and opportunities to join storytelling or the annual family event add practical ways to stay involved.