Les Petites Etoiles Bilingual Montessori, Angel

English, French and Mandarin give this Angel nursery its character, with Montessori learning adding an emphasis on children choosing activities and practising skills. In February 2024, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children developed strong communication skills across languages. The language work had substance: conversations, new vocabulary and increasingly complex sentences featured in the nursery day.

At 4 Collins Yard, off Islington Green, the setting has capacity for 26 children aged 18 to 48 months. That is the whole nursery's capacity, rather than the size of an individual group. Its appeal lies in combining multilingual learning with practical independence, although support during focused activities was an area for improvement in February 2024.

Learning and Activities

In February 2024, the nursery's educational approach drew on Montessori, with children selecting tasks and getting time to repeat them. Adults demonstrated persistence and encouraged another attempt when something proved difficult. The practical implication is straightforward: learning included working through a challenge, rather than simply moving on to the next activity.

The early years foundation stage provides the required framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, the February 2024 examples included conversation, managing feelings and learning to do everyday tasks independently. Montessori sat alongside that framework as the nursery's teaching approach; it did not replace the requirements.

Languages were part of interaction, rather than confined to a single example activity. In February 2024, children recognised which adults spoke English, French or Mandarin and used conversation with staff and friends. Adults extended vocabulary and sentence construction. For a family interested in multilingual early education, that gives a more useful picture than the bilingual name alone.

Outdoor and Community Life

Chinese New Year provided a concrete example of learning extending beyond the nursery in February 2024. Children went shopping for dumpling ingredients, then used their purchases to make food together. The outing connected a cultural topic with buying ingredients and preparing a dish: an experience with a purpose, rather than a trip detached from the learning indoors.

Other February 2024 activities included watering plants and sharing family cultures. Waiting for a turn with the plants became an opportunity to discuss consideration for others. Parents and children also contributed experiences from their own home lives, giving differences between families a place in everyday learning.

The limitation concerned focused activities. In February 2024, planning did not consistently account for the individual help children needed to participate and sustain attention. Children sometimes disengaged as a result. The improvement point was to tailor support during focused activities more closely to individual children's needs.

In February 2024, daily care included a quiet setting for sleep, encouragement to wash hands and opportunities to practise feeding independently. Children handled cutlery and poured water for themselves, with adults encouraging another try when needed. These were small, repeated tasks with a clear purpose: developing the ability to manage parts of the day themselves.

At the February 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received effective support through work with external professionals, and that communication with parents helped families extend learning at home. Resources bought with funding for disadvantaged children were selected around individual interests and needs. The useful detail is the link between a child's circumstances and the support chosen, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

February 2024 practice also included helping children recognise emotions and respond considerately to others. Adults used calm explanations when children had to wait, connecting behaviour with the situation in front of them. Information shared with parents covered activities children had experienced, providing a starting point for continuing those interests outside nursery.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The Bilingual+ fees cover attendance on two, three, four or five days each week; the programme name identifies the paid offer, while the February 2024 language examples explain the nursery's multilingual teaching in practice.

Families commit for a complete term. Payment can be made for the term in advance or through four equal monthly direct-debit instalments, and monthly payments continue throughout the year, including closure periods. This makes the annual payment commitment more important than simply comparing a typical month's attendance.

Closures include bank holidays, two weeks at Christmas, a week at Easter and two weeks in August. The address is 4 Collins Yard, London N1 2XU, off Islington Green.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the 15 hours' entitlement for children aged three and over, which is incorporated into the corresponding Bilingual+ fees. Working-family early education funding is also offered, with the funding code requiring local-authority acceptance before fees are updated. The funding category's wider age wording does not change this branch's accepted age range.

There is a separate English-only funded offer covering 15 or 30 hours, subject to eligibility and availability. Meals on that offer carry a separate charge. The English-only funded route has neither a joining charge nor a waiting-list charge; accepting a Bilingual+ place carries a one-off joining charge.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The Angel fees page sets out the distinction between the paid multilingual offer and the English-only funded route, so the choice of programme affects both the charge structure and the language offer.

• Participation in focused activities. February 2024 planning sometimes missed the support individual children needed to remain engaged. On a visit, ask how staff adapt focused activities for a child who finds concentrating difficult.
• Programme choice. Bilingual+ and English-only funded childcare are separate offers, with different joining-charge arrangements. Ask how language participation works within the programme you are considering.
• Term commitment and closures. Payments continue during closure periods and families commit for a whole term. Consider the holiday cover your family would need alongside that financial commitment.

Angel suits families seeking multilingual early learning with a Montessori approach, especially those interested in practical independence as well as conversation. Attendance across two to five days gives the paid offer several weekly patterns, while English-only funded childcare serves a different priority. The February 2024 examples give the language teaching real texture; the concern about support in focused activities remains a useful question when assessing the fit for an individual child.