Category: Early Mathematics

Supporting Your Child’s Reception Journey: A Guide for Parents

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date July 18, 2025

A young girl holding a whiteboard with the words 'dog' and 'cat' written on it, while a boy beside her is focused on his own task. They are in a classroom environment, engaged in learning activities.

The Reception year is a pivotal time in every child’s educational journey. It builds on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and marks the transition to more structured learning. As a parent, understanding what’s expected during this year can help you prepare your child for success, emotionally, socially, and academically.

To help parents feel more confident and well-informed, a fantastic new resource, Starting Reception, offers clear guidance on what to expect and how to support your child during this exciting transition. Here is an outline of the key areas of development aligned with that guidance:

Tags child development, early learning, early years, Enfield Nursery, Hadley Wood Montessori Nursery School, Montessori School, nursery school

Cockfosters Nursery Early Mathematics Early Years Education Early Years Foundation Stage Early Years STEM Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics Enfield Nursery Forest Schools Hadley Wood Nursery Ofsted outstanding Pre-School Learning Reading for early years Reggio Emilia

Ofsted: Outstanding in all areas

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date May 1, 2024

Alphablocks Nursery School was inspected by Ofsted in the Summer Term of 2024. Our school is pleased to announce the results of this latest inspection by Ofsted, which can be read in full here:

Tags Cockfosters Nursery School, early learning, early years, Enfield Nursery, Hadley Wood Montessori Nursery School, nursery school

Cockfosters Nursery Early Mathematics Early Years Education Early Years STEM Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics Enfield Nursery Forest Schools High Scope early years approach Montessori Ofsted outstanding Pre-School Learning Reggio Emilia Research on Early Years Development

Intent, Implementation, Impact – the key to every early years curriculum

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date October 2, 2020

It is crucially important that an early learning curriculum is responsive to the changing needs of children so that opportunities for growth and development are not missed.

Tags Barnet Nursery, curriculum, Early Mathematics, early years, early years learning, Enfield Nursery

Books for children Cockfosters Nursery Early Mathematics Early Years Education Early Years STEM Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics Enfield Nursery Forest Schools Hadley Wood Nursery Montessori Ofsted outstanding Pre-School Learning Reading for early years Reggio Emilia

Our blended-learning approach for early years education

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date June 8, 2020

We were so happy to return to our home as a nursery school last Monday, 1st of June. During the weeks of lockdown due to Covid-19 we found many innovative ways of staying connected with our children and their families, and continuing their learning journeys remotely. Unfortunately it has not been possible for all of our children to come back to the classroom in our Hadley Wood site in this half-term. We saw this as a challenge to overcome, so we have opted for a “blended learning” model, which allows us to expand on and complement our nursery-based offering with a remote learning curriculum.

Tags blended learning, Cockfosters Nursery School, early learning, early years, Enfield Nursery, home learning, home schooling, Montessori School, Potters Bar Nursery School, Reggio Emilia, remote learning

Cockfosters Nursery Early Mathematics Early Years Education Early Years STEM Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics Enfield Nursery Hadley Wood Nursery High Scope early years approach Montessori Ofsted outstanding Reggio Emilia Research on Early Years Development

Maths in Early Years: building children’s confidence from an early age

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date February 5, 2020

The older a child gets the harder it is to get them to engage with and truly appreciate mathematics and the powerful reasoning behind it. Therefore, introducing maths at an early age is of crucial importance: not only does it help them understand how to deal with abstract symbols, like numbers, but more importantly it helps them develop problem solving and reasoning skills.

Children need to be given an opportunity to practice their skills with numbers, linking them to concrete quantities, which are out there in the physical world, their sensory world. Knowledge of shapes and patterns also improves their competence and confidence in using mathematical concepts and language.

However, shapes, space, and measures is a key area that the Government is considering to remove from the Early Years curriculum from next year. As an outstanding nursery school, we place a lot of value on this area and we will certainly continue teaching and developing it. In this post, we summarise some of the things you can do at home to support your child’s learning in this area, which is so beneficial to children.

Tags child development, early years, Forest School, mathematics, Montessori School, pre-school