Ofsted inspected our nursery school at the Hadley Wood Association (HWA) centre for the first time on 24 June 2026. The setting was graded Strong standard in all six evaluation areas.
Category: Early Years Education
Executive Summary
In 2025, Alphablocks Research Lab continued its mission to advance the science of child development and mental health.
This year, the lab focused on how early environments influence learning and mental health throughout development, from childhood to adolescence. Using large-scale data from population cohorts, longitudinal surveys, and neuroimaging scans, our work examined how social safety, parenting, inequality, cognition, and digital environments influence children’s development.
Below we summarise this year’s research by theme.
2025 in Review
- Celebrating 10 Years!
- New site in Hadley Wood – now in its 2nd year.
- Twice Rated “Outstanding” by Ofsted (2018, 2024).
- BBC-Pearson Early Years Team of the Year (2025).
- New Projects by Alphablocks Research Lab.
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:
A new study published in the Journal of Personality identifies how early psychomotor development is associated with personality later in life through childhood cognition, self-regulation, and social competence. Drawing on data from over 9,000 children from the United Kingdom, the research explores the long-term pathways linking infants’ motor and communicative functions to personality traits in late adolescence.
Executive Summary
Alphablocks Nursery School is committed to providing outstanding early years education and empowering children to become confident learners. Now in its second year (2024), our research organisation, Alphablocks Research Lab, contributed to a better understanding of how children develop cognitive and social skills, as well as how we can support the mental health of children and adolescents. This report summarises the year’s achievements and highlights how our findings can shape educational practice in our nursery school and beyond.
In brief, this year the lab focused its efforts on projects that examined language skills, prosocial behaviour, and the broader environmental and psychological factors impacting child development. In doing so, we aimed to provide evidence-based strategies for educators, parents, and policymakers.