Category: Early Years Foundation Stage

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

Alphablocks Research Lab Early Years Education Early Years Foundation Stage Pre-School Learning Research on Early Years Development

Infant Motor Skills and Adolescent Personality

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date February 1, 2025

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.

Tags child development, early learning, early years education, Five factor model, personality structure, personality traits, psychomotor function, social cognition, social competence, theory of mind

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

Alphablocks Research Lab Cockfosters Nursery Early Years Education Early Years Foundation Stage Enfield Nursery Ofsted outstanding Pre-School Learning Research on Early Years Development

The long-term impact of early social cognition & Theory of Mind

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date March 23, 2023

There are a few aspects of child development that teachers, parents and carers often talk about when it comes to nursery-age children. These include aspects of development such as the physical, social, and emotional growth of a child, early literacy and numeracy abilities, or self-regulation skills. However, an area of development that has been relatively overlooked is that of social cognition. It includes a complex set of skills that are crucial for development and have long-lasting impact, well beyond childhood. In this post, we briefly discuss the basic dimensions of social cognition in early childhood, and summarise some recent findings that have come out of our work at Alphablocks Research Lab in collaboration with leading academics.

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

Books for children Cockfosters Nursery Early Years Education Early Years Foundation Stage Enfield Nursery Forest Schools Hadley Wood Nursery Montessori Ofsted outstanding Pre-School Learning Reading for early years

Supporting learning at home: How to boost your child’s reading comprehension

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date February 1, 2023

In early years education, reading comprehension refers to a child’s ability to understand and interpret what is being read to them. It involves a specific set of skills, such as vocabulary understanding, word recognition, decoding (the ability to read some individual words), and question answering (the ability to ask or answer questions about what has been read to them).

The importance of early reading comprehension cannot be underestimated, as numerous studies over the past decades show that it lays the foundation for future outcomes at school, and has been linked to better self-regulation and social-cognitive abilities. In turn, these are known to support overall well-being, are conducive to learning and act as a protective factor for a range of early mental health challenges.

Tags Cockfosters Nursery School, early learning, early years, early years education, Hadley Wood Montessori Nursery School, nursery school, pre-school education, reading, reading comprehension