Category: Ofsted outstanding

Alphablocks Research Lab: 2024 Report

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date December 29, 2024

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.

Tags child development, early learning, early years, original research, pre-school education, research lab

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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

Early Years Education Early Years STEM Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics Enfield Nursery Hadley Wood Nursery Ofsted outstanding Pre-School Learning Reggio Emilia

Supporting your child’s learning at home: Ideas for developing early science skills

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date January 3, 2023

Young children begin to develop a sense of curiosity and start asking questions about the world around them at an early age. In fact, infants and toddlers are naturally curious and are constantly exploring their environment through their senses. As children grow and develop, they become more and more curious about the world around them and will often ask questions about how things work or why things happen. The first steps in scientific enquiry can be taken by fostering this natural curiosity and “systematic” investigation, that is, repeated and consistent exploration of a child’s environment.

There are many ways you can support and encourage your child’s journey in exploration. In general, it is important to provide your child with age-appropriate materials and activities, answer their questions no matter how basic or strange they may seem at first, and encourage them to make observations and ask more questions.

Open-ended resources are essential for nurturing children’s pre-science skills.

Tags child development, Cockfosters Nursery School, early years, early years STEM, Hadley Wood Montessori Nursery School, pre-school education, Reggio Emilia