Tag: Cockfosters Nursery School

Alphablocks Research Lab: 2025 Report

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date December 19, 2025

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.

Tags Alphablocks Research Lab, child development, Cockfosters Nursery School, early learning, early years, Enfield Nursery, Hadley Wood Montessori Nursery School, nursery school, Ofsted Outstanding, Outstanding, pre-school education, Reggio Emilia

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

Books for children Early Years Education Enfield Nursery Hadley Wood Nursery High Scope early years approach Pre-School Learning Reading for early years Support learning at home Support learning at home

Supporting Your Child’s Learning at Home: Fairy tales old and new

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

Books form a central part of our educational approach at Alphablocks Nursery School. They are used to support us in planning the learning experiences offered in the classroom. This half term we have chosen Traditional Fairy Tales as our central theme.

Tags child development, Cockfosters Nursery School, early learning, early years, Enfield Nursery, Montessori School, phonics, reading with your child

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