FAQ | College Green Nursery School & Services

How many children are there in the nursery?

There are approximately 25 children each day in the nursery and we meet the Ofsted requirements for staff/children ratios for all age groups.
The number of places available in September changes every year depending on the ages of our current children.
At the time of admissions we consider both the coming September and that of the following year to ensure we have a mix of new and existing children to support the settling process.

How many weeks of the year are you open?

We are open for 38 weeks of the year. We follow Brent term time dates. Please see the website for details.
We are not open on bank holidays

Once my child is three, will my child be stretched?

All children interact together but the learning is differentiated for each age group and each child’s interests.
The children are not only extended ‘academically’ but learn to nurture younger children and begin to have age appropriate responsibilities.

Can I choose my days?

We try to offer the days which are requested but it is not always possible. We need to consider how many children each keyworker has in a day so that your child has quality time with them. In addition to this we consider how many of each age group attend each day.
To support your child’s well-being, we require all children to attend at least three days per week, at least two of which much be consecutive. One of the three must be a Monday or a Friday.
Nursery offers are considered very carefully in order to maximise the number of children we can accomodate while making sure we are within our staffing ratios.

Can I choose my hours?

We offer two options 9.00am - 3.00pm from Monday to Friday or 8:15am - 4.00pm from Monday to Thursday.
We do not offer the 8:15am to 4:00pm session on Fridays
We do not offer a service from 4:00pm onwards.
It is possible to attend with a combination of the two options above.

Can I change my hours at a later date?

No - for the reasons given above, we offer all of our available hours during our allocation process and so changes are not possible at a later date.

Is there automatic entry into the Pre-School?

There is no automatic transfer into the Pre-School from the Neighbourhood Nursery.

Can I just do mornings, or one or two days per week?

We require a minimum attendance of three days per week for the following reasons:

1. We are much more than simply a ‘childcare provider’. We believe in building caring, meaningful and deep relationships with children and this requires sufficient time to allow keyworkers to get to know children as individuals and create magical learning stories.
2. It is important that your child does not share their keyworker with too many other children so they have quality interactions during the day.
3. Children build strong friendships with other children during their time at nursery.

Will my child be with children the same age?

We believe in having a ''family' feeling in the nursery and this is made up of a careful combination of two and three year olds. The children all interact with each other but the learning is differentiated for each age group and each child's interest.
The number of children of each age group differs slightly every year as children in each cohort have different birth dates.
There will always be a mix of age groups in the environment.
Our pattern of education and care supports children's well-being and personal, social and emotional development.

Do you offer places under the governments 30 hours free nursery care scheme?

Yes we offer a limited number of places, please contact the school office on 0208 969 2179 for information.