Childcare at The Aldgate School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff form strong and trusting relationships with children. This helps children to feel secure and settled in this warm and home-like environment. Leaders and staff place a high priority on children's well-being and safety. Staff maintain high expectations for all children, who respond with positive behaviour. Children develop strong and respectful relationships with staff and their peers. They show kindness to one another and care for their surroundings by tidying up independently.

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at the setting, making full use of indoor and outdoor play opportunities. Staff actively engage children in meaningful activities, such as exploring creatively with paint. Staff purposefully use engaging props, such as puppets, during story time to spark children's imaginations, sustain attention and bring stories vividly to life. Children develop physical skills, including balancing and pedalling bicycles, with confidence. Staff promote children's emotional well-being by offering praise and reassurance when needed. Leaders have designed an ambitious and challenging curriculum that supports the progress of all children, helping them to achieve well in all areas of development.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Leaders and staff collaborate closely with external professionals and the host school staff to plan a well-sequenced curriculum. This approach enables children to develop their independence skills extremely well. This helps to prepare children for a smooth transition into school.
• Staff plan purposeful outings that extend and enrich children's learning by linking experiences to current themes. For example, staff use a visit to a transport museum to bring a topic on transport to life for children. This helps children to make meaningful connections between their learning and the world around them.
• Staff provide meaningful and real-life experiences to teach children about growth and life cycles. For example, children observe caterpillars transform into butterflies. Through thoughtful questioning, staff check children's understanding and extend their learning. Children confidently use vocabulary, such as 'cocoon', to describe each stage, demonstrating strong communication and early scientific thinking.
• Children benefit from staff intentionally creating opportunities to deepen their understanding of different cultures and beliefs. Through thoughtful planning, staff promote positive attitudes by celebrating each child as an individual. They encourage children to learn about the diverse backgrounds of their peers. This inclusive approach fosters respect, empathy and a strong sense of belonging within the setting.
• Leaders and staff are deeply committed to nurturing children's healthy attitudes.
• Inspection report: The City of London Child and Family Centre at The Aldgate School 2 27 June 2025 They ensure that children have access to nutritious meals and snacks, actively discussing the benefits of healthy eating. Children also have abundant opportunities to engage in physical activity and enjoy fresh air every day. This supports children's overall well-being and development.
• Staff express feeling highly valued, with leaders providing exceptional support. They appreciate access to a broad range of training and mentoring opportunities that significantly enhance their skills and knowledge. This ongoing professional development enables them to support children to achieve positive outcomes.
• Partnerships with parents and carers are strong and effective. Leaders and staff consistently keep parents well informed about their children's learning and development. Parents praise the caring approach of staff and note the excellent progress their children make, particularly in their language development, social interactions and confidence.
• Leaders and staff plan a clear and structured curriculum that encourages children to explore and be curious. This supports smooth transitions to the next stage of learning. Staff know children well and understand their interests and how they learn. They use observations and assessments to plan what children need to learn next. However, staff do not consistently support younger children to be fully engaged in activities or build their next steps in learning into play. This means some younger children miss chances to practise and develop their skills more consistently.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the implementation of the curriculum by ensuring that staff consistently embed younger children's individual next steps in learning into their play to support meaningful engagement.
• Inspection report: The City of London Child and Family Centre at The Aldgate School 3 27 June 2025