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LB4 Nursery Ltd

LB4 Nursery Ltd is a day nursery in London for children aged 0 to 4, with 46 registered places. Ofsted report card, 27 July 2026: Strong standard in 6 areas; safeguarding standards met.

Finchley Synagogue, Kinloss Gardens, London, N3 3DU

Key facts

Type
Day nursery (Full day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Ages
0 to 4 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Registered places
46 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Registered
13 August 2024 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)

Opening hours

Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday : 08:00 - 17:00,Friday : 08:00 - 12:00

Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 27 July 2026

Who runs it

LB4 Nursery Ltd is run by LB4 Nursery Ltd (Ofsted register).

Latest inspection

  • Inclusion: Strong standard
  • Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard
  • Achievement: Strong standard
  • Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard
  • Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard
  • Leadership and governance: Strong standard
  • Safeguarding standards met

Source: Ofsted, inspection on 27 July 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children arrive happily and receive a warm welcome from staff who know them and their families well. Babies form secure attachments to their key people. They seek comfort readily, settle to sleep with the key person nearby and confidently explore. Older children sustain play, talk animatedly with friends and take pride in everyday tasks. They wash their hands, serve food, pour drinks and help to tidy away. These routines give children a clear sense of belonging and help them become independent.

Children thoroughly enjoy experiences that build progressively from their starting points. Babies investigate sensory materials, make sounds and copy actions. Toddlers develop language and emotional understanding through songs, stories and supported play. Older children use number, shape and positional language as they create, build and take part in imaginative play. Visits to museums, a care home, local schools and places of cultural interest broaden children's understanding of their community and the wider world. These experiences and carefully planned transitions prepare children very well for their next stage of learning and for school.

Children learn successfully alongside their peers and are included in all aspects of nursery life. Staff value each child's uniqueness and make thoughtful adaptations for those who need additional help. This reduces barriers and enables children to communicate, regulate their emotions and make meaningful progress. Children behave kindly, share resources, wait for their turn and notice when a friend needs help. They feel safe and develop positive relationships with staff and one another.

Families are welcomed and their knowledge of their children helps staff shape care, learning and settling-in arrangements. Parents value the learning information, workshops and experiences provided. Leaders promote regular attendance and follow up absences promptly so that children benefit consistently from the curriculum. Children are content, confident and eager to learn.

What Ofsted found in each area

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders create an inclusive culture where equity of opportunity underpins practice. Staff know children's development and individual circumstances. Information from parents, observations and reviews enable them to identify and assess barriers to learning swiftly. The inclusion leader works systematically with families and professionals to assess children's needs, plan targeted support and review progress regularly. Staff understand and implement precise targets, enabling children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to make measurable progress.

Leaders and staff implement carefully tailored adaptations and evaluate how children respond. When visual timetable cards are not helpful for individual children, staff adapt their approach and use suitable alternatives, including Makaton signs, objects of reference, simple instructions and additional processing time. Smaller mealtime groups, supportive seating, quiet spaces and outdoor breaks reduce sensory demands on children. Staff copy children's vocalisations and use 'ready, steady, go' games to develop shared attention and communication. Consequently, children increasingly accept comfort, play purposefully alongside others, remain seated for longer at mealtimes and use a wider range of sounds and recognisable words.

Children who speak English as an additional language benefit from gestures, visual prompts and key words from home. This helps them understand routines, communicate their needs and participate confidently in activities. Leaders identify disadvantage through family knowledge and allocate resources according to need. Leaders understand the importance of making prompt referrals and sharing information securely to coordinate timely support for children facing barriers to their learning or wellbeing.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders have designed a coherent curriculum based on secure relationships between children and staff. It develops the prime areas before broadening children's knowledge and skills in preparation for school and later life. Expectations are ambitious from the baby room onwards. Staff understand what children should learn through play, routines, stories and community experiences. Leaders evaluate how successfully the curriculum engages children. When fixed weekly themes did not meet children's needs, they introduced responsive planning based on children's interests, starting points and next steps.

Teaching is highly effective. Staff narrate children's actions, model and extend their vocabulary, use facial expressions and gestures and allow time for children's responses. They adapt questions, explanations, resources and the pace according to children's developmental and communication needs. This inclusive approach enables babies, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language to participate successfully.

Staff sequence teaching carefully. During pasta-filling activities, they initially provide one bottle and small pasta shapes so that babies can practise grasping, releasing and developing their hand-to-eye coordination. Staff model how to fill the bottle and reinforce 'in', 'full', 'empty' and 'gone'. They extend learning by introducing different bottle openings and pasta shapes before helping babies make shakers and explore sound and cause and effect. Staff revisit important words and actions to secure learning. Coaching by leaders ensures that staff implement the curriculum consistently and skilfully.

Achievement: Strong standard

Children achieve very well from their different starting points. Babies develop secure relationships, physical confidence and early communication. They imitate sounds and actions, explore cause and effect and investigate safely. Toddlers extend their vocabulary, begin to name emotions and persist with purposeful play.

Older children draw on secure knowledge across the areas of learning. In role play, they count money, use cash registers and explain paying by card. They count confidently to 10, recognise shapes and use words such as 'over', 'under' and 'through' while constructing roads and tunnels. They use scissors and drawing tools with increasing control and recall road-safety teaching during outings.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make meaningful progress in communication, interaction and self-regulation. Children become confident, independent learners who cooperate, solve problems and communicate ideas. Children become confident learners and gain the confidence and independence they need for their next stage of learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

The nursery provides a calm and welcoming environment where warm, respectful relationships help children feel secure. Leaders establish high expectations for behaviour and ensure that staff apply agreed approaches consistently. Predictable routines, 'now and next' information, familiar songs and well-managed transitions help children understand what will happen. Staff are highly attuned to babies' cues and toddlers' individual communication needs. They use calm language, Makaton signs and breathing strategies to help children regulate their emotions successfully.

Staff teach children how to recognise and communicate their feelings. Work based on 'The Colour Monster' helps children to develop a rich emotional vocabulary. Children confidently describe the pink character as 'the colour of love', demonstrating that they remember and apply what they have learned. Staff use connection, reassurance and clear boundaries when children experience powerful emotions. This responsive approach helps children recover, communicate their needs and re-engage positively in learning.

Children demonstrate highly positive attitudes. They concentrate, persist and cooperate for sustained periods. They share resources, negotiate roles, take turns and notice when friends need help. Leaders monitor attendance carefully and follow up unexplained absences promptly. They consider patterns and family circumstances to identify and reduce barriers. Consequently, children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, benefit consistently from the curriculum and become confident, considerate and increasingly independent learners.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Children's welfare and wellbeing are prioritised. Leaders maintain rigorous oversight of care routines, staff deployment, training and risk assessments. Staff are highly attuned to children's individual cues and work closely with parents to understand sleep, feeding, comfort and development. Settling-in arrangements are gradual and flexible. When a newly admitted baby became distressed and tired, the key person followed the family's routine, remained nearby while the baby slept and offered sensitive reassurance. This responsive approach helps children develop trust, security and close relationships.

Safer-eating and allergy procedures are consistently embedded. Staff sit facing children and keep them within sight and hearing while the children eat. They understand how to prepare food safely and how to meet children's individual sleeping and feeding needs, supporting their comfort, health and development. Colour-coded placemats and labelled catering trays identify individual dietary requirements. Staff trained in paediatric first aid and those trained to deal with allergic reactions respond promptly in emergencies. These thorough arrangements ensure that individual medical and dietary needs are met.

Staff actively encourage children's independence and healthy habits. Children wash their hands, serve food, pour water and discuss how different foods support their bodies. Outdoor experiences promote climbing, balancing and physical confidence. Babies explore secure, age-appropriate sensory spaces. Daily checks ensure that children use clean, safe and suitable environments and equipment.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders know their staff, children and children's families exceptionally well. They have a perceptive understanding of the nursery's context and the barriers that some children and families may face. Their evaluation of the provision is accurate and informed by observations, staff feedback, parental views and children's outcomes. The senior leaders provide rigorous oversight and challenge through audits, visits and professional discussions. Leaders respond decisively when their monitoring identifies inconsistencies and check that improvements become embedded. They recognise the need to sustain this continuous improvement so that their successful work to remove barriers has a transformational impact on the achievement and wellbeing of every child who needs additional support.

Leaders have high expectations for staff's professionalism and provide continuous feedback that helps staff refine their practice. Professional development is closely matched to children's needs and the nursery's priorities. Training, coaching and supervision have strengthened staff's understanding of babies' development, communication, emotional regulation, safeguarding and safe care. Leaders evaluate the impact of training on staff's practice and children's experiences. Consequently, staff use open-ended materials more imaginatively and consistently help children recognise and manage their emotions. Digital observations and focused planning reduce unnecessary workload. Robust wellbeing arrangements help staff feel valued, listened to and confident in their roles.

Partnerships with parents are highly effective. Staff use an online application, send regular newsletters and have daily conversations to keep families informed about their children's learning. Workshops covering communication, sleep, behaviour, healthy eating, first aid and school readiness build parents' confidence and strengthen continuity between home and the nursery. Parents report that their children are settled and that community experiences enrich their learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

  • Leaders should sustain continuous improvement so that their successful work to remove barriers has a transformational impact on the achievement and wellbeing of every child who needs additional support.

Ofsted's words, from the report on the inspection on 27 July 2026. Read the full report on the Ofsted website. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Ofsted report cards (England, from November 2025)

Since 10 November 2025 Ofsted has graded nurseries and pre-schools on a report card. There is no single overall grade. Instead, each of six areas gets one of five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement.

The six areas are inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children's welfare and wellbeing; leadership and governance. Safeguarding is judged on its own, as met or not met.

Expected standard means the setting does what Ofsted expects of every setting. Strong standard and Exceptional are above that; Needs attention and Urgent improvement mean Ofsted found things the setting has to put right.

Source: Ofsted reports

Funded childcare hours in England

All 3 and 4 year olds in England can get 15 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.

Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years old can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year (Free Childcare for Working Parents), if they meet the earnings rules. You confirm your details every 3 months.

Some 2 year olds can get 15 hours a week when the family gets certain kinds of extra support.

The hours are used at a registered provider that offers them, so ask each nursery how it offers the funded hours.

Source: GOV.UK: Free Childcare for Working Parents, check if you're eligible · GOV.UK: Free childcare and education for 2 to 4 year olds (checked 31 October 2026)

Other nurseries nearby

  • SOTO Kids at Chalgrove - Pre-school, London N3 3PL, 20 places, 0.2 miles
  • NWG Academy - Pre-school, London NW11 6XU, 0.4 miles
  • The Hendon Gan - Day nursery, London NW4 2AP, 37 places, 0.5 miles
  • St. Philips Pre-School - Pre-school, Finchley N3 3RJ, ages 2 to 4, 30 places, 0.5 miles
    Ofsted, 12 January 2022: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • Little Raccoons Nursery Finchley - Day nursery, London N3 1TT, ages 0 to 3, 60 places, 0.6 miles
    Ofsted, 19 September 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective

Schools nearby

LB4 Nursery Ltd on the Ofsted website