Dandelions Nursery Education

Dandelions Nursery School was established in 2019 and already enjoys an excellent reputation as a family Nursery School in Kensal Rise and Queen’s Park.

Hannah & Amy
The ladies behind Dandelions are local mums Hannah & Amy. They met at a mummy and baby class when their daughters were 6 months old and from there both a great friendship and new business began. They decided to combine their skills to open up a local nursery school that offered flexibility for local families.

Hannah Anderson
MSc in Development Management, PGCE in teaching, BSc in Early Childhood Studies. Hannah has over 15 years experience of teaching in Primary Schools with a special focus on the Early Years. Prior to having her daughter Alara, she worked at one of London’s top Nursery Schools and following the birth of Alara seemed like the perfect time to start her own venture. Hannah has a particular passion for teaching phonics and supporting the development of pre-reading and pre- writing skills. She brings her own unique approach to children’s learning with lots of fun, adventurous and imaginative play.

Amy Smith
Amy has been a local to the Queen’s Park/Kensal Rise area for over 20 years. Having worked in multiple start-up businesses over the past 16 years, Amy felt it was the natural progression to open her own business. And joining forces with Hannah and combining their skill sets seemed like the perfect match. Amy has undertaken training in EYFS and really enjoys working with the children as well as working on the business behind the scenes.

Their Ethos
We believe children flourish and grow in a loving, creative and fun environment and experimenting through play is the best way to learn. We believe that children’s play can be best supported and extended by adults who use the children’s interests to further their learning. We place a special emphasis on supporting the development of children’s self confidence and self-esteem to provide them with the skills to question and become brave learners.

About Dandelions
Dandelions is a small and nurturing setting working with just 20 children daily.

It has always been important to Amy & Hannah that the number of children attending Dandelions remains small, so as to ensure they can continue to offer the happy and homely environment that the children love so much. Dandelions is a special place where children lose themselves in play, exploration and learning and discover passions and interests,

Each day the nursery’s learning environment is set up with a range of activities that reflect the 7 areas of learning. These activities include lots of sensory messy play, a ‘quiet’ reading area, opportunities to exercise fine and gross motor skills, imaginative play with different animals/ puppets, water and sand trays. There are also topical activities related to the theme for the week.

A minimum attendance of three half-day sessions per week is required for children who are aged 2-3 years. This enables the children to build relationships with their classmates and teachers and become comfortable with our routines. Children are much more receptive to learning and new experiences when they feel secure and confident in their environment.

A minimum attendance of 3 half-day sessions per week is required for children aged 18 months – 2 years. Dandelions runs a pre-school programme which offers opportunities to practise and develop skills in all 7 areas of learning. These teaching sessions are balanced over the 5 mornings.

The curriculum
The nursery follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework which guides and tracks your child’s development from 0-5 years of age. The EYFS encourages children to learn through playing, exploring, being active and by developing creative and critical thinking. It supports the development of these skills by breaking down the Early Years curriculum into 7 areas of Learning and Development.

The 3 prime areas of development are the most important for all young children to develop and are the base from which all other knowledge will grow.

Communication and Language
Physical development
Personal, Social and Emotional development

As your child grows, they will begin to develop knowledge and understanding in 4 specific areas :

Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding of the World
Expressive Arts and Design

The development of these skills is supported through a range of activities and circle times, carefully planned for each individual child’s stage of development.

Each term specialist teachers to come and deliver a series of sessions to the children, these include yoga, singing, sports, dance and drama.

Parental involvement
At Dandelions parental input is not only valued it is also welcomed! They believe that it is important for children to witness the good relationships between parents and practitioners.

All of the adults help to guide and teach the children as they play and take part in daily circle times and focus activities. The key workers individually observe and assess their development with reference to the EYFS and plan activities to enhance favourite play or to target skills that may need some extra practice.

In addition to daily chats when parents drop-off and collect, they also keep in touch with parents through a weekly email which describes some of the activities that have been enjoyed throughout the week as well as the focus for the following week. They arrange parent/ teacher meetings at the end of each term and also provide parents with a written report of their child’s progress and development each term.
Parent Testimonials

“Our daughter joined Dandelions at 18 months and we instantly saw her flourish. The nursery has a kind and gentle environment and the benefit of Hannah and Amy’s structured but caring approach quickly came through. Our daughter’s speech progressed noticeably within a few weeks of joining Dandelions and she continues to be excited to tell us about her day and always looks forward to the next drop off. Sadly she will be moving on to her next school shortly but we look forward to our youngest child joining soon!”   Natasha

“We’ve had our twins at Dandelions for nearly 2 yrs and they have thrived! We’ve seen them develop into their own selves, surrounded by an intimate group of lovely children from a range of enriching cultural backgrounds. Their keyworker has been brilliant in nurturing their individual passions and supporting their learning. What we love most is that it feels less like a ‘drop off at the door nursery’, and more like a big family where the parents/carers are connected in and encouraged and supported to know how the kids are developing and how we can help. The kids have made a wonderful circle of buddies and we’ll all be sad when we have to goodbye!” Fiona

“From day one Zac has absolutely loved Dandelions. He was warmly welcomed into the intimate yet stimulating space and every day he has just thrived. I am grateful for all the in depth reports written about Zacs exciting days. Also grateful with how the team dealt with some challenges + were very patient with Zacs potty training. I could not recommend this nursery high enough. It’s been an amazing ‘first experience away from mum’ for Zac and honestly I am so happy that he is so happy! He’s made some wonderful friends, been stimulated and looked after so wonderfully by everyone at Dandelions” Carla

The lowdown
Dandelions Nursery School welcomes children aged 18 months -5 years of age and offers morning, afternoon and full-day sessions 44 weeks of the year, excluding Bank Holidays.

Morning sessions 8.45am – 11.45am
Long morning sessions 08.45 – 12.30pm (includes lunch)
Afternoon sessions 12.30pm – 3.30pm Full-day sessions 8.45am -3.30pm

The nursery follows Brent term times but remains open for half-term breaks. They are closed for 2 weeks over Christmas, 2 weeks over Easter and 4 weeks over the Summer.

Contact Information
134 – 136 Mortimer Rd, Greater, London NW10 5SN

hello@dandelionsnurseryschoolco.uk

www.dandelionsnurseryschool.co.uk

Opening Hours as above