SIAL.school on Holland Park Avenue opens an Italian-English nursery for two-year-olds in January 2027, with one adult to three children and funded hours.
SIAL.school, the Italian-English bilingual school at 154-156 Holland Park Avenue, will take children aged two from January 2027. Until now its nursery has started at three.
The school has run Italian-English bilingual education in London for more than 15 years, with a primary school and a nursery for three and four-year-olds. The new two-year-old provision will sit in the same building as the existing nursery, and the school says the nursery for children aged three and over carries on as before.
Children must have turned two by their start date. Families do not need to speak either language at home, according to headteacher Alessia Sbicca.
“We are delighted to open SIAL’s doors to two-year-olds, giving them the opportunity to grow in a bilingual environment from an early age, where play, discovery and relationships are at the heart of learning,” she said. “Children do not need to speak Italian or English at home to benefit from this experience: through everyday interactions, play and activities, they will have the opportunity to develop their familiarity with both languages naturally.”
One adult to three children
The school says the room will run at a ratio of one practitioner to every three children. Bilingual practitioners will work in Italian and English alongside a dedicated room leader and the school’s wider Early Years Foundation Stage team. Indoor and outdoor spaces, it says, are being planned to “encourage exploration, discovery and play, while allowing children to follow their curiosity and individual interests”.
Days will be built around play, stories, songs and ordinary routines, with both languages used throughout. The school’s own nursery page describes how its three and four-year-olds work: Italian and English native-speaking teachers and assistants follow a common curriculum covering the objectives of both the English and Italian systems, with some rooms where only English is spoken and others where only Italian is. The existing nursery runs Monday to Friday in term time, 8.20am to 3.15pm, with wraparound care from 8am to 6pm, according to the school’s website (checked 2 November 2026). The school day for the two-year-olds will run from 8.20am to 3.15pm, according to the school’s registration page.
“As headteacher, I firmly believe in the importance of the early years,” Ms Sbicca said. “High-quality education at this stage lays strong foundations for every child’s linguistic, social and emotional development. And a bilingual experience is an opportunity in its own right: whatever educational path a child may follow in the future, early exposure to two languages and cultures is a valuable gift that will stay with them.”
Not only for future SIAL pupils
SIAL says children who join at two will not be expected to stay on into its primary school; the place is open to families with other plans for their children’s education.
Eligible families in England can get 15 or 30 hours a week of government-funded childcare, depending on the rules that apply to them, and the school is pointing families towards those hours.
“The opportunity to benefit from 15 or 30 hours of government-funded childcare can help make a bilingual early years experience accessible to more families, including those who may not plan to continue their children’s education at a private school,” Ms Sbicca said. “We hope this will enable an increasing number of families to benefit from the quality of our educational provision.”
The school lists its fees on its fees page.
How to register interest
Parents can fill in the expression of interest form on the school’s website, which asks for the child’s date of birth, or email admissions@sial.school. The school says submitting the form does not commit a family to enrolling. The school is on 020 7603 5353.
Sponsored feature for SIAL.school.
Have your say