Clayton-le-Moors Mount Pleasant Primary School Nursery

Forest school, fruit tasting and stories give Mount Pleasant’s nursery a practical character. Children aged three and four join FS1, the nursery provision within an integrated Foundation Stage Unit. Learning reaches beyond the classroom: outdoor activities sit alongside adult-organised tasks and play shaped by children’s interests.

The early years provision was graded Good at Ofsted’s inspection on 4 and 5 March 2025. That judgement covers the school’s early years, rather than a separately inspected nursery. For families, the distinctive combination is school-based early learning with room for children to explore and choose.

Practical experience drives the day. The nursery follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), with learning that brings together early number work, language, creativity and understanding the world. Structured activities and children’s own interests both influence what happens, giving children opportunities to practise skills through things they want to investigate.

Numberblocks has supported work on numbers from zero to five. Children have counted objects, paired quantities with numerals and searched for numbers. In March 2025, early years children had time to practise mathematics independently, including writing numerals and recognising quantities. Nursery children also began listening for differences between sounds, an early step towards reading.

Stories become starting points for hands-on exploration. Handa’s Surprise prompted fruit tasting, while minibeast learning included watching a butterfly’s lifecycle and a visit from ZooLab. Colour activities brought objects from home into classroom discussion and included mixing colours by hand. These examples connect talk and observation with something children can handle or see.

Outside, forest school extends the learning space. Foundation Stage activities linked to Goldilocks and the Three Bears have included bear footprints, pretend porridge in the mud kitchen and collecting materials along the wildlife path. The playground has also hosted practice in road safety, turning a discussion about holding an adult’s hand into a practical exercise.

Settling begins with exploring the classroom, wider school and outdoor spaces, including forest school. Children try activities while becoming familiar with new routines. That gives the first weeks a concrete focus: learning the places and patterns of their nursery day.

A nursery teacher works within a Foundation Stage team that includes support staff. Families can contact the school’s SEND coordinator at send@mountpleasant.lancs.sch.uk. School-wide pastoral and nurture staff also offer practical advice, Early Help assessments and contact with outside agencies, providing routes for discussing difficulties affecting a child or family.

Full-day children need a packed lunch or a booked school meal. The day includes a 30-minute lunch break, so food arrangements form part of choosing that session. Collection is controlled: the teacher brings children to the playground and releases them only to an agreed, authorised adult.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal Lancashire County Council route and meet the deadline for their child’s admission year. Nursery enrolment is handled through the school office; the later school-place application is a separate step. Treat the two decisions separately when planning your child’s next stage.

Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions are offered, with bookings made a term ahead. Afternoon sessions run from 12:30pm to 3:30pm; a full day runs from 8:55am to 3:30pm. The nursery accepts 15 or 30 funded childcare hours across Monday to Friday, during term time, with eligibility checked for the 30-hour option. Meals are charged separately; contact the school for current charges.

Booking ahead. Sessions must be selected a term in advance. Families with changing work patterns need to plan around that commitment.

Teaching consistency. In March 2025, the school-wide improvement actions concerned activities that did not always suit pupils’ learning needs and missed gaps or misunderstandings. These are useful discussion points when considering how teaching responds to an individual child.

For an admission form, contact the office on 01254 232046 or email head@mountpleasant.lancs.sch.uk. Prospective parents can also arrange a school visit. Mount Pleasant Family Care offers breakfast and after-school provision for children aged three to eleven who attend the school, adding a separate option for families needing care around the nursery day.