Landkey Community Primary Academy Nursery Review

Learning alongside Reception children defines nursery life at Landkey Community Primary Academy. Both groups learn together in a shared Foundation Stage Unit. For a family choosing a school nursery, that shared learning arrangement is the distinctive practical feature: younger children take part in an early years setting that already includes the next school stage.

Play is the starting point. Landkey uses the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), organising play around seven areas of development. In parent language, this means that learning includes movement, conversation and relationships alongside early literacy, numbers, exploring the world and creative expression. The school describes its wider curriculum as enquiry based, with curiosity and play among its aims.

The framework gives everyday skills a clear purpose. Physical development involves coordination and movement; communication includes listening and expressing ideas. Personal and social learning covers relationships, feelings and behaviour in groups. These strands connect learning with the practical business of playing alongside other children and making yourself understood.

Literacy introduces the relationship between letters and sounds, while mathematics includes counting, shapes and measures. Exploring nature, people and technology belongs to understanding the world. Creative learning encompasses movement, music, art and imaginative role play. These are the areas around which early years play is planned.

Additional support sits within the school's wider SEND arrangements. Depending on a child's needs, help can be targeted or individualised. The school works with specialists including Occupational Therapists, Educational Psychologists and Speech and Language Therapists. That gives families a route for discussing needs that extend beyond ordinary classroom support.

Parents can raise concerns with their child's teacher or the special educational needs coordinator. The useful starting point is the child's particular difficulty, whether that concerns communication, learning, emotional needs or physical access.

Safeguarding responsibilities include a designated lead and a deputy. At school level, Operation Encompass connects Landkey with Devon and Cornwall Police so that information about children's exposure to domestic abuse can reach the school early. This is a specific communication arrangement relevant to support for affected families.

Sharing a Foundation Stage Unit gives nursery children experience of learning alongside Reception children. Treat that as an educational arrangement, separate from the allocation of school places.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through the normal primary admissions process; Devon County Council is the application route. The shared unit should therefore inform your expectations about your child's learning experience, while the Reception application remains a separate task.

To express interest in nursery provision, complete the Note of Interest Form. Nursery enquiries can also go through the main office on 01271 830421 or by email to landkey@thsp.org.uk. The school is on Bakery Way in Landkey, Barnstaple, EX32 0LJ.

Keep the two application routes distinct: the nursery interest form concerns nursery provision, while the county council route concerns a primary school place.