Christ The King Catholic Primary School Nursery

Stories spill into play here: Room on the Broom becomes a performance, a craft project and an exploration of rhyme. Christ The King Catholic Primary School’s nursery sits within its early years provision, with morning and afternoon sessions. Its character comes through in those practical connections between books, conversation and making things.

Ofsted judged the school’s early years provision Good at the inspection on 7 and 8 January 2025. That judgement covers early years within the school rather than a separately inspected nursery.

Language runs through the curriculum. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) approach brings learning and play together, with Development Matters used to guide planning and assessment. Stories, poems and nursery rhymes provide material for conversation, while more ambitious vocabulary gives children new ways to express themselves. For parents, this means language learning extends beyond listening to a book.

The nursery’s Room on the Broom work on its 2025-26 class page makes that approach concrete. Children explored rhyme, performed the story and made broomsticks and wands in the craft area. A single book supplied opportunities to speak, imagine and create together.

Outdoor learning has its own place in the day. An outdoor learning area supports the EYFS curriculum; in an autumn 2024-25 nursery activity based on The wheels on the bus, children constructed pretend buses outdoors and played at travelling. Collage work brought the same theme into a class display. The song became something children could discuss, build and act out.

Learning purpose. In January 2025, some independently chosen early years activities lacked sufficiently clear learning goals, leaving children learning little that was new. Staff needed shared clarity about what each activity should teach. This matters alongside the appealing themes: the activity needs a learning purpose as well as something to do.

Relationships provide an encouraging starting point. In January 2025, early years adults established friendly connections with children and parents promptly, and conversations introduced new vocabulary. Parent workshops, planners, termly knowledge organisers and proud clouds form part of the EYFS communication approach, giving families ways to connect with learning at home.

For additional needs, the school’s SEND approach uses an Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle. Individual education plans set personal targets, while a One Page Profile records what matters to the child and how adults can help. Support is reviewed with parents each term, making those discussions part of an ongoing process.

Accessibility needs practical attention. The school building has two levels joined by stairs; its ground floor includes an accessible toilet, with ramps at the front and onto the playground. These are school building features, relevant to families considering access, rather than a description of the nursery room itself.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions process and meet its deadline. Treat choosing nursery and applying for Reception as separate decisions; familiarity with the school should never be mistaken for an entitlement to a place.

Morning nursery runs from 8.30am to 11.20am, and afternoon nursery from 12.15pm to 3.00pm. These are distinct session windows, so families should match their collection arrangements to the session their child attends.

Collection takes place at the nursery at the end of each session. Parents must tell the class teacher or office beforehand if someone different will collect their child; another person cannot collect without parental permission. The school office can be contacted on 0121 464 9800.