Coppice Primary School Nursery Review

A purpose-built nursery gives Coppice’s youngest children their own starting point within the primary school. At 50 Shawhurst Lane in Hollywood, the provision takes children from the September following their third birthday. Families choose between a 30-hour week and two fixed 15-hour patterns. That choice shapes both the child’s routine and the family’s working week.

Play, exploration and trying out ideas form the basis of learning. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together children’s learning and development before age five. Here, activities follow children’s interests and individual needs, rather than requiring everyone to work through an identical programme.

Communication, movement and emotional and social development are the starting points. Alongside these, children develop mathematical and literacy skills, explore the world and express ideas through art and design. For parents, this means play has a learning purpose: investigating something new and developing an idea are part of the curriculum.

Nursery children’s own school surroundings supplied a familiar focus for learning in October 2022. This gave new knowledge a concrete starting point. Ofsted found that early years activities developed learning progressively, supported by resources inside classrooms and outside. Shared play with adults helped children build vocabulary, connecting language development with what they were doing.

Before the September 2025 intake, families were invited to induction evenings, drop-in opportunities and Stay and Play sessions between May and July 2025. These gave children and parents opportunities to become familiar with the setting before the nursery year began.

Communication continues through the school’s Reach More Parents app, with whole-school updates sent on Fridays. Parents can discuss their child at meetings in the autumn and spring terms, and receive an individual annual report in summer. Concerns about a child go first to the class teacher; changes to collection arrangements and urgent messages go to the office. This gives families a clear distinction between discussing learning and passing on time-sensitive information.

For additional educational support, the school has a SENDCO and an SEN Outreach and Inclusion Teacher, accessible through the office. Food preparation has its own facility: the school’s purpose-built kitchen is run by Alliance in Partnership and prepares freshly cooked meals each day.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through the local authority responsible for their home address, by the January closing date for the relevant intake. The school ranks applications against its admission criteria, and local authorities issue the offers. Treat the nursery choice and the Reception application as separate decisions.

The full-week option runs from 8:45am to 2:45pm each day. One 15-hour pattern combines Monday and Tuesday at those times with Wednesday from 8:30am to 11:30am. The other combines Wednesday from 12:15pm to 3:15pm with Thursday and Friday from 8:45am to 2:45pm. These are fixed combinations, so families need to fit their arrangements around a complete pattern.

Three- and four-year-olds have a 15-hour funded entitlement. Eligible families can fund up to another 15 hours using a code obtained through Childcare Choices; the code must be renewed every three months. Alternatively, additional hours can be paid privately, with payments made half-termly. Contact the school for current charges.

Nursery applications go directly to Coppice. Admissions enquiries can be made on 01564 826709 or at admissions@coppice.worcs.sch.uk. Appointments to look around the nursery can also be booked, giving parents an opportunity to see the setting before choosing it.