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Nursery at Summerswood Primary School
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Inspection data and key information above update regularly, however, this review below is refreshed bi-annually and may not reflect recent changes. Contact the nursery directly to confirm current arrangements. If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
Busy fingers, sound games and Play and Learn give Summerswood’s nursery its daily shape. This is the school’s own nursery provision on Furzehill Road in Borehamwood, with a morning-only timetable alongside a day that continues into the afternoon. The practical distinction matters: children leaving at midday have phonics before home, while those staying move on to lunch and afternoon activities.
School grounds include a sports field and two playgrounds with quieter areas. These are features of the wider school site, rather than a description of the nursery’s outdoor space. Early-years physical activities take place outside as well as indoors.
The morning starts at 9:00 with Busy fingers, followed by carpet time and a key-group activity. Play and Learn, shortened to PAL, follows at 9:50 alongside snack and an activity directed by an adult. A further gathering for stories or carpet time comes before lunch. The pattern alternates group attention with time for children to make choices.
PAL combines independent activity with adults joining children’s play. Summerswood says staff choose topics using children’s interests, drawing on conversations and observations. Adult-led activities teach or practise a particular skill; independent play gives children opportunities to try ideas and play alone or with others. The school aims to encourage confidence through experimentation and accepting mistakes.
The Early Years Foundation Stage, or EYFS, brings together seven learning areas. Relationships, communication and physical development provide the foundations; learning also includes mathematics, literacy, creative expression and understanding the world. In practical parent terms, this connects speaking and listening, movement, making things and early number work rather than treating learning as worksheets alone.
Listening games prepare nursery children to distinguish sounds within words. Letter sounds begin towards the end of the year, and phonics has a place in the daily routine. Afternoon PAL changes focus between cooking, music, ICT and PE, before phonics and a final story.
Teaching and assessment. At the inspection on 30 April and 1 May 2024, Ofsted judged early-years provision Requires Improvement. Learning experiences covered the curriculum areas, but staff interactions did not consistently deepen children’s understanding or establish what they knew. Curriculum detail also needed greater precision about the knowledge children should acquire and the standard expected. Families should weigh the activity programme alongside these concerns about teaching and assessment.
Tapestry connects classroom learning with home. This online journal contains photographs, video and examples of children’s work, with an email notification when an observation is added. Roughly one update a week is the guide, with frequency varying. Parents can contribute their own observations, and some entries identify what a child should work on next. That gives families concrete examples to discuss together.
Snack is part of morning PAL. Lunch starts at 11:45 for children staying, and the afternoon includes quiet relaxation at a quarter past one. This builds a pause into the longer day. Parents receive ingredient information for foods given to children and ingredients used in baking activities; school lunches have separate catering information.
Additional learning needs. In April and May 2024, activities were not adapted closely enough for some children, including those with SEND, limiting achievement in early years. The school has a SENCO contact at senco@summerswood.herts.sch.uk, providing a direct route for discussing a child’s needs.
Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through Hertfordshire Online Admissions. For September 2026 entry, the application deadline was 15 January 2026; that admissions cycle is now past. Treat nursery enrolment and the later school-place application as separate decisions.
Morning-only children finish at 12:00; the nursery timetable ends at 3:00 for children staying through the afternoon. These finishing times make a clear difference to collection arrangements.
Nursery visits can be arranged by calling the school office. For enquiries, telephone 020 8953 3139 or email admin@summerswood.herts.sch.uk. Contact the school for current charges.
Morning-only children leave at 12:00. The afternoon timetable finishes at 3:00.
PAL means Play and Learn. Children choose activities independently, with adults joining their play and supporting learning.
Children play listening and sound games before beginning letter sounds towards the end of the year.
Tapestry shares observations, photographs, videos and work samples. Parents can also add observations from home.
No. Reception requires a separate application through Hertfordshire Online Admissions.
