Histon Early Years Centre Nursery Review

A mud kitchen, watercolour self-portraits and a kitchen garden give Histon Early Years Centre’s nursery a day built around making, questioning and trying things out. Children’s interests shape longer projects, with adults helping them develop ideas rather than simply moving through a list of activities.

Greenfinch and Robin are the rooms for children aged three to four. The maintained nursery school sits within the Centre’s combined education and childcare provision, across the road from the Infants School in Histon and Impington. Its term-time funded places start in the September after a child turns three; funded places for two-year-olds also form part of the Centre’s provision. Little Owls provides the younger childcare offer. The separately registered provision for one-year-olds was outside the July 2022 school inspection, so findings from that visit should not be applied to it.

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the planning framework, alongside an emergent curriculum: adults build projects around questions and interests that children bring to their play. Learning combines individual exploration with group work. For parents, that means a child’s fascination can become something to investigate over time, with adults observing play and using those observations to plan what comes next.

Block play gives children opportunities to explore mathematical ideas through construction. Watercolour painting begins with self-portraits and choices about colour, while the large drum brings rhythm and movement into shared learning. Children negotiate how to work together. These are practical ways to exercise persistence, express an idea and listen to someone else’s.

Outdoors, the mud kitchen brings talk about quantities and position into pretend cooking. The kitchen garden connects growing fruit and vegetables with the Food for Life initiative. Footprint Woods visits extend exploration beyond the Centre, while light boxes, torches, projectors and bubble tubes give children materials for investigating shadows and cause and effect.

In July 2022, children enjoyed familiar stories enough to retell and dramatise them, practising vocabulary through repeated encounters with books. Curriculum consistency. Some learning areas still needed clearer steps and greater consistency between rooms, especially during activities children selected themselves. This matters because freedom to choose works best when adults understand the learning they are helping a child develop.

Parents can follow projects through room floor books, individual Learning Journeys and displays showing work as it develops. These give families concrete examples of their child’s experiences, rather than only an overview of the curriculum.

Lunch and tea menus rotate over three weeks, with revisions for seasonal ingredients and dietary needs. Eating also contributes to independence: in July 2022, even younger children helped serve lunch, and snack-time conversations gave children opportunities to practise social language.

Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities was a strength in July 2022: adults adjusted activities so children could participate in the curriculum, while allowing space for independence. Children also learnt language for difficult feelings, with adults helping resolve disagreements. Safeguarding arrangements were effective at that visit, supported by staff training and records of concerns.

Governance. Some newly appointed governors needed further training in their responsibilities in July 2022. For families, the issue concerns how effectively governors scrutinise the education children receive.

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 the nursery and applying for school as two separate decisions.

The nursery school’s term-time day runs from 9am to 3pm and includes a charged lunch. Funded sessions therefore need to be considered alongside meal charges; contact the Centre for current charges.

Woodpeckers at Little Owls provides term-time care around nursery sessions, from 8am to 9am and from 3pm to 6pm. Bookings follow Little Owls terms and conditions and require a minimum commitment of one term. This extends the day for families whose working hours run beyond the nursery session.

Use the Nursery School registration-of-interest link or question form on the contact page to enquire. The office can also be reached at office@histon.cambs.sch.uk or on 01223 712075.