Whitmore Park Primary School Nursery Review

Daily language groups, a garden open for children’s chosen activities and a large field give Whitmore Park’s nursery its character: conversation and physical activity have a clear place alongside classroom learning. This is the school’s own nursery on Halford Lane in Coventry, for children joining from the term after their third birthday.

Morning, afternoon and all-day attendance are offered. A class teacher leads the provision, supported by qualified nursery nurses. At the Ofsted inspection on 24 and 25 September 2024, early years provision received a Good judgement within the school inspection, rather than a separate nursery rating.

Sessions combine activities directed by adults, play supported by staff and time for children to choose what interests them. Those choices extend between the indoor classroom and outdoor classroom. The garden opens daily during this independent play, and group activities sometimes move outside too. Children therefore have opportunities to learn outdoors during the session, rather than only during a separate break.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together early language, physical skills and social development with beginnings in mathematics, literacy, creative work and understanding the world. Here, a daily language group gives children time for conversation, stories and rhymes. Adults introduce vocabulary through activities and discussion, making talking and listening part of learning throughout the session.

Read Write Inc is the named phonics approach. Nursery children begin learning letter sounds when staff consider them ready, so their starting points differ across the year. Learning then moves towards hearing sounds in sequence and combining them into words. In September 2024, early-years assessment identified children’s starting points promptly and shaped learning around their needs; stories, rhymes and songs supported language development. The same inspection identified inconsistent phonics teaching across the school, including gaps in support for readers falling behind. That wider concern warrants attention alongside the positive early-years finding.

Weekly PE begins in the second half of the autumn term. For outdoor activities, children need wellingtons and warm clothes in winter, with sun hats and sunscreen applied at home in summer.

Snack time combines fruit with milk or water and gives children a chance to socialise. Drinking water remains accessible throughout the day. The nursery admission policy approved in April 2018 describes packed lunches supplied by families for children staying through the lunchtime break, with a separate childcare charge for that period.

For children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), entry arrangements include home assessments and visits involving the nursery teacher and SEND lead. A staggered start can be arranged where needed. Children coming from enhanced preschool provision receive visits in their existing setting before joining, helping staff prepare adaptations. Nursery staff also have basic Makaton training to support communication.

Parents receive an emailed nursery newsletter each week, and the teacher is available for informal conversations after sessions. The school’s SEND arrangements include termly meetings to review support with families. These processes should be considered alongside the September 2024 school-wide finding that curriculum adaptations for pupils with SEND were not applied consistently. Discuss how agreed support will work in your child’s nursery activities.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through Coventry City Council’s normal admissions process, by the deadline for their entry year. The 2025/26 primary admission arrangements did not include nursery attendance as a priority criterion and explicitly required nursery families to apply again.

Transition support is a separate matter. The 2025/26 SEND information report describes a summer session for parents to meet the class teacher and SENCO, alongside meetings, information leaflets and classroom taster sessions. These help children and families prepare for the change; they do not determine admission.

The usual booking pattern is five mornings or five afternoons: 08:30 to 11:30 or 12:15 to 15:15. Some all-day places run from 08:30 to 15:15, subject to availability. The application form describes 15 funded hours each week during term time from the term after a child turns three; 30-hour funded places depend on eligibility.

Additional sessions for children without 30-hour eligibility are charged. The nursery also describes a charge for additional care between 14:30 and 15:15, applying whether or not children qualify for 30-hour funding. Contact the school for current charges.

Apply directly to the school using its nursery application form and provide your child’s birth certificate. Enquiries can go to admin@whitmorepark.org or 02476 335 697. School visits are arranged by telephone, before or after school hours. Nursery entry uses the gate in the green fence left of the main entrance; late entry switches to the main entrance after 08:40 or 12:25. Nursery collection arrangements are shared directly with parents.