Sandford School Nursery Review

Practical maths and a settled start give Sandford’s nursery its clearest character. Children use objects to explore sequences, while early learning develops movement and conversation alongside mathematical understanding. These are useful foundations for a child beginning school life: learning involves doing, as well as listening.

The nursery belongs to Sandford School in Sandford, Crediton, and its early years provision includes three-year-olds. Ofsted graded early years Good at the school inspection on 10 and 11 October 2023. That judgement covers the school’s early years provision; it is not a separate nursery inspection.

Exploration, creative activity and physical activity shape the learning described in October 2023. The early years curriculum develops children’s ability to speak and listen, move with increasing skill and understand early mathematics. In parent terms, those learning priorities connect communication and physical development with the beginnings of number work.

Objects make mathematical ideas tangible. Children explore sequences through practical materials, helping them build an understanding they can draw on as learning develops. This concrete example gives the curriculum more substance than a general promise of learning through play.

Letters and sounds begin when children join the school. Alongside the practical mathematics and creative activity, this introduces the building blocks of reading from the start. The emphasis is on early skills that children can practise, rather than simply becoming accustomed to a classroom.

Relationships support the start here. For families concerned about settling, the October 2023 findings offer reassurance: nursery children adapted readily to school. Support for coping with setbacks helped children keep trying, alongside an inclusive early years ethos and close relationships with adults. For families, that links settling with the emotional skills needed to keep trying when an activity proves difficult.

Across the federation, SEND coordinators work with teachers and teaching assistants on interventions and involve external agencies. Additional support can take place individually or in small groups. Devon Information Advice and Support provides a further source of help for parents.

Targeted support. The October 2023 school-wide findings included imprecise next steps for some pupils with SEND and insufficient checking of curriculum implementation in a few subjects. These were whole-school concerns, rather than nursery-specific findings, but they matter when weighing the provision alongside its positive early years judgement.

Operation Encompass provides another layer of care across federation schools. Police notifications following domestic abuse incidents witnessed by children enable staff to prepare support promptly.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate formal application through Devon County Council’s normal admissions process and meet the normal deadline. The school’s admissions page makes formal application a requirement even for children who have previously attended.

Applications can be submitted through www.devon.gov.uk/admissionsonline or using the council’s application forms. Treat choosing nursery and applying for Reception as two separate decisions.

Visits to Sandford School can be arranged by calling 01363 772256 or emailing sandfordadmin@exevalleyfederation.org.uk. This gives families a direct route to see the school before deciding whether to join.