Netherton Park Nursery School: nursery review

Story maps, children acting out their own tales and games borrowed for home give Netherton Park Nursery School a distinctive emphasis: learning to communicate through play. This is a maintained nursery school in Netherton, Dudley, with provision for children aged two to four, rather than a nursery classroom within a primary school.

Acorn serves two-year-olds, Saplings caters for children approaching three, and Oak is for three- and four-year-olds. Sycamore provides specialist provision for the latter age group. Those named groups give families a useful starting point for understanding where their child would spend the nursery day.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) shapes the curriculum. In parent terms, learning brings together movement, relationships and conversation with early reading, mathematics, creative activities and exploration of the world. Staff plan around children's interests as well as ideas introduced by adults, then use observations to decide how to extend the learning. Children have time to pursue an idea over longer periods.

Talk 4 Writing involves returning to a traditional story over roughly three weeks, adding actions, props and drawn story maps. Helicopter Stories starts with an adult writing down a child's own words before children perform the tale. Tales Toolkit gives storytelling a structure through characters, settings, problems and solutions. There are several ways to participate, from speaking and drawing to acting.

Both outdoor spaces and indoor learning areas are planned around children's exploration. Ofsted's November 2022 inspection found that these environments accommodated children with SEND and supported sustained concentration. At that time, language teaching ran through everyday conversations, stories and rhymes, with children also communicating through gestures and signs. The learning extended beyond organised activities.

Oak's games lending library lets families borrow a game for up to two weeks. It carries opportunities for turn-taking, listening and number play into home life.

Acorn children have an allocated key worker as their family's first contact. Parents can follow learning through Tapestry, the online journal, and add observations from home themselves. That makes communication a two-way exchange rather than simply a record sent out by staff.

During sessions, children can choose vegetables or fruit, alongside water and milk. Fresh water is accessible beyond snack time and is also provided at lunch, so families do not need to send a drink. In November 2022, snack and lunch conversations also became opportunities to explore food preferences and mathematical ideas.

The team includes an Early Years Teacher and a deputy headteacher whose responsibilities combine SEND coordination with deputy safeguarding leadership. Sycamore places are allocated through the Integrated Early Years team, rather than by direct nursery application. Families needing that specialist provision therefore have a different route.

Practical family support includes help with housing applications and referrals for furniture or white goods. Evergreen Café uses the training room for informal conversations with staff and other parents. Safeguarding was judged effective at the November 2022 inspection, with staff training, checks and prompt responses to concerns supporting that finding.

Attending Netherton Park does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through the normal Reception admissions process and meet its deadline. Choosing a nursery group and arranging funded hours should be treated separately from securing the next school place.

Sessions run during term time, Monday to Friday. Morning attendance is 8.40am to 11.40am; afternoons run from 12.30pm to 3.30pm. These are five-day patterns, each providing 15 hours a week. Acorn offers funded places for eligible two-year-olds and does not offer full days.

For three- and four-year-olds, the 15-hour entitlement sits alongside a limited number of 30-hour places. The longer pattern runs from 8.40am to 2.40pm across five days and 39 weeks. It is restricted to eligible children in Saplings or Oak from the term after their third birthday, requires a qualifying code and depends on space.

An online registration form adds a child to the waiting list. Visits can be arranged by contacting the nursery; general enquiries go through 01384 283687 or the contact form. Uniform is optional. Easy-to-manage clothing and Velcro footwear are encouraged to support independence. The car park is reserved for staff, so families need to plan collection and drop-off parking elsewhere.