Southville Primary School Nursery Review

Number rhymes and shared stories give Southville’s nursery its clearest character: early learning through play, conversation and song. This is the nursery within Southville Primary School in Feltham, with 50 places in a morning session. Children join in the school year when they turn four, making this provision for three- and four-year-olds rather than younger children.

Early years provision was judged Good at the Ofsted inspection of 17 and 18 January 2023. That judgement covers the school’s early years provision; it is not a separate nursery inspection. The practical offer is focused: 15 funded hours in the morning, rather than a full childcare day.

Play shapes the learning. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together children’s development, education and care, with activities selected to match their stage of development. Staff use those stages to choose resources and learning opportunities for individual children. That gives play a purpose while allowing for different starting points.

Language, movement and social and emotional development are the prime areas. Alongside these sit mathematics, literacy, creative expression and learning about the world. Activities can connect several areas, so learning need not be divided into separate subject lessons.

There are concrete examples of how this works. In January 2023, nursery children sang rhymes to explore patterns in numbers. Across early years, adults shared stories to develop children’s speaking and listening; children also compared quantities using mathematical vocabulary. Songs and conversation therefore serve learning as well as enjoyment.

BusyThings and My USO are available to nursery families for learning at home. These give parents another way to join in, alongside conversations with staff about their child’s development.

The nursery team includes a teacher and nursery nurses. Staff build relationships with children and their families to help children feel secure. Familiar adults are central to that approach, giving parents people to talk to as their child becomes used to nursery.

Learning Journeys and Learning Logs support communication between home and school, alongside discussions with the class teacher. Parents can contribute to conversations about development, rather than simply receive updates. The nursery team can also be contacted at nursery@southville.hounslow.sch.uk.

For children receiving additional support, meetings take place once each academic term with the designated SENCO and class teacher. Parents can raise concerns with the teacher or inclusion team, and SEND enquiries can go to send@southville.hounslow.sch.uk. This provides a defined route for discussing needs and reviewing support.

Attending Southville’s nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal council process. Hounslow’s eAdmissions is the route for borough residents; families living elsewhere apply through their own council. Nursery applications, by contrast, go directly to Southville.

Keep the two applications separate in your planning. A nursery place is an arrangement for the nursery year, and families still need to complete the Reception process for their child’s next stage.

Morning provision. The nursery offers 15 funded hours and does not provide the 30-hour arrangement. Families needing longer childcare will need to plan around that morning offer.

Enquiries and nursery applications go to admissions@southville.hounslow.sch.uk or the school office. A school tour can be arranged by appointment. The office is also reachable on 020 8890 6745 or office@southville.hounslow.sch.uk.

Uniform combines a turquoise sweatshirt or cardigan with a white polo and black bottoms. Nursery children may wear leggings or jogging bottoms, and they are exempt from the requirement to keep a PE kit at school. Parents must have prior permission to drive onto the site or use the school car park, so collection arrangements need to account for that restriction.