Herringham Primary Academy Nursery

Story sacks with Year 5 friends, woodland owl crafts and a mud kitchen give Herringham’s nursery a character built around stories and practical exploration. This is the nursery provision within Herringham Primary Academy in Chadwell St Mary, Grays. Its links with older children are tangible: Year 5 pupils have joined nursery children for Story Seekers sessions, bringing shared reading into their experience of the wider school.

Ofsted judged the school’s early years provision Good at the inspection on 18 and 19 May 2022. That judgement covers early years within the school; it is not a separate nursery rating.

Story Seekers uses story sacks to explore tales in different ways. The nursery aims to encourage an enjoyment of books through these sessions, with Year 5 visitors joining the children over several weeks. Stories become something to explore together, rather than simply something to listen to.

A Gruffalo Trail adventure shows how a book can carry learning outdoors. Children searched for the homes of the story’s animals, mixed pretend food with berries, leaves and mud, and made woodland owls from pine cones and wood chips. Log tables provided a place for the craft activity. Balancing on fallen logs and climbing low branches added physical challenges to the storytelling. These are concrete examples of imaginative play, small-hand movements and balance being practised through one connected experience.

Forest School has also brought nursery families into the learning. An AM family session included block building, tree climbing, mud-kitchen creations and pancakes cooked over a fire. It gave parents and children an opportunity to take part together.

In May 2022, early years children became engaged in learning promptly and were familiar with classroom routines. Curriculum development remained an improvement priority: children needed further opportunities to select activities that extended their skills and knowledge, alongside better preparation for the subjects ahead in Key Stage 1.

For children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), the school’s approach begins with adapting teaching and providing structured help. Its assess-plan-do-review cycle involves identifying obstacles to learning, planning support and checking its effect. The practical implication is that support is reviewed against a child’s needs rather than treated as a fixed arrangement.

Family involvement has a concrete expression in the nursery’s Forest School session, where adults could share activities with their children. Beyond the classroom, the Gateway Learning Community works with Thurrock Frontline to support families. This gives the nursery’s school context a connection to wider family support as well as learning.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions route by the normal deadline. Shared stories with Year 5 children are an experience of school life, not an admissions advantage; keep that distinction clear when choosing the nursery.

The academy is on St Mary's Road, Chadwell St Mary, Essex, RM16 4JX. Nursery enquiries can go to the school office on 01375 489860 or to admin.herringham@theglc.org.uk. A contact form also accepts admissions enquiries, providing another way to begin contact with the school.