Perivale Primary School Nursery Review

Orange AM, Plum PM and Apple Full Time give Perivale’s youngest provision its fruit-themed identity. The nursery sits within Perivale Primary School on Federal Road, a community primary that takes children from age three. This is provision within a school, with an early years leadership structure and nursery learning support, rather than a separate childcare setting.

Staffing includes an assistant headteacher responsible for early years and Key Stage 1, alongside an early years higher-level teaching assistant. For families, that places the nursery within a wider team spanning teaching, inclusion and pastoral support.

Early reading has a named approach: Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. It teaches phonics, the relationship between written letters and spoken sounds. Families can use the programme’s videos and resources to support sound pronunciation and letter writing at home, making the connection between classroom learning and home practice concrete.

The February 2024 inspection found that routines and cooperative learning helped make nursery classrooms settled places to learn. Learning to handle feelings and manage behaviour also began in the early years. These are useful foundations for joining activities and learning alongside other children.

Reading needs a qualification. In February 2024, the phonics programme began in early years, but its delivery across the school was uneven; some children who struggled with reading needed better help with fluency and combining sounds. Early reading support. Consistency and staff training were improvement priorities, relevant considerations for families whose children need additional help.

Outdoor learning forms part of the school’s curriculum approach, using its substantial grounds. The wider curriculum also emphasises children sharing ideas and building new learning on what they already understand. Those are school-level features, rather than a promise of a particular nursery activity timetable.

Starting support can include meetings with parents, extra introductory visits and visual stories to make the setting more familiar. The school gathers information from families and previous settings about children’s strengths, needs and helpful strategies. That gives parents a practical role in preparing their child’s start.

Across the school, visual timetables help children anticipate changes between activities. Children needing more individual support can use personal schedules, an object to ease a change, or help from an adult. Support is therefore about the small changes within a day as well as the initial move into school.

The SEND and Inclusion Team is the contact for developmental or learning concerns. School provision includes individual or small-group work on communication and social skills, with input from professionals including occupational therapists and educational psychologists. Parent meetings, workshops and reviews provide opportunities to discuss that support.

Attending Perivale’s nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions process and meet the applicable deadline. Choosing the nursery should therefore be a decision about the early years experience itself.

The school’s broader transition approach uses information shared with parents and individual preparation, including visual stories and additional visits where needed. Such preparation supports adjustment; it does not establish an admissions advantage.

The class labels distinguish morning, afternoon and full-time provision: Orange AM, Plum PM and Apple Full Time. They provide a useful starting point for considering which pattern fits family life.

Nursery enquiries can go to the school office by telephone on 020 8997 0619 or email at admin@perivale.ealing.sch.uk. The contact page also has an enquiry form. The school’s address is Federal Road, Perivale, UB6 7AP.