Rift House Primary School Nursery Review

A reading den, a construction room and a garden reached directly from the classroom give Rift House’s nursery children several ways to follow an idea. Stories can become buildings, pictures or pretend meals. This is the school’s own provision on Masefield Road in Hartlepool, with a two-year-old class alongside Class 1 Nursery.

Ofsted judged early years provision Good at the March 2024 inspection. That judgement covers the school’s early years provision, rather than a separately inspected nursery.

Child-led play has space to develop in Class 1’s open-plan classroom. Children build in the construction room, share books in the reading den and act out domestic routines in the home corner. Sand, water and modelling dough give them materials to pour, shape and test. They also register themselves by putting their pictures on a tree, making participation in the session an activity they can manage themselves.

The two-year-old provision has its own practical emphasis. Children examine insects with magnifiers, send cars along ramps and choose number toys from drawers. Outside, a slide and climbing ladders sit alongside planting activities and a mud kitchen. Painting and drawing extend outdoors too. These are concrete examples of early years learning through movement, conversation and exploration.

Vocabulary was a strength in March 2024: books, rhymes and conversations with adults helped children develop their language. Nursery activities show how that works in practice. In autumn 2024, The Three Little Pigs prompted children to retell the story with props, construct houses from different materials and count houses in sand. During spring 2025, beans, cress and sunflowers became planting projects that children watered and watched develop.

Primary Movement is another named element used in early years, beginning with songs accompanied by actions for younger children. The CHOICES approach adds a focus on behaviour and relationships from the start of nursery. Together with the play activities, these illustrate the early years curriculum in parent terms: talking, moving, making choices and learning to do things independently.

For two-year-olds, parents can spend the opening 15 minutes of each session in nursery. Staff are available around session boundaries, giving families an opportunity to discuss concerns. Children practise washing their hands and using the bathroom independently; toothbrushing also features in their daily timetable.

Class 1 links home and nursery through Seesaw activities sent on Fridays, connected to that week’s learning. On Mondays, children take home a book they have selected. Autumn 2024 activities included parents joining story time and stay-and-play sessions. Magic Breakfast also reaches the nursery through classroom bagels, providing a food offer alongside the learning day.

The school’s SEND arrangements involve parents in planning support and invite them to termly reviews. Its building accommodates wheelchair users and has a shower space for intimate care. However, the March 2024 inspection identified inconsistent support within the early years curriculum for children with more-complex SEND, with some making less progress than they could and some adult interactions during independent play being missed. Complex SEND. Families should weigh those findings alongside the support arrangements and discuss how teaching would meet their child’s individual needs.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through the normal admissions process by the deadline for their child’s entry year. Hartlepool residents use the council’s admissions route; families living elsewhere apply through their own local authority. An online application and a paper route are both offered.

Keep the learning relationship separate from the admissions decision. Familiarity with nursery staff and routines should not be treated as securing a school place.

Class 1 runs morning sessions from 8:30am to 11:30am and afternoon sessions from 12:15pm to 3:15pm, Monday to Friday. The two-year-old provision uses the same session times. Its doors close after the initial parent participation period, at 8:45am or 12:30pm respectively.

Contact the school office on 01429 275239 or email admin@rifthouseschool.org.uk for nursery enquiries. Tell staff beforehand if someone other than an agreed adult will collect your child. This gives the team time to clarify the collection arrangements.