Highbury Infant School and Nursery: Nursery Review

A secure nursery garden, woodland exploration and stories turned into experiments give Highbury’s nursery its character. This is the nursery class within Highbury Infant School and Nursery on Standhill Road in Hitchin. It has a separate entrance and an enclosed outdoor play space, giving the youngest children an area of their own within the school.

Learning reaches beyond the classroom. Nursery activities have included exploring Highbury Woods, watching caterpillars become butterflies and constructing an imaginary town. These examples connect children’s discoveries with language, counting and creative work.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together seven learning areas. In parent language, that means learning to communicate, move confidently, manage feelings and relationships, explore books and numbers, investigate the world and express ideas creatively. Highbury’s nursery examples show how these strands can meet in one activity.

Activities linked to The Gingerbread Man have included testing which objects float or sink, predicting what happens to a gingerbread figure in water and counting buttons. Handa’s Surprise has led to storytelling through acting, fruit tasting and drawing with oil pastels. Stories become things children can test, handle and discuss.

Early phonics activities include recognising rhyme, hearing starting sounds and practising oral blending and segmenting: joining spoken sounds into words and breaking words into sounds. Number work is practical too. Children have measured pretend worms and arranged them by size, while moving pompoms and beads with tweezers combines careful hand movements with imaginative play.

Outdoors, the nursery garden sits alongside examples of visits to Highbury Woods to investigate small creatures and their habitats. Cosmic Kids yoga adventures add movement linked to the topic. These are examples of nursery learning, rather than a fixed timetable promised for every session.

In November 2022, Ofsted found that nursery language development benefited from adult conversation, questioning, songs and rhymes. There was also a curriculum concern relevant to the joined-up early-years planning: some teaching placed too much weight on finishing tasks and too little on the learning demonstrated. Further training in the wider subjects was required.

Settling begins gradually. Parent meetings usually take place during the latter half of the summer term, followed by a parent-accompanied visit and shorter sessions during the first week or so. This gives children time to become familiar with the people and routines before managing a complete session.

The foundation-stage team includes teachers and an early-years practitioner; nursery lunch assistants also form part of the staffing structure. In November 2022, children in the early years served their own fruit and milk at snack time and used considerate table manners. That small routine gives independence a practical place in the day.

Speech and language support includes ELKLAN-trained staff who can work with individuals or small groups on specific targets. Additional support is reviewed through termly Pupil Progress Meetings, with parents’ concerns included in the discussion. Families can contact the Inclusion Coordinator through the office. Arbor Education handles parent communication, so keeping contact details current matters.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions process by the applicable deadline. Treat that application as a separate decision from choosing the nursery.

For children moving to another class at Highbury, summer visits introduce the classroom and its staff. A transition booklet completed at home gives the next class’s adults material to share with the child, including pictures, photographs or writing about their interests and feelings. Familiarity supports the move; it does not secure admission.

Morning nursery runs from 8:55am to noon, with children asked not to arrive before 8:45am. The afternoon session starts at noon and finishes at 3:10pm. The nursery has its own entrance.

Uniform includes a yellow polo shirt and dark green sweatshirt or cardigan; logo versions are optional. Label clothing clearly. Pre-loved uniform can be bought through the office or Friends of Whitehill and Highbury Schools.

For enquiries, email admin@highbury.herts.sch.uk or call 01462 630500. School tours can be booked by telephone. When using satnav, enter both Standhill Road and SG4 9AG: the postcode alone directs drivers towards a dead end.