Nursery at Langtons Infant School & Nursery

Listening comes before letter learning at Langtons: nursery phonics starts with rhythm, rhyme and the sounds children hear around them. That gives this provision for three- and four-year-olds a clear emphasis on speaking and listening alongside exploration.

Part of Langtons Infant School & Nursery on Westland Avenue in Hornchurch, it offers morning, afternoon and full-day attendance. The nursery parent page gives capacity as up to 26 full-time places. Families can therefore choose a shorter session or a day spanning both sessions.

Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) is the school's chosen phonics programme, with nursery children beginning at Phase 1. Here, preparation for reading means distinguishing noises, remembering sound patterns and talking about what they hear. Instrument sounds, body percussion and rhyming words give children different ways to practise listening. Voice sounds and oral blending introduce the sounds within spoken words.

Letter learning follows that preparation. Once these skills are embedded, nursery children start Phase 2 grapheme-phoneme correspondences: linking written letters with sounds. Parents can support the same work through conversation about what their child hears, sees and does. This makes everyday talk part of the preparation for reading.

During the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that nursery children were encouraged to investigate different learning areas and that most adults supported them through appropriate intervention and purposeful conversation. The qualifier matters: this finding concerned most adults, rather than every interaction.

Early-years activities also included singing and discussing surrounding sounds. Outside, children helped put the outdoor area in order as sessions ended, alongside learning to take turns and share equipment. Independence therefore included practical responsibility for their learning space.

A nursery teacher and nursery manager are listed within the staff team. For children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), the school's inclusion approach combines personalised teaching, early identification of needs and planning with parents. Specialist advice can be brought into that work where appropriate. The practical emphasis is on adjusting support to the child.

Communication includes regular contact and joint planning with families. Children are also supported to express their needs and preferences during transitions. Pastoral help for emotional wellbeing, social development or behaviour can take the form of individual work or small groups, according to the child's needs.

Full-day children have a lunchtime interval between the two nursery sessions, from 11:30 to 12:15.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through their home local authority, using eAdmissions, by 15 January in the year their child is due to start.

Havering Council sets admission criteria and decides allocations for its community schools. Nursery applications, by contrast, are handled directly by Langtons. Treat choosing the nursery and applying for Reception as two separate decisions, with different application routes.

Morning sessions run from 08:30 to 11:30; afternoons run from 12:15 to 15:15. Full-day provision runs from 08:30 to 15:15, with the lunchtime interval joining the sessions. These timings make the distinction between a three-hour session and a full day clear when planning collection.

Nursery enquiries go through the school office: telephone 01708 447866 or email office@langtons-inf.havering.sch.uk. Visits to the school and nursery are welcomed, and the admissions page directs families to telephone the office to arrange a viewing.

The nursery page links a welcome pack, registration paperwork, an agreement and permissions booklet, and a parent questionnaire. These provide the route into discussing and arranging a nursery place directly with the school.