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Nursery at Spring Common Academy
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Inspection data and key information above update regularly, however, this review below is refreshed bi-annually and may not reflect recent changes. Contact the nursery directly to confirm current arrangements. If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
Hydrotherapy, tactile exploration and Forest School give Spring Common Academy’s early years provision a distinctly sensory focus. This is nursery education within a special school in Huntingdon, with play, communication and growing independence shaping its intended character. The emphasis is on adapting learning to the child, including how they express a choice or explore something unfamiliar.
The admissions criteria require an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities, alongside a need for substantially adapted teaching. For families, the important question is how the provision fits their child’s learning and care needs. Ofsted judged early years provision Requires improvement at the inspection on 17 and 18 June 2025. That judgement deserves attention alongside the activities on offer.
Play sits alongside predictable routines and adult support. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together early language, physical skills, social development, creativity, understanding the world, literacy and mathematics. Development Matters guides the curriculum, with activities adjusted for individual children. In practical terms, learning includes exploring materials, moving, playing and communicating, indoors and outside.
Attention Autism, sensory exploration and hydrotherapy are named early years activities. Forest School adds outdoor learning, while fine motor work and expressive arts give children other ways to investigate and participate. Adults join children’s chosen play and introduce opportunities to extend it. Washable classroom floors support messy activities, and hoist tracking in EYFS rooms provides a concrete adaptation for physical needs.
Total Communication is the named approach to helping children understand and express themselves through methods suited to them. Twinkl phonics is taught in early years, with the initial phase concentrating on listening and speaking. Baseline assessment takes place during the first half-term, and learning journeys connect progress with individual EHCP outcomes.
Learning needs closer scrutiny. In June 2025, the early years curriculum lacked clarity, leaving some tasks insufficiently challenging or purposeful. Inspectors required clearer learning sequences and better staff guidance: children risked covering material again unnecessarily or meeting ideas in an unhelpful order. This also complicated accurate assessment and work to identify and address gaps in learning. Staff also needed more direction on using equipment to develop children’s movement, language and play. Ask how an activity builds on your child’s existing skills and what adults are helping them learn next.
Settling starts with understanding family life. New pupils receive home visits, and parents contribute to a learning journey that shares goals and recognises small steps. Teaching assistants work within a team arrangement intended to maintain continuity during staff absence; induction includes competency checks.
Communication Passports record preferred ways of communicating for children who need them. They are updated in June for class changes in July, making this a useful bridge between teams. Families can communicate through home-school diaries, telephone calls and meetings. Care plans are developed with parents, the school nurse and health professionals, so medical routines can be coordinated with education.
Hot lunches are supplied by Edwards and Blake. Children needing an adapted menu because of an allergy, intolerance or medical condition can use the Medical Diet Request Form. This gives families a specific route for arranging dietary support before meals become part of the day.
Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Reception admission is separate from nursery admission. Here, special-school placements follow Cambridgeshire Local Authority procedures, with requests and EHCP paperwork directed to the Statutory Assessment Team. Pupils gain no priority through enrolment at particular schools. Families should work with their caseworker on the next placement decision.
Transition support serves a different purpose from admission. Once the academy is named on the EHCP and a place is accepted, the family is contacted to plan the move. Communication Passports also help carry individual communication approaches into a new class.
The whole-school day starts with doors opening at 9.00 and ends at 3.05; break and lunch arrangements differ by key stage. Individual timetables are sent home at the beginning of the academic year. These school hours should be distinguished from an individual nursery attendance arrangement.
Families supply personal hygiene items and spare clothes where needed, and label clothing and belongings. For enquiries, contact the office on 01480 377403 or office@springcommon.cambs.sch.uk. Tours require advance booking through the office and are offered when the Statutory Assessment Team requests a placement and vacancies exist. Ask the school for current meal charges.
Early years activities include tactile and sensory exploration, hydrotherapy, Attention Autism, Forest School, expressive arts and work on movement and fine motor skills.
New pupils receive home visits. Parents also help shape a learning journey that shares aims and records achievement.
No. Reception admission is separate. Special-school placement requests follow Cambridgeshire Local Authority procedures through the Statutory Assessment Team, and enrolment at particular schools gives no priority.
A Medical Diet Request Form is available for children whose allergy, intolerance or medical condition requires an adapted menu. Edwards and Blake provides hot lunches.
Early years provision was judged Requires improvement at the Ofsted inspection on 17 and 18 June 2025. The early years concerns included curriculum clarity and insufficient staff guidance on using equipment to support learning.
