St Stephen's Community Academy Nursery Review

Clay portraits, outdoor exploration and conversations about different families give this nursery a distinctive character: children learn about themselves through things they make and discuss. St Stephen's Community Academy runs its own nursery in Launceston for two-, three- and four-year-olds. In July 2024, the nursery had 30 children on roll; that is an attendance figure for that time, rather than a measure of capacity.

Ofsted judged the school's early years provision Outstanding following its inspection on 3 and 4 July 2024. That judgement covers early years within the school, rather than a separately inspected nursery.

Language and stories are central to the learning. In July 2024, staff's conversations with children developed their language effectively, and storytime brought enjoyment to the day. For a parent, the useful detail is the connection between adult interaction and learning: talking with staff helps children develop the language to describe their ideas and experiences.

Outdoor activity also has a clear purpose. In a Pre-School SCARF activity, children made clay self-portraits while identifying body parts and considering what makes each person different. SCARF brings together Friends, Resilience, Achievement, Caring and Safety. Here, those ideas became something children could handle and talk about, linking creative work with learning about themselves.

The activity led into discussion of family differences and the care families give one another. Exploration using the senses was part of the experience too. This is a concrete example of learning that connects making, conversation and personal understanding, rather than treating them as separate tasks.

Emotional development receives sustained attention alongside learning. In July 2024, early years children were developing confidence and the ability to recover from difficulties. They enjoyed collaborating and talking about their work, with kindness evident in their relationships. Those findings matter for children learning how to join in and work alongside others.

The clay-portrait activity gives another example of this personal focus. Discussions acknowledged that families differ while sharing loving, caring relationships. Respect for those differences gives children a way to understand both their own family and other people's.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions process and meet its deadline. Treat choosing the nursery and applying for school entry as two distinct decisions.

The nursery's work on language, confidence and cooperation provides foundations for later learning. Those developmental benefits are separate from the allocation of Reception places and should not be treated as an admissions advantage.

Pre-school finishes at 3.00pm, earlier than the rest of the school. That difference matters when planning collection, especially for families coordinating children in different classes.

For nursery enquiries, contact the school on 01566 772170 or email ststephens@andaras.org.