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Nursery at Westfield School
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 If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
Individual learning styles shape the setting around Westfield’s nursery provision. This is part of a maintained special school in Leominster for children and young people with severe and complex learning difficulties, where class organisation takes account of how pupils learn as well as their stage of education. The school describes its ethos as a family atmosphere that values each pupil’s individuality.
The nursery belongs within that specialist school community. For families, the relevant starting point is the child’s learning and care needs, rather than an assumption that children of the same age will follow the same path.
Communication gives the nursery day a concrete focus. At the October 2023 inspection, nursery children joined morning routines alongside other children and developed their communication with peers. Familiar routines provide opportunities to take part with others, making the beginning of the day part of learning itself.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) builds learning through play: children develop communication, movement skills and their ability to understand feelings and relationships. Literacy, maths, exploring the world and creative expression sit alongside those foundations. Westfield’s core curriculum breaks reading, writing and maths into components, with steps drawn from the EYFS and later curricula.
In Hedgehog class, adults teach the whole group, smaller groups and individual children each day. Children also choose their own learning indoors and outdoors, practising skills introduced by adults. Across Westfield, the curriculum aims to accommodate different ways of communicating and learning, with repeated practice and opportunities to use skills beyond the classroom.
The school environment includes a therapy room, a sensory garden and two sensory areas. Its playground has four separate zones, allowing different activities to run alongside space for quieter play. These are school facilities, giving the nursery a specialist setting rather than defining a separate nursery timetable.
Each class has a core group of teaching assistants, with staffing numbers adjusted to individual and group needs. Across Westfield, their work includes communication support, physiotherapy, therapeutic interventions and help during meals and breaks. A family liaison role and a senior instructor for therapies also form part of the school team.
Personalised pathways can incorporate speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy for identified pupils. This makes individual need the condition for those interventions, rather than suggesting that every nursery child receives the same therapy programme.
Lunch has a practical sensory consideration: the youngest pupils eat in their classrooms, while the school divides lunch into separate sittings to limit waiting and sensory overload. Children may bring a packed lunch and eat with peers, or have a catered hot meal. Westfield operates a nut-free rule.
Home-school diaries, parent messages and weekly newsletters provide communication with families. Before admission, transition visits are recommended so children can begin becoming familiar with the setting.
Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Admission to Westfield involves consultation with the local authority SEN team. For children considered for admission, identified learning disabilities must be covered by either an SEN statement or an Education, Health and Care plan. Confirm arrangements for your child’s move to Reception with the school and the SEN team.
Class changes are planned with parents. Children can stay within a grouping for differing periods, and moves involve preparation to help them adjust. That continuity is a transition arrangement, not a promise of admission.
Families can arrange an informal visit without waiting for the local authority to name Westfield. Contact the school on 01568 613147 or email admin@westfield.hereford.sch.uk to make an enquiry.
For hot lunches, orders go through the Sodexo Parent Portal and must be submitted by midday on the preceding day. That advance ordering requirement matters when organising meals around appointments or changes to attendance.
No. Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. School admission involves consultation with the local authority SEN team; confirm your child’s Reception arrangements with that team and Westfield.
Communication through morning routines is one evidenced part of nursery learning. Westfield’s core curriculum also breaks learning into steps drawn from the EYFS and the curricula for later stages.
The youngest pupils eat in their classrooms. Packed lunches are permitted, and catered hot meals can be ordered through the Sodexo Parent Portal by midday on the previous day.
Communication includes home-school diaries, weekly newsletters and parent messages. The school also has a family liaison role.
Yes. Informal family visits can be arranged without waiting for the local authority to name Westfield. Call 01568 613147 or email admin@westfield.hereford.sch.uk.
