Gilmour Primary School Nursery

A Nursery garden, stories that launch new topics and a five-day routine give Gilmour’s nursery its shape. There are 26 places, with children joining in September after their third birthday. This is the school’s own provision, within its Infant Department on Southbank Road in Garston, Liverpool.

The attendance model is a substantial practical consideration: children attend for 30 hours each week during term time. For families seeking a consistent school-week routine, that gives a clear pattern around which to organise childcare.

From 9am to 3pm, the day combines activities led by teachers with learning through play. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) focuses here on talking and understanding language, physical development, and learning to manage feelings and relationships. In parent terms, learning to express an idea and getting along with others sit alongside developing movement skills.

CUSP Early Years supplies the planning framework. New topics start with a story selected from the Reading Spine, introducing ideas and vocabulary that adults develop through activities and conversations during play. Children learn indoors and outdoors. The Nursery garden has also been used for sliding, giving a concrete example of movement within the outdoor environment.

Early reading begins with listening and joining in. Read Write Inc. brings together songs, poems, rhymes and stories; children practise saying sentences and inventing stories through planned conversation. Picture prompts help introduce letter sounds, while Fred Talk games introduce blending sounds aloud. Pencil grip and letter formation are taught too. These are specific beginnings to reading and writing.

Practical exploration adds another strand. In May 2024, nursery children investigated where minibeasts live. Such an activity connects observation with learning about living things, giving children something concrete to discuss.

Lunch is a shared part of the routine: nursery children eat together in the school dinner hall. Families can choose a charged school meal or send a packed lunch. Food For Thought provides the school lunches, and nursery children receive fresh fruit each day; school milk is free for children under five. That gives families a choice over the main meal while keeping lunchtime communal.

For contact with the EYFS team, parents send messages through the school office. Additional needs have a departmental contact too: the Infant Department has its own SEND coordinator, reachable through the school telephone menu.

Support follows Assess, Plan, Do and Review, with parents involved in addressing barriers to learning. Where additional intervention is needed, classroom adjustments or small-group support may be reviewed after a period usually lasting 6–10 weeks. This gives families a defined point at which staff consider whether the support is helping and what should happen next.

Attending Gilmour’s nursery does not guarantee a Reception place at Gilmour Primary School. Parents must make a separate application to Liverpool City Council. Treat that as a distinct application, even if your child is already attending nursery: the nursery place does not replace the Reception admissions process.

Nursery attendance is required on five days each week, with six-hour days from 9am to 3pm. Gates open at 8:40am. This is term-time provision, so families need to plan childcare around school holidays.

Universal funding covers 15 hours per week. Families eligible for 30 funded hours must obtain their childcare code in the summer term before 1 September. Without it by that date, the extra 15 hours are charged; families entitled only to 15 funded hours also pay for the additional hours. Contact the school for current charges.

Breakfast Club and After School Club are open to nursery children, with separate applications and advance booking required. Nursery enquiries go to the Infant Department office on 0151 427 6306. Uniform includes a white polo shirt, grey trousers or a grey skirt or pinafore, and a navy jumper or cardigan. Black shoes have velcro fastenings, with no laces, and belongings should be labelled.