King's Lander Primary Academy Nursery Review

Acorn Class for two-year-olds and Pine Class for nursery children give King's Lander Primary Academy's early years provision two distinct starting points. Play and conversation shape the learning: children can construct, act out roles and experiment with sand and water. The emphasis is on doing things, with adults helping children put their discoveries into words.

Based on Pennington Road in Litherland, the provision welcomes children from age two. Acorn concentrates on the foundations of language, physical development and relationships before children move into nursery. Pine offers morning and afternoon attendance alongside funded places, giving families different session arrangements within the same school.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework. Its seven learning areas bring together communication, emotional and social development, movement, reading and writing, maths, understanding the world and creative expression. For parents, that means learning extends beyond early letters and numbers to how children talk, play together and use their bodies.

Adult-directed activities sit alongside time for children to choose their own play. Examples across early years include phonics, early reading, number activities and small groups focused on language and thinking. Work on hand control and writing adds another practical strand. These activities introduce skills that children can then use in their play.

Role play creates reasons to talk; construction and small-world activities pose problems to solve. Sand, water and outdoor play also become opportunities to explore maths. Adults observe children, take part in their games and develop the learning through conversation and questions. That gives children's choices a place in the day rather than making every activity an adult's decision.

Getting to know each child and working with families are part of the early years team's approach to settling. The nursery aims to help children feel secure and ready to learn, with relationships providing continuity between home and the setting.

For Acorn families, termly Stay and Play sessions create opportunities to spend time with staff and take ideas for learning back home. Pine has a teaching and support team. A school SEND coordinator provides a point of contact for additional needs, while the school office can direct families seeking wellbeing support to the lead for their child's age group.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through Sefton Council and follow the normal Reception application deadline. Choosing Pine therefore needs to work for the nursery experience itself; a later school place remains a separate admissions decision.

Acorn's two-year-old provision offers 15 hours through afternoon attendance, with sessions running from 12:20pm to 3:20pm. Pine's morning session runs from 9:00am to 11:30am; its afternoon runs from 12:35pm to 3:05pm. Those distinct finishing times matter when arranging collection.

Pine offers 30-hour funded places as well as 15-hour places with morning or afternoon attendance. Nursery applications use a form collected from school reception. For enquiries, contact the school office on 0151 922 5760.