Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School Nursery Review

Counting jumps, making collage puppets and picking up pom-poms with tweezers: early learning here has a practical shape. Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School in Kirkby includes Little Saints, its provision for two-year-olds, alongside the nursery. The youngest children have a two-year-old room within the Foundation Stage provision.

Ofsted judged early years provision Good at the inspection on 7 and 8 January 2025. That judgement covers the school's early years provision, rather than a separately inspected nursery.

Play and communication set the pace. In Little Saints and nursery, the curriculum gives priority to friendships, language, routines and boundaries. Children combine activities guided by adults with play they initiate themselves; a more structured timetable begins when they are ready. This makes readiness, rather than a single pace for everyone, the organising principle.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings learning together across seven areas. Here, Development Matters informs that work. Maths starts with games and songs: Little Saints children explore counting movements and sounds as well as objects. Nursery planning centres on a number each week, connecting it to patterns, shapes and measurement, with opportunities to practise inside and outdoors. Numbers become something children can act out and investigate.

Read Write Inc normally begins formally in the nursery's summer term. Before that, children develop awareness of sounds through rhyme and oral blending, which means joining spoken sounds together. Language also supports imaginative play and conversations with other children. In January 2025, the early years environment supported children's confidence in speaking and listening, while enthusiasm for reading extended into the two-year-old provision.

The nursery's activities give this curriculum concrete form. Children have made puppets from collage materials during learning about themselves, traced each other's outlines outdoors with chalk and used tweezers to place pom-poms on dinosaurs. That last activity combines a child's interest with practice in precise hand movements. Plants, animals and found objects provide starting points for observing and asking questions. Catholic learning has its own place: Come and See is taught from nursery, while Little Saints introduces religious stories and prayers suited to the children.

Settling involves learning how to share play and manage familiar routines. Inspectors found that children settled promptly and developed cooperative play in January 2025. Planning also takes account of individual needs and parents' contributions, linking children's next steps with what families know about them.

For SEND enquiries, families can contact the school's special educational needs coordinator through the office. The school's inclusion approach involves parents and external agencies. Food provision includes afternoon fruit for Foundation Stage children and free milk for children under five, giving younger children a snack and drink within the day.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions process and meet the applicable deadline. Treat that application as a separate decision from choosing nursery: familiarity with the school must not be mistaken for an allocated place.

The school is on Moorfield, Tower Hill, Kirkby, L33 1DZ. Nursery enquiries can go through the school office on 0151 477 8205 or by email to peterandpaul.de@knowsley.gov.uk. Visits can be arranged in advance to see the school working and meet staff. This gives families a direct way to explore the provision before choosing it.