Pooles Park Primary School Nursery

Growing food gives this city nursery a distinctive setting: Pooles Park’s school garden connects children with plants, food and sustainability. Nursery provision sits within the primary school on Lennox Road in Finsbury Park, with both part-time and full-time places. Children can begin in September if their third birthday falls before 31 August. Priority for full-time places depends on age, siblings at the school and whether the child attends another setting.

No Ofsted graded rating yet.

Play shapes the early years approach. Children follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), combining activities guided by adults with play they choose themselves. For the youngest children, planning concentrates on movement, talking and listening, and emotional and social development. Reading and writing, maths, creative expression and learning about the world sit alongside those foundations. The practical aim is to connect learning with children’s interests and their stage of development.

Observation informs what happens next. Staff use children’s achievements, interests and ways of learning to plan subsequent activities, and include observations from families. Tapestry is used to track early years learning and progress. This gives parents’ knowledge of their child a place in planning, rather than treating learning at home and nursery as separate experiences.

The school garden adds a concrete setting for learning about sustainability and growing food. Its Garden Reading Room brings books into that outdoor environment, linking reading for enjoyment with time among plants. Food preparation also features in early years learning: the 2024–2025 cooking programme included Moroccan carrot salad, fruit kebabs and porridge connected with Goldilocks stories. These were practical encounters with ingredients, patterns and storytelling, rather than simply lessons about food.

An early years teacher and a higher level teaching assistant form part of the EYFS team. Across the school, the staffing structure also includes a pastoral care manager, an assistant head teacher for inclusion and bilingual parent support.

Support planning takes account of individual development and interests. Where a child has special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), early years staff consider specialist help and contact relevant outside services where appropriate. This makes a child’s particular needs part of activity planning.

Positive Behaviour Support is the school’s named approach to behaviour. Adults explain and model positive behaviour, then recognise it through praise. The emphasis is on teaching children what to do. Meet-the-teacher sessions for new nursery children took place on 2–3 September 2021.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must submit a separate Reception application through Islington’s normal admissions route, with online applications made through Islington Council. The annual closing date is 15 January. Treat that application as a separate task, even when a child already attends nursery.

Full-time and part-time places provide different attendance options. Nursery applications go directly to the school office, where families can collect a form; a downloadable nursery application form is also offered. Visits can be arranged by contacting the school by phone or email.

Gates open at 8.45am, and nursery home time is 3.20pm. Friday has a different shape: school closes at 12.30pm for home learning. Friday afternoon provision can be requested for children whose parents work or study, with exceptional family circumstances also considered. Families needing that provision apply through the school office. The shorter Friday is a practical consideration when organising childcare around the nursery week.