Iqra Primary School Nursery Review

Storytelling and practical number activities give Iqra’s Summer 2 nursery programme its character. This is the nursery class within Iqra Primary School in Clapham, where an Islamic ethos shapes the school’s identity. Iqra asks families to support that religious character, making the fit between home and school an important consideration.

Learning starts with doing. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the framework for children’s development up to age five, is taught through play and practical activity. Its learning areas bring together physical and social development, language, literacy, mathematics, creative work and understanding the world. Indoor and outdoor learning both form part of the approach, with social interaction an explicit priority.

The nursery’s Summer 2 learning programme centres on storytelling: children act out events, revisit a narrative and join in recurring phrases. Creative activities and outdoor exploration extend that work beyond listening to a book. These give children different ways to practise language and express what they understand.

Mathematics is similarly concrete. Children investigate how numbers up to 5 fit together, compare measurements and explore the order of daily events. Shape work includes rectangles and triangles; positional language helps them describe where objects sit. The emphasis is on using mathematical ideas during practical tasks.

Sound blending features in the nursery’s phonics work, while the Summer 2 PE programme focuses on ball handling. Tuesday is the PE day for that programme. Together, these activities connect early reading practice with opportunities to develop physical control.

In June 2024, Ofsted found that early-years children received effective help with vocabulary, including learning about continents and oceans. Communication and language also had a central role in early-years learning. That gives parents a concrete example of the language emphasis extending into knowledge about the wider world.

Relationships and routines matter alongside learning. In October 2025, the nursery described children becoming familiar with routines, building relationships with adults and peers, and practising cooperative play and turn-taking. This is a dated picture of settling, rather than a promise about how quickly another child will adjust.

Parents are invited to raise questions or concerns directly with nursery staff. The school also has a special educational needs coordinator, providing an identifiable role for discussions about additional needs.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must apply separately through the normal admissions process and meet the applicable deadline.

Under the 2024/25 arrangements, attending the nursery was not an oversubscription criterion. The Reception process required a Common Application Form returned to the local authority and a separate Supplementary Information and Imam’s Declaration Form returned to the school. Familiarity with Iqra therefore should not be treated as an admissions entitlement: choosing the nursery and securing a Reception place are separate decisions.

Nursery applications use a nursery application form. Enquiries go to the school office at admin@iqra.lambeth.sch.uk or 020 7622 3630. The school is at 127 Park Hill, Clapham, London SW4 9PA.

Uniform is compulsory across the school. The Iqra-logo jumper or cardigan, logo book bag and PE jogging bottoms must be bought from Wearabouts. Other items can be bought from another retailer. For the nursery’s Summer 2 Tuesday PE lessons, children are asked to wear their PE kit, so clothing needs to match the activity planned for that day.