St Leonard's Church of England Primary School Nursery

An environment garden, a library and a sensory room give this part-time nursery a footprint beyond its classroom. Nursery children belong to the early years provision at St Leonard's Church of England Primary School in Streatham, with access to shared school spaces as well as classrooms and outdoor learning areas. The practical distinction is clear: this is a nursery class within a primary school, with school resources contributing to the children's experience.

Play shapes the learning, alongside brief teaching sessions for the class and smaller groups led by adults. Practitioners plan around children's interests, giving them opportunities to try something new and practise developing skills. That combination gives the session both room for exploration and time for focused teaching.

The Early Years Foundation Stage covers seven connected areas. Language and communication, physical development, and children's social and emotional development provide the foundations. Mathematics and literacy sit alongside expressive arts and design and learning about the world. Children work at a level suited to them: the emphasis extends beyond what they learn to how they approach learning.

International Primary Curriculum themes give the year a recognisable shape. Autumn brings Clothes and Family and friends; spring turns to Treasure and Patterns; summer includes Sand and Water and Plants and flowers. These connect physical development, creative learning and understanding the world to concrete subjects that young children can explore. Classrooms and outdoor areas are supplemented by the environment garden, school library and sensory room, broadening the spaces available for learning.

Early reading also has a place in the nursery day. In May 2022, Ofsted found that most nursery children could confidently separate short words into sounds and put those sounds together again. That is a specific foundation for beginning to read, rather than a judgement about the nursery's provision as a whole.

Parents can follow learning through an online journal containing staff observations, photographs and videos. They can also contribute observations from home, which help practitioners decide what a child should work on next. Communication goes both ways. Staff are available for brief conversations at the day's end, with appointments for discussions needing more time.

For children needing additional support, the school's SEND process follows Assess, Plan, Do, Review. It starts with identifying needs early and can include Individual Education Plans. The school works with speech and language therapists, educational psychologists and occupational therapists where appropriate. Interventions are organised through assessment, observation and discussion involving parents and staff, so support responds to the child's needs rather than a single fixed programme.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place and confers no priority under the 2026/27 admission criteria. Families must make a separate application through their home local authority's Common Application Form, naming St Leonard's among their preferences. The application window runs from 1 November to 15 January of the year before the child's fifth birthday.

Applications based on church attendance also require a supplementary information form returned to the school. Without it, the application cannot be considered under the church criteria. For families choosing the nursery with Reception in mind, the distinction matters: the nursery experience and the allocation of a school place are separate decisions.

The nursery operates as a part-time class. Nursery applications use a dedicated application form. For general enquiries, contact the school at mgr@st-leonards.lambeth.sch.uk or telephone 020 8769 2712. Its address is 42 Mitcham Lane, Streatham, London SW16 6NP.