Altmore Infant School Nursery Review

Green, Red and Blue rooms give Altmore’s nursery its own identity within a shared infant-school site in East Ham. Pre-School provision and a Children’s Centre sit alongside it. For families, the distinctive feature is that early learning and family support share a location, with specialist sensory provision and soft play also on site.

The nursery belongs to Altmore Infant School rather than operating as a separate setting. At the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted graded the school’s early years provision Good. That judgement covers early years within the school; it is not a separate nursery rating.

Songs, stories and rhymes are concrete ingredients of early learning here. In June 2023, children in early years were building listening and language through these activities, developing across the learning areas and gaining independence and confidence with staff support. The emphasis gives parents something more useful than a promise of school readiness: communication and increasing independence are part of the learning itself.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) assessment areas span physical development, mathematics, literacy, communication, emotional and social development, creative expression and understanding the world. In parent language, staff look beyond letters and numbers to how children communicate, develop physically and relate to others. Nursery curriculum information is organised separately for Green Room and for Red and Blue rooms, giving families a room-specific starting point for following learning.

Assessment also informs subsequent teaching. Pupil Progress Meetings consider learning gaps, children needing additional help and possible referrals to learning support services. Staff plan targeted intervention rather than simply recording attainment.

Curriculum sequencing. In June 2023, some subjects lacked sufficiently coherent planning, and children in early years were among those retaining too little essential knowledge. The improvement priority was to connect learning more consistently so children could use earlier knowledge in later work. This is a material qualification to the positive early-years findings.

Starting nursery involves separating from family, and Altmore treats that transition as part of its provision. Staff get to know children and their families, adapt resources to individual needs and plan continuity between stages. For parents, the relevant focus is how a child’s needs shape the move into nursery, rather than treating settling as a single first-day event.

Specialist sensory provision and the Children’s Centre’s soft play add concrete resources to the site. A SEND Lead Practitioner supports targeted strategies and staff training for individual children. These arrangements make inclusion a question of resources and adaptations as well as classroom participation.

Beyond the nursery, Altmore and Oliver Thomas Children’s Centres work together across East Ham. Their family learning sessions, workshops and advice are aimed at Newham families with children aged zero to five, extending the support available around early childhood.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions process and meet its deadline.

Altmore plans continuity as children move from nursery into Reception, with staff adapting resources and responding to individual needs. That transition work concerns children’s experience of the change; it does not secure admission.

The nursery is part of the school site on Altmore Avenue, East Ham, London E6 2BX. For nursery enquiries, contact the school office on 020 8472 3555 or email info@altmore.newham.sch.uk.