Bygrove Primary School Nursery Review

A digging area, a performance stage and woodland learning give Bygrove’s nursery day several different directions to take. This is the nursery within Bygrove Primary School on Bygrove Street in Poplar, part of its Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Nursery children have their own classroom and also learn alongside Reception children, indoors and outdoors. Shared learning is part of the everyday arrangement.

Ofsted graded the school’s early years provision Outstanding at the inspection on 15 and 16 November 2023. That judgement covers the early years provision within the school, rather than a separately inspected nursery.

The EYFS brings together learning to communicate, move and manage feelings with early reading, mathematics, creativity and discovering how the world works. Children choose equipment and activities, discuss their ideas and practise taking turns. These choices give them opportunities to work independently as well as with adults and other children.

Termly themes connect the activities. Families & Celebrations explores festivals in autumn; Let’s Play & Pretend brings toy-making and construction into spring. Moving On turns attention to transport and how creatures move in summer, alongside preparation for changing classes. There are tangible things to investigate, make and talk about.

Books feature indoors and outside. Daily reading together introduces children to handling books, while rhyming and recognising everyday sounds build early listening skills. Mathematics includes sorting objects, spotting patterns and singing counting songs. In November 2023, nursery children were recognising numerals and exploring number combinations with equipment; making bird seed cakes was another activity that motivated their learning.

Physical play includes bikes, football and a climbing frame. The digging area gives children opportunities to discover and identify minibeasts, while the performance stage provides a place for singing and dancing. Cooking, sewing and junk modelling add further ways to use tools and materials. Weekly Forest School takes learning to woodland near the school, extending exploration beyond the classroom.

A gentle beginning to the session, with familiar adults and classmates, formed part of the nursery’s 2022 day pattern. Learning then moved between carpet sessions, play and activities led by adults. This combines group time with opportunities to explore the setting.

Parents can join nursery Stay and Play on Fridays, 9.20am to 10.45am, and bring younger siblings. Borrowable toy packs extend that shared play at home. Speech and language support also has an early years focus: a therapist works two days a week, predominantly with foundation-stage and Year 1 children, and trains teaching teams. The school building is accessible to pupils with physical disabilities.

At lunchtime, hot food includes vegetable, fish and meat choices, with halal food throughout. Fruit and salads accompany the meals, and packed lunches are another option. Foundation-stage children receive free fruit throughout the day; milk and water are also provided for early years pupils.

Learning alongside Reception children gives nursery pupils familiarity with the shared early years setting. The summer Moving On theme also includes preparing for a different class in September. These are transition experiences, rather than an admissions advantage.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions route. Reception admissions are handled by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, through Pupil Services or its online application route.

Morning nursery runs from 9.15am to 12.15pm; afternoons run from 12.30pm to 3.30pm. The full-time day is 9.15am to 3.30pm, with lunch between 11.45am and 12.15pm. Those different lengths matter when matching nursery to family routines.

For nursery enquiries, contact the school office. The current general contact email is admin@bygrove.org.uk, and the office telephone is 0207 538 4925.

The school’s compulsory uniform uses bottle green alongside white, grey and black. Shirts can be white or grey, with green knitwear or a sweatshirt and grey or black skirts or trousers.