Hallfield Primary School Nursery Review

Hatching chicks and growing beans give Hallfield’s early learning a practical character. This nursery at Hallfield Primary School in Bayswater caters for children aged two to four, with Orange for two-year-olds and Elm for three-year-olds. There is also Acorns, the specialist nursery provision for autistic children aged three to four or children of that age awaiting diagnosis, with capacity for eight pupils. These are distinct parts of the early years provision.

Children’s interests help shape learning. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum here connects books and rhymes with experiences children can investigate directly: tending caterpillars, planting cress and watching chicks hatch. That gives children something concrete to observe and talk about. The curriculum overview also includes an autumn outing to Hyde Park and a visit to Paradise Wild life park, taking exploration beyond the classroom.

In July 2023, Ofsted found that nursery children, including two-year-olds, explored word sounds through stories and rhymes. The emphasis is on listening to language before formal phonics begins. The same inspection called for greater consistency in the school’s newly introduced phonics approach; that was a wider school improvement point, rather than a criticism specifically of nursery rhyme and story work.

Acorns has a different classroom arrangement for its specialist purpose. Visual prompts, work stations and sensory circuit equipment support individual learning needs, while a sensory room and soft play provide spaces for planned sensory and communication activities. These facilities belong to the specialist provision.

Nursery nurses form part of the staffing team. For Acorns, specialist teaching and teaching assistants trained in autism strategies sit alongside input from speech and language, occupational and music therapists. The SCERTS framework supports communication and emotional regulation; PECS uses pictures to support communication, and TEACCH is another named approach. Individual programmes allow support to be organised around each child’s needs.

Parents can raise concerns with their child’s teacher or the Inclusion Team. Hallfield’s SEND support follows an Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle, with parents involved in termly discussions about progress and adjustments. This gives families a recurring opportunity to review how support is working. Early years open days also let parents see classrooms and learn more about classroom activities.

Attending Hallfield’s nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through the normal primary admissions process, handled by the Westminster Admissions Team, using eAdmissions and meeting the deadline for their application year. Nursery entry is handled by the school, so completing that process does not replace the Reception application.

For children receiving SEND support, transition arrangements include passing information between staff about learning needs, progress and strategies already in use. That continuity concerns support for the child; it does not establish an admissions advantage.

Part-time nursery attendance totals 15 hours a week, with morning sessions from 8:40am to 11:40am or afternoons from 12:30pm to 3:30pm. Full-time attendance is 32.5 hours weekly, following the 8:55am to 3:25pm school day. The afternoon session finishes later than the full-time day, a detail that matters for collection arrangements.

Parents take nursery children to their classrooms and collect them there. Another responsible adult must be over 16, and the school must be told when someone else will collect.

For two-year-olds, Hallfield offers both paid places and eligibility-dependent funded places covering 15 weekly hours. Contact the school office for an appointment about nursery entry and current charges. Application forms for the nursery can be obtained from the school or downloaded through its admissions page.