Berry Hill Primary School Nursery Review

Listening comes before letters at Berry Hill: nursery children begin with sound games, rhyme and spoken words through Little Wandle’s Foundations for Phonics. This gives the provision a clear character, with communication running through both early reading and the school’s approach to classroom talk.

The nursery is known as F1 and forms part of Berry Hill Primary School on Black Scotch Lane in Mansfield. Families can choose a morning, afternoon or full-day pattern. The school describes its values as kindness, effort and bravery, giving children simple ideas to practise alongside their learning.

Little Wandle’s Tuning into Sounds and Rhyme Time activities build listening skills before children tackle written letters. Children explore noises from their surroundings, instruments and their own voices, alongside body percussion and rhyming. The point is to hear differences and describe them, rather than rush straight to reading.

Oral blending brings separate sounds together into a word; segmenting breaks a spoken word into its sounds. These are nursery learning goals. Children who are ready can progress to Phase 2, linking sounds with letters, but readiness in Phase 1 comes first. Families should speak with the teacher before starting that next phase at home.

The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum uses Development Matters, linking early learning with the school’s later Create, Discover and Explore projects. Spoken language has its own named approach too: Berry Hill is a Voice 21 school, with speaking and listening teaching sequenced from nursery onwards. For parents, this means talk is something children practise deliberately, alongside learning to recognise sounds.

In May 2025, Ofsted identified planned early-years learning and children developing the confidence to discuss number ideas. That gives a concrete example of how vocabulary supports understanding: children learn to explain their mathematical thinking.

A class teacher and teaching assistants work regularly with nursery children. Parents can approach the nursery team directly or make contact through the office. Email and ClassDojo carry teacher messages, while Dojo also lets families see their child’s rewards. There are several ways to keep a conversation going.

For additional needs, the SENCo is reachable through the office email, and the school has a support group for parents of children with SEND. Each classroom also has a worry box, providing a physical place for children to share a concern alongside talking to an adult.

Full-day children have a lunch interval from 11:45am to 12:30pm. Prescribed medicine requires an office discussion and a permission form; medicines administered are recorded. Families should keep the school informed about medical conditions so care needs can be discussed with staff.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions process and meet its deadline. Nottinghamshire County Council is the contact for school admission arrangements; Berry Hill manages its own F1 admissions separately. Treat the nursery decision and the Reception application as two distinct steps.

Morning sessions run from 8:45am to 11:45am, afternoons from 12:30pm to 3:30pm, and the full day from 8:45am to 3:30pm. Nursery doors open between 8:45am and 8:55am, then between 3:20pm and 3:30pm. Those short windows matter when planning the journey.

Contact the school office on 01623 478477 or office@berryhill.notts.sch.uk for nursery enquiries. Family visits are welcomed and can be arranged through the office. School uniform includes a blue cardigan or jumper, which can have the logo or be plain, with a white or blue shirt or polo shirt. Black shoes are expected; entirely black trainers are also accepted.