Fountaindale School Nursery Review

Play and highly individual targets shape the early years at Fountaindale. This is nursery provision within a special school admitting children from age three, serving pupils with profound and multiple learning needs alongside complex medical, physical and sensory needs. The starting point is each child's development.

Early years practitioners work within a team trained to support medical needs. Children can draw on the Pre-formal, Semi-Formal or formal curricula according to their needs, rather than following an identical programme. Ofsted judged early years provision Good at the inspection on 13 and 14 May 2025, finding that individual targets and exploration prepared children well for later learning.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) takes practical form through play, communication and movement. In Communication and Literacy, children practise attention, listening and expressing themselves through speech or non-verbal interaction. Cognition and Numeracy introduces shapes and numbers through play and objects children can handle. These are opportunities to practise skills in meaningful activity.

Creativity brings dance, drama, music and making into that learning. Exploration uses small-world activities and role play to help children investigate how an action produces a result. Under Humankind, sensory play, community exploration and festivals sit alongside learning about body parts and beginning to care for themselves. Rights gives children choices about routines and play, making their preferences part of the day.

Nature includes handling natural materials both outside and indoors. Across the school, physical facilities include sensory spaces and a hydrotherapy pool. Early years physical learning uses sensory exploration and movement with adults, other children and objects to develop coordination, strength and awareness of position.

Settling begins with information sharing. Once Fountaindale is named in a child's Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), a meeting brings together the family and relevant professionals before an individual transition programme is arranged. New pupils start with brief visits, progressing towards whole days and weeks. That gives staff time to understand a child's care and learning needs before attendance builds.

Daily Seesaw messages and a photograph connect families with the class team. Parents can reply about progress or send a direct message, so communication works in both directions. Annual EHCP reviews involve families, professionals and the local authority, with termly reports supporting progress discussions.

Communication support across Fountaindale includes Makaton, Objects of Reference and personalised Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Depending on individual needs, AAC can use symbol cards, eye pointing or eye gaze devices. Expression need not depend on speech. For food support, free school meals depend on qualifying benefits; children under five are entitled to free milk through registration with Cool Milk.

Consistency of support. In May 2025, school-wide improvement priorities included keeping pupils engaged throughout learning, ensuring staff could meet complex needs consistently, and evaluating outcomes more effectively. These were priorities across Fountaindale, rather than findings confined to its nursery; families should discuss how their child's support will be coordinated.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Fountaindale's special-school placement process involves the local authority consulting schools against the child's EHCP or assessment information, with the authority making the final placement decision. Families should discuss the next placement with Nottinghamshire County Council's Integrated Children's Disability Service (ICDS), separately from classroom transition.

Within Fountaindale, children leave early years when ready for a bespoke lower-school pathway class. Teachers exchange learning and care information, and children spend time in their next class before summer where possible. Familiarisation supports the change; it is separate from entitlement to a placement.

Fountaindale is on Nottingham Road in Mansfield. Enquiries go through the contact form or fountaindaleschool@nexusmat.org. Visits are arranged by the leadership team after formal consultation and review of a child's information, if the school considers it may be able to meet their needs.

Transport arrangements form part of planning the start. The local authority arranges transport for most pupils with an EHCP, while some families bring and collect their child themselves. A toddler group also welcomes families of young children with complex needs, including prospective parents, on the first and last Fridays of each calendar month.