Yeoman Park Academy Nursery Review

Communication, sensory exploration and growing independence shape the early learning offer at Yeoman Park Academy. Provision starts from age three within a special school serving children with severe and complex learning difficulties, including profound and multiple needs. The youngest learners belong within a wider structure organised around individual needs, rather than age alone.

Discoverers supports primary-aged children, typically aged three to eleven; Explorers accommodates children with profound and multiple learning difficulties from three onwards. These are wider departments, not nursery-only classes. At the Ofsted inspection on 14 and 15 January 2025, early years had too few children for a separate judgement or account of its provision without risking their identification.

Practical learning gives the curriculum its shape. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) contributes to the academy's approach alongside EQUALs and Launchpad for Literacy. Learning connects communication, creativity and understanding the surrounding world with thinking skills and personal, social and emotional development. Activities revisit skills in different situations, giving children repeated opportunities to practise rather than expecting a single experience to establish a skill.

Within Discoverers, communication and interaction sit alongside learning to manage emotions and become more independent. Children are grouped with their communication needs and learning profiles in mind. That makes the child's way of engaging with an activity an important part of classroom organisation.

For Explorers learners, the physical environment includes sensory rooms, outdoor learning areas and soft play. A hydrotherapy pool and rebound therapy room support physiotherapy needs. These facilities belong to that department's provision; access is relevant to a child's needs and placement. Its learning approach uses practical exploration through the senses, allowing physical experience to contribute to learning.

Each Discoverers and Explorers class has a teacher supported by at least two teaching assistants. Personal care and healthcare assistants also work across these departments. This team structure brings teaching and care into the same departmental provision, with additional roles addressing individual care needs.

Settling starts before the child joins. After an offer, a personalised transition programme involves the family and, where applicable, the existing placement. Visits become longer and more frequent as the programme develops, with staff from the existing placement supporting them. Children can therefore build familiarity gradually.

Within seven weeks of joining, an assessment leads to interim learning targets linked to the child's Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). A meeting during the first term gives families an opportunity to discuss settling. The sequence connects preparation before entry with a conversation after the child has begun attending.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Yeoman Park uses a specialist placement process: Nottinghamshire County Council's Integrated Children's Disability Service (ICDS) allocates places, and children attending have an EHCP. The application process is the same regardless of the child's age.

Families should use that placement route for Reception, keeping the admissions decision separate from settling and classroom familiarity. The academy considers whether it can meet the child's needs and whether an appropriate class has space; ICDS confirms the placement decision.

Visits can be booked through the academy office on 01623 459540 or at office@yeomanpark-ac.org.uk, provided the child has an EHCP or an application for one is underway. This gives eligible families an opportunity to meet the setting before a placement decision.

Uniform is encouraged but optional. Choices include a blue or white polo shirt and a dark blue sweatshirt or cardigan; an academy logo is optional too. The academy is on Park Hall Road in Mansfield Woodhouse. A small car park serves staff and visitors, with roadside parking also on Park Hall Road.