Pennyman Primary Academy Nursery

Play, conversation and an assessment nursery for children with additional needs give Pennyman’s nursery provision its character. Part of Pennyman Primary Academy on Fulbeck Road in Middlesbrough, it sits within Tees Valley Education. Nursery admission starts on or after a child’s third birthday, as places become available.

Alongside the mainstream provision, Pennyman’s specialist unit includes an assessment nursery running over five mornings. Its specialisms include physical and complex medical needs, sensory processing, and speech and language difficulties with associated learning needs. Families considering this provision should distinguish the specialist assessment arrangement from the mainstream nursery offer.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) combines children’s development and care with their early learning. Tees Valley Education’s approach brings planned play together with direct teaching, drawing on Development Matters and Birth to Five. Children have opportunities to test ideas, talk about discoveries and return to an activity. Repetition has a purpose: it gives them another chance to develop their understanding.

Learning areas allow children to choose what to explore, with activities connected across the indoor and outdoor environments. The curriculum covers language and communication, physical development and relationships alongside mathematics, literacy, creative expression and understanding the world. This makes the day broader than preparation for reading and writing alone.

Communication is a stated curriculum priority. The trust aims to help children express themselves more clearly, while also developing independence and the ability to manage their feelings. Its reading approach uses texts linked to writing and includes poetry, factual books and fiction, giving children different kinds of language to encounter.

In February 2023, Ofsted found that children learned well through the early years curriculum. Opportunities to explore early mathematical ideas and activities inside and outside supported their development across learning areas. Those findings concern early years within the school; they are not a separate nursery grade.

Before starting, families can visit the nursery together. This gives children an opportunity to become familiar with the setting before admission, while parents receive information about joining.

Additional support follows an assess, plan, do and review cycle across Tees Valley Education’s academies. Teaching is adapted, with targeted help in class and further interventions where children need them. For families, the cycle means support is reviewed rather than treated as a fixed arrangement. Each academy also has a pastoral and welfare team, working with parents, specialist staff and professional organisations to prioritise children needing help.

Oral hygiene was an early years priority in February 2023. Behaviour arrangements also included adaptations for younger children, recognising that the same school expectations need an approach suited to their stage of development.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Parents must make a separate formal application through the local authority’s common application form, and the local authority allocates places. Treat the nursery choice and the Reception application as separate decisions.

Transition activities help children become familiar with the next stage: classroom visits, assemblies, school lunchtimes and other school routines form a planned programme. Parents are invited to short information meetings before their children start and must attend the transition visits before their child is admitted. These activities support familiarity; they do not secure admission.

For nursery enquiries, contact Pennyman on 01642 314750 or pennyman@teesvalleyeducation.co.uk. Families can arrange an appointment with the academy before making a preference, and a nursery visit is offered before admission.

The specialist assessment nursery’s five-morning pattern belongs to the unit provision. Children accessing that provision have an education, health and care plan or are progressing through the EHC pathway; significant physical or medical needs require professional medical evidence and a personal healthcare plan.