St Mary Magdalene Catholic Primary School Nursery Review

Cress seeds, a pretend garden centre and a shoe shop give this nursery’s learning a concrete, playful character. At St Mary Magdalene Catholic Primary School in Greenleys, Milton Keynes, the nursery has its own garden, with the school field also used for outdoor activity. These spaces give children opportunities to explore plants and seasonal change beyond the classroom.

The Catholic school setting matters too. The nursery’s chosen class charity is Action for Children, linking it to the school’s charitable activity.

Growing provides a useful picture of what children actually do. In the nursery’s 2024/2025 growing activities, children planted cress, checked its growth each day and explored how seeds develop roots and shoots. A pretend garden centre extended the theme into play, while planting in the nursery garden gave children real plants to care for. A walk around the school added a search for signs of spring.

The same theme took in human development, from babies through to older people. Children also played shoe shop and measured feet: a practical way to bring measurement into an activity they could recognise. Another account from 2024/2025 describes outdoor time in both the garden and the school field.

The nursery curriculum page identifies the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and includes links for parents supporting maths and phonics. Reading and number are the stronger elements of the early-years curriculum. Ofsted’s inspection on 14 and 15 May 2025 graded early-years provision Requires improvement, while recognising that these two areas gave children secure foundations.

Curriculum development. In May 2025, the broader early-years curriculum lacked a clear sequence for developing knowledge and skills. Activities did not consistently extend learning, and some children made less progress than they could. For parents, the key distinction is between an appealing activity and one that deliberately builds on earlier learning.

Food brought from home must follow the school’s nut-free rule. Products containing nuts, or potentially containing them, must be kept out of children’s lunches because of serious allergies among pupils. This is a practical constraint for lunch preparation.

For additional needs, the school works within Milton Keynes’s mainstream SEND provision and provides a route to its SEND coordinator through the office. Milton Keynes SEND IAS also offers families confidential, impartial advice and support.

Additional support. The May 2025 findings identified school-wide weaknesses in pinpointing individual SEND needs and adapting classroom activities accordingly. Families whose children need support should make these two issues central to their discussion: identifying the precise learning barrier and matching help to it.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. It is not a priority criterion in the admission arrangements shown here, which relate to entry in September 2024. Treat the nursery choice and Reception application as separate decisions.

Those arrangements require a fresh application through the home local authority’s Common Application Form, alongside a school admission form and supporting documents. They give a deadline of 15 January, or the next working day. That is the timetable in those dated arrangements, rather than a confirmed deadline for a later intake.

Nursery application forms are provided in PDF and Word formats through the admissions page. For nursery enquiries, contact the school office on 01908 321746 or email office@st-marymagdalene.milton-keynes.sch.uk. The school is on Ardwell Lane, Greenleys, Milton Keynes, MK12 6AY.

Day-to-day parent enquiries go through the office by telephone. Keeping that route distinct from general email enquiries gives families a clear contact point for routine matters.