Heighington Church of England Primary School Nursery

Play and conversation give Heighington's nursery its character: children learn alongside one another, with opportunities to expand their vocabulary. Provision for three-year-olds opened at the beginning of autumn term 2024, bringing nursery education into this Church of England primary school near Newton Aycliffe.

A nursery teacher sits within a team that also includes an early years lead with responsibility for special educational needs. The school says it values each child's individuality and encourages children to recognise their own talents and appreciate other people's. That gives families a clear sense of its intended approach to early learning.

Morning, afternoon and whole-day sessions provide different ways to organise attendance. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) includes communication and language alongside literacy and mathematics, so early learning extends beyond academic work.

In February 2025, children across Nursery and Reception worked cooperatively with adults and their peers, played successfully together and had plentiful opportunities to build vocabulary. Early years learning was planned exceptionally carefully. For a nursery child, these findings point to learning through interaction as well as the activities adults organise.

Relationships also shape the school's approach to behaviour. The school describes relational practice as central, with kindness, honesty, forgiveness, respect and safety guiding its expectations. These give adults and children a shared language for learning to get along.

Challenge in learning. In February 2025, a school-wide improvement requirement concerned assessment in a few subjects: some pupils needed to move to harder work sooner. This was not identified specifically as a nursery weakness, so families should keep its scope distinct from the early years findings.

Settling received positive recognition in February 2025: parents valued the help children received to make the adjustment to school. That matters for families facing their child's first experience of a school setting.

For children with additional needs, staff discuss concerns with parents before involving the SEND coordinator with parental permission. Support can include visual prompts, changes to the classroom layout, Speech and Language Intervention or Occupational Therapy sessions. The appropriate response depends on the individual child.

Support Plans are discussed termly by the teacher and SEND coordinator, and parents receive a copy with an opportunity to add their views. Children on the SEND Register have a key worker for pastoral support; this can be their teacher or a nominated teaching assistant. This arrangement applies to those children rather than establishing a nursery-wide key-person model.

Physical care has practical provision too. The Foundation Stage classroom has a nursery toilet equipped with two handrails, and ramp access. For medical needs, an individual Care Plan can identify treatment arrangements and the staff responsible, helping families and school agree how care will work.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions route by the applicable deadline. Choosing the nursery and applying for school are separate decisions; familiarity with the setting should not be mistaken for an admission entitlement.

The nursery timetable introduced in September 2025 gives morning sessions as 9:00am to noon, afternoon sessions as noon to 3:00pm, and whole days as 9:00am to 3:00pm. Nursery wraparound care runs daily from 7:45am to 9:00am and from 3:00pm to 5:30pm. Those additional periods extend the possible care day beyond the nursery sessions.

For enquiries, contact the school office on 01325 300326. Parents seeking SEND support can also contact the office at office@heighingtonprimary.org.uk to reach the SEND coordinator.