Freethorpe Community Primary and Nursery School: Nursery Review

Rhymes and stories give Freethorpe’s nursery its clearest daily character: children begin their reading journey by listening and learning through spoken language. Robin Preschool is the school’s own nursery provision, within Freethorpe Community Primary and Nursery School on The Green in Freethorpe.

The school belongs to AIM Federation. Ofsted judged its early years provision Good at the inspection on 1 and 2 October 2024. That judgement covers the school’s early years provision, rather than a separately inspected nursery.

Learning rhymes and hearing stories are concrete parts of the nursery experience. They put words, sounds and storytelling into children’s day, giving families a clear picture of how early reading begins here. The emphasis is on listening and language.

Across AIM Federation, the curriculum’s stated priorities are access, independence and learning that children remember and use. The federation aims to make inclusion part of everyday teaching and to help children take increasing responsibility for learning. For a nursery family, these are useful priorities to distinguish from an emphasis solely on preparing for formal lessons.

Freethorpe also describes JONK, the Joy of Not Knowing, as an approach that encourages children to enjoy discovering unfamiliar things. Curiosity, reflection and working together are among its learning characteristics. The school’s aim is to make uncertainty part of learning, so encountering something new becomes a starting point for exploration.

Behaviour expectations explicitly take account of preschool children’s developmental stage. Freethorpe’s approach includes recognising positive behaviour through rewards such as certificates and stickers, alongside expectations of fairness and respect. For young children, the relevant distinction is that expectations are linked to development, rather than simply borrowed from older pupils.

Partnership with families is another stated principle. The school sees behaviour and learning as shared work involving children, staff and parents, and says cooperation with families matters to its approach. This gives parents a role in supporting consistent expectations.

At federation level, the SEND team works with teachers, families and external specialists on individual learning plans. Support is organised at universal, targeted and specialist levels. The federation aims to remove obstacles to learning through these different levels of help; families whose children need additional support have an approach centred on individual needs rather than a single standard plan.

Attending Robin Preschool does not guarantee a Reception place. Nursery and Reception applications are separate: preschool applications go to the school office, while families must apply again for Reception through Norfolk County Council using the normal admissions process and deadline.

Keep those two decisions separate when planning your child’s next step. Choosing the nursery concerns their preschool experience; securing a school place requires a further application through the county council.

Applications to Robin Preschool are made directly to the school office. The school’s address is The Green, Freethorpe, Norwich, NR13 3NZ, and its telephone number is 01493700215. This is the direct route for starting a preschool application.