Cranborne Primary School Nursery

Forest-area creativity, junk models and weekly music give Cranborne’s nursery day a practical flavour. Children have indoor and outdoor learning spaces, with resources that can be used in different ways rather than for a single prescribed task. Their interests help shape the activities.

This is Cranborne Primary School’s own nursery at Laurel Fields in Potters Bar. It takes children aged three who will turn four and are preparing to start Reception the following September. The provision therefore centres on the year before school entry, with a morning session and the option to stay into the afternoon.

Activities cover the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the framework for children’s early learning and development. Planning follows children’s interests while covering its different areas. Creative work gives a concrete picture of that approach: children explore textures and colours, make marks, assemble junk models and build larger constructions. Nursery children have also used the forest area for creative activities, taking this work beyond the classroom.

Making things involves thinking and talking as well as handling materials. In early years design activities, children try scissors and hammers, change materials such as playdough, discuss their plans and adjust what they have made. These are opportunities to practise using tools and explaining an idea. Early mathematics includes sorting, matching and comparing, alongside patterns, counting and exploring shape and measurement.

Charanga’s Creative Curriculum brings a weekly music lesson from Nursery onwards. Singing, listening and playing instruments are part of the approach, giving children another way to participate and express ideas.

In February 2023, Ofsted found that early years children understood routines and expectations, and developed behaviours that supported learning and playing with others. There was also a curriculum concern extending from early years onwards: some subjects lacked precise guidance about essential knowledge and vocabulary, leaving gaps in learning or giving children too much content to remember. This also hindered building on prior learning and accurate assessment of what children knew and could do. For families, that makes the balance between engaging activities and precisely planned learning an important consideration.

Parents can contact the nursery about progress, questions or concerns through its open-door approach. That gives families a direct route to discuss how their child is getting on rather than waiting for a formal meeting.

The school’s inclusion support includes a SENDCo and an Inclusion team, with parent coffee mornings providing opportunities to discuss additional needs. Pastoral support can be tailored through drawing, conversation, games or gardening, giving children different ways to communicate worries. These are school support arrangements rather than a separate nursery service.

For children staying all day, families can choose a school dinner or send a packed lunch. Herts Catering prepares school meals on site, and parents can view menus ahead of time. This makes lunch a practical choice to plan alongside afternoon care.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place at Cranborne. Families must make a separate Reception application through Hertfordshire County Council’s normal admissions route, applying online at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions by the deadline for their entry cycle.

For the past admissions cycle with a January 2026 closing date, the deadline was 15 January 2026. Keep the nursery booking and the Reception application as separate tasks: choosing this nursery is a childcare and early learning decision, not confirmation of a later school place.

The morning session runs from 8.40am to 11:45am. The Wraparound Club covers 11.45am to 3:15pm, with collection from the nursery classroom door. For families who are not eligible for 30 funded hours, afternoon wraparound bookings can be made through the Arbor App. Wraparound bookings must be arranged and paid for ahead of attendance.

Children aged three or four have a 15-hour funded entitlement; eligible families can access 30 hours. Afternoon wraparound care is chargeable for families who do not qualify for 30 hours. Ask the school for current charges when planning the longer day.

Nursery applications go directly to the school using its online form. For enquiries or to arrange a nursery visit, email admissions@cranborne.herts.sch.uk. A visit provides an opportunity to discuss the nursery day before choosing the session pattern that suits your family.