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Nursery at Westwood Farm Infant School
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Inspection data and key information above update regularly, however, this review below is refreshed bi-annually and may not reflect recent changes. Contact the nursery directly to confirm current arrangements. If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
A mud kitchen, a Bug Hotel and a Forest School Area give Westwood Farm’s early years provision a practical, outdoors-facing character. Its nursery is FS1 Carle Class, part of Westwood Farm Infant School in Tilehurst. The emphasis is on exploring, talking and gradually doing more for yourself.
Ofsted judged early years provision Good at the inspection on 28 and 29 November 2023. This is an early years judgement within the school’s inspection, rather than a separate nursery rating. Children’s language development and learning to cooperate were among the early years strengths identified.
Children divide their learning between activities guided by adults and choices they make themselves. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together movement, communication and relationships with early number work, literacy, creativity and understanding the world. Here, exploration gives those areas a practical shape: children investigate, persist when something proves difficult and try out their own ideas.
Inside and outside activities include sensory exploration, miniature-world play and sharing stories. The mud kitchen provides another setting for imaginative play, while the Forest School Area sits at the far end of the field. These are concrete opportunities to learn through handling, experimenting and talking, alongside the adult-guided groups.
Phonics has a nursery-specific starting point. A Flying Start to Letters and Sounds begins with phase one in nursery, helping children notice differences between sounds through multisensory activities. Music and storytelling support that work. The emphasis at this stage is listening and communication, giving children foundations for later reading.
In November 2023, early years children developed their communication through plentiful vocabulary and practised playing together. Healthy eating was also part of their learning. Everyday social skills therefore sit alongside the beginnings of literacy.
Before joining, early years children are invited for transition visits, and families are offered an initial school tour. Parents are also invited to an information meeting. This gives children some familiarity with the setting and gives adults a chance to discuss the move before attendance begins.
For children needing additional support, Foundation Stage staff use communication boards and visual prompts showing what happens now and next. Nursery children on the SEND register may have a Support and Achievement Play Plan (SAPP), with agreed targets reviewed each term. Parents help agree those plans, so support connects what happens at home with learning in the setting.
The Foundation Stage food arrangements include morning fruit, and children bring a named water bottle. School lunches are cooked on site, with packed lunches another option. Under the nursery admissions policy, children who qualify for free school meals and receive their funded entitlement on both sides of lunchtime are eligible for a free meal.
Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate school application through the normal local authority process and meet its timetable. The school directs parents to the council to which they pay council tax, with routes through West Berkshire or Reading Borough.
Transition support is a separate matter. Summer transition days and meetings between teachers help pass information to the next class. Children needing extra preparation may receive additional classroom visits, social stories or a booklet about their new class. Those arrangements support familiarity; they do not secure admission.
The nursery follows West Berkshire Council’s nursery admissions policy. Parents can register interest from their child’s second birthday, but allocation requires a completed nursery application form. An offered place must be accepted within two weeks.
The policy allows a core entitlement of up to 15 or 30 hours a week, with allocation subject to available hours; flexibility requires agreement with the parent. Additional sessions may carry charges and can be withdrawn if another child needs them for their core entitlement. Contact the school for current charges.
A school-run breakfast club caters specifically for nursery children. For enquiries, contact the infant office at officeinfants@westwoodfarmschools.w-berks.sch.uk or 01189 426113.
No. Nursery and Reception applications are separate, and school places are allocated under the school admissions policy through the local authority process.
Children work on phase one of A Flying Start to Letters and Sounds, using multisensory activities to distinguish sounds, alongside music and storytelling.
The early years provision includes a mud kitchen, a Bug Hotel and the Forest School Area at the end of the field.
Support can include communication boards, visual routines and a Support and Achievement Play Plan with targets agreed with parents and reviewed termly.
Contact the infant office on 01189 426113 or email officeinfants@westwoodfarmschools.w-berks.sch.uk. Families are offered an initial tour, and nursery applications require the appropriate form.
