Wilton Primary Academy Nursery Review

Play, conversation and growing independence shape the early years approach at Wilton Primary Academy’s nursery in Lazenby. This is the school’s own provision on Pasture Lane, within Tees Valley Education. Children can start on or after their third birthday when a place becomes available.

Wilton’s values include compassion, determination, collaboration and independence. The academy aims to help children develop an appetite for learning alongside academic knowledge. For a nursery child, the trust’s emphasis on making choices and learning through play gives those ambitions a practical starting point.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) covers development and learning from birth to age 5. Tees Valley Education combines planned play with direct teaching, using Development Matters and Birth to Five to support its approach. Learning experiences take account of children’s achievements and individual needs, so planning starts with what a child can already do.

Conversation runs through that approach. Children explore ideas through experiments, observation and questions, returning to activities and discussing them with adults and other children. The emphasis is on taking part and thinking things through. Communication and language sit alongside physical development and personal, social and emotional development, giving attention to speaking, movement, relationships and managing feelings.

Literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts extend that foundation. Number patterns, imaginative activity and creating with materials are among the curriculum’s components. These give children different ways to express ideas and develop understanding.

Across the trust’s early years provision, learning areas connect indoor and outdoor activity, and children have opportunities to choose their play. This makes exploration part of the learning model. In November 2022, Ofsted found that Nursery and Reception children picked up school routines promptly, paid attention and interacted positively with adults and peers. Familiar routines help children participate in a shared day.

Before starting, families have an opportunity to visit the nursery with their child and receive information about joining. That provides a chance to become familiar with the setting together before attendance begins.

Each Tees Valley Education academy has a pastoral and welfare team, directed by its senior leadership team. Children needing additional help can receive support from specialist staff and partner organisations. For special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the trust uses an ASSESS-PLAN-DO-REVIEW cycle: identify needs, plan support, put it into practice and check its effect. This gives additional help a process for review and adjustment.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Parents must apply separately through the local authority’s common application form; the local authority allocates places. Families should treat choosing the nursery and applying for Reception as separate decisions.

Transition preparation includes Reception classroom visits, participation in assemblies and experience of academy lunchtimes and routines. Families are required to attend the transition visits before admission. Parents are invited to short information meetings before their children start. These activities build familiarity; they do not secure admission.

Curriculum continuity. In November 2022, links between early years planning and Year 1 remained unfinished, with inconsistent success in teaching choices. This matters for how children’s learning connects across later stages.

For nursery enquiries, contact Wilton on 01642 453374 or email TVEWilton@tved.org.uk. Families can arrange an appointment with their preferred academy before making a choice. Nursery entry depends on places becoming available, so the opportunity to start on or after a third birthday is conditional on a vacancy.