Arbourthorne Community Primary School Nursery

Growing vegetables, inventing stories and making things on a large scale give Arbourthorne’s nursery its character. This is a nursery class within Arbourthorne Community Primary School on Eastern Avenue in Sheffield, with learning connected to the wider school’s grounds and creative work.

Ofsted graded early years provision Good at the inspection of 18 and 19 October 2022. That judgement covers the school’s early years provision rather than a separately inspected nursery.

Talk is a clear thread through the day. In October 2022, adults modelled conversation and attentive listening, using rhymes and stories to prompt children to explain their play and learning. Assessment needed further development so that children explored the different classroom learning areas and progressed through play. This matters alongside the appealing activities: participation needs to translate into learning for each child.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum combines planned activities with learning sparked by children’s interests. Arbourthorne’s Connected curriculum brings together goals such as Creating, Communicating and Growing. In everyday terms, that means making, talking and investigating, with the school aiming to expand children’s vocabulary and confidence in expressing themselves.

Helicopter stories give children material to perform, alongside poems and songs. The Maker curriculum introduces tinkering and practical problem-solving, while painting and construction can happen on a large scale. An artist in residence supports language through creative work, giving children something concrete to discuss as they experiment.

Outside, the polytunnel brings food growing into learning. Children explore fruit and vegetables, green space and trees, with balance bikes, trikes and scooters adding opportunities to practise movement. Visits within Sheffield and to the local park extend these experiences beyond the school grounds. Red Robin House, a converted property used for life skills, includes nursery-age learning in cooking, growing food and sustainable living. Practical experiences give conversation a purpose.

Support sits within a wider school team that includes three trained special educational needs coordinators. The school uses parent referrals, staff observations and information from previous settings when identifying additional needs. For families, this makes their knowledge of the child part of the assessment process rather than treating classroom observations in isolation.

A lunch interval sits between the nursery’s morning and afternoon periods. Across the school, children are offered free fruit and bagels in the yard at the start of the day.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through Sheffield City Council’s school-place application route and meet the normal deadline. Treat choosing the nursery and applying for Reception as two separate decisions.

The nursery timetable runs from 8:30 to 11:30 in the morning, followed by lunch from 11:30 to 12:10. The afternoon period runs from 12:10 to 3:10. These are the nursery’s own times, so use them when planning collection and travel.

For nursery enquiries, contact the school office on 0114 2398163 or email enquiries@arbourthorne.sheffield.sch.uk. The school is on Eastern Avenue, Sheffield, S2 2GQ.