Lowedges Primary Academy Nursery Review

A performance stage, a Creation station and daily Dough Disco give this nursery its character: children have places to make things, tell stories and practise the small movements that writing needs. FS1 is the nursery within Foundations@Lowedges, Lowedges Primary Academy’s early years unit in Sheffield. Children can join once they are three.

Early years provision received a Good judgement at the Ofsted inspection on 7 and 8 June 2023. That judgement covers the school’s early years provision, rather than a separate nursery inspection. The early years findings highlighted carefully sequenced learning and a shared understanding among adults of the vocabulary children should acquire.

Play provides the main shape of provision time, with teaching led by adults alongside activities children choose themselves. The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum covers seven learning areas; in practice, the nursery combines conversation, stories, creative work and exploration, with learning both outside and indoors. Activities respond to children’s interests as well as the topic being taught. This gives children room to pursue an idea while adults introduce the next learning step.

Creation station provides painting, cutting and drawing opportunities. Blocks and vehicles support construction, while the changing Small world area gives children materials for inventing stories. Instruments and a stage make the Music area a place to perform. Puzzles bring sharing and taking turns into play. These are distinct ways to practise using hands, language and ideas.

Daily Dough Disco works on finger strength for pencil control. Nursery phonics uses the ACET phonics scheme, beginning with listening and sounds made using mouths and bodies, rather than reading words. Story time happens daily, with a different emphasis each half-term. Together, these activities connect the physical preparation for writing with the listening and vocabulary needed for later reading.

In June 2023, early years teaching broke learning into manageable steps, and children sustained their attention and retained what they had learned. These findings relate to early years as a whole; they should not be read as observations of every nursery activity.

Parents contribute to assessment alongside children and other relevant adults. Staff build their understanding through everyday interactions, looking for skills a child can use independently across different situations. This gives families a role in explaining what their child can do beyond nursery.

Pencil grip is assessed, and children who need more help with hand control can receive fine-motor interventions. Support therefore extends to the physical skills involved in making marks, rather than simply asking children to practise writing.

Breakfast in Foundations includes cereals or a fresh bagel at no charge, and daily snacks provide fruit and milk. For children staying over lunch, families can choose a school meal, send a packed lunch or take their child home to eat. Parent Pay handles school lunch payments and the daily menu, helping families organise meals around their chosen attendance pattern.

A separate application matters. Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place at Lowedges Primary Academy. Families must apply separately through Sheffield Council admissions, so choosing FS1 should be a decision about the nursery experience itself.

Curriculum Goals connect learning across Nursery and Reception. They provide an educational progression between the stages; that continuity is separate from the allocation of school places.

Four attendance patterns cover full days, morning sessions, afternoon sessions and a mixture of full and half days. Funding provides 15 hours each week over 38 weeks, beginning in the term following a child’s third birthday. Some children qualify for 30 funded hours. Extra hours can be bought when space permits; contact the school for current charges.

Nursery enquiries begin with an Expression of Interest Form, which can be downloaded or collected from the main office. The Foundation Leader then contacts families to discuss a place and arrange a meeting. Places depend on capacity within staffing ratios. Changes to attendance hours require a discussion with the Foundation Lead and a Change of Hours form, with requests dependent on availability.