Shotton Primary School Nursery Review

Squiggle While You Wiggle, woodland sessions and time to choose their own play give children several ways to learn at Shotton Primary School’s nursery. This is the school’s nursery provision in Shotton Colliery, with capacity for 78 children and entry after a child’s third birthday. Two-year-olds are not admitted. Nursery sits within the school’s Foundation Stage, with its own session patterns rather than the timetable for older pupils.

Group activities provide the structure; play gives children room to use what they learn. The nursery timetable includes registration, stories, maths and key groups, alongside Squiggle While You Wiggle/phonics. Morning and afternoon children have their own group times. Between these, children choose learning through play inside or outdoors. In parent terms, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) day here combines shared activities with opportunities to explore and practise independently.

Woodland sessions take learning beyond the classroom, with families receiving a letter about their child’s sessions after starting. The Foundation Stage outdoor learning space has a water area. These are concrete parts of the day, rather than outdoor time being limited to a break between activities.

Small routines count, too. Children put coats on pegs and identify their photograph or name card, with adults encouraging them to manage these tasks themselves. Independence gets daily practice. During Ofsted’s March 2022 inspection, nursery children sustained their attention during shared songs and stories and responded to instructions.

Settling begins before the first session. Parents are invited to an informal meeting and a nursery visit with their child, giving both a chance to meet staff and become familiar with the setting. For children with additional needs, the nursery teacher meets parents to exchange information; the SEN coordinator can liaise with a previous setting and arrange referrals or changes to provision before the child starts.

The Foundation Stage team includes teachers, a higher level teaching assistant and teaching assistants. The school’s SEN coordinator holds the Statutory National Award for SEN Coordination. For families using SEND support, ongoing conversations with the teacher or SEN coordinator sit alongside termly support-plan reviews, keeping parents involved in decisions about their child’s needs.

Morning nursery sessions include free fruit and milk. The Foundation Stage brochure also describes buttered bread in the morning and opportunities to try fruit including kiwi and pineapple. For lunch, children may bring food from home or have a school dinner, charged unless they qualify for free meals. ParentPay handles dinner booking and payment. Food brought into school must exclude nuts and nut products, a practical restriction for anyone packing lunch.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through Durham’s local authority admissions route by the deadline for their entry year. For the September 2026 intake, the closing date was midnight on 15 January 2026; that cycle has passed.

Preparing for a new classroom is a separate matter. The school’s SEND transition arrangements include staff discussions about individual needs, additional classroom visits where needed and individual time with adults who will provide support. Familiarity helps prepare a child for change; it does not secure admission.

The choice is between 15-hour and 30-hour places, funded or paid. Full-time attendance runs Monday to Friday, 8:45am to 2:45pm. The 15-hour patterns are five mornings, 8:45am to 11:45am, or five afternoons, 12:30pm to 3:30pm. Split sessions are not offered. Preferences are allocated first by birth date, then application date if birthdays match.

Hours beyond the session. Full-day children can use paid extended provision from 2:45pm to 3:30pm. The school’s breakfast and after-school clubs do not accept nursery children, so families needing a longer day must plan around that limit. Nursery closes for school holidays and training days.

Eligible families using 30-hour funding must renew their code every three months and supply it to nursery. Families entitled only to 15 funded hours pay for the additional 15 if choosing 30-hour attendance. There is no deposit, registration charge or subsidy charge against funded entitlement. Unfunded sessions and extended provision require advance payment; ask the office for current charges.

Apply through the school office, which also arranges visits, on 0191 526 2006. Uniform includes a blue jumper or cardigan and a white or pale-blue polo shirt; nursery children may wear black leggings or jogging bottoms. Drop-off uses the dedicated Foundation Stage entrance beside its outdoor space. Collection must be by an expected, familiar person over 16, with changes communicated to the office beforehand.