Selsdon Primary and Nursery School: Fox Cubs Nursery

Finding their own name is one of the small routines that gives Fox Cubs its character. Children begin learning how to manage classroom life here, within Selsdon Primary and Nursery School on Addington Road, South Croydon. The nursery class takes children aged three to four, with 52 part-time places providing 15 hours each week.

Care and learning need separate consideration. Ofsted judged early years provision Requires improvement following visits on 25 and 26 March and 4 June 2025. That judgement covers the school's early years provision, rather than a separately inspected nursery.

Children's interests help shape the topics explored in nursery. Staff develop learning themes from those interests and adapt school themes for the youngest children. This gives children's own questions a place in planned learning.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) supplies the framework: it brings care, development and learning together for children under five. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised is the named phonics programme. For parents, the distinction matters: the nursery curriculum includes early language and phonics, alongside learning how to participate in a class.

Classroom routines were a strength in March and June 2025, including nursery children recognising their names. Language teaching needed more attention. Staff had insufficient direction about which vocabulary to introduce and reinforce through conversations with children, limiting the development of communication and broader language skills. Vocabulary development. Clearer guidance for adults was an explicit improvement requirement. Families should weigh that concern alongside the positive findings about routines and settling.

Children settled successfully into nursery in March and June 2025, and adults responded well to their emotional and social needs. That is a useful foundation for a child beginning time away from home.

Parents can discuss learning with nursery staff, while individual learning profiles are shared at termly parents' evenings. These provide a regular opportunity to look at a child's development with the teaching team.

For speech and language concerns, the nursery referral route is Chatterbox, with the class teacher as the first contact. The school's wider SEND process starts with the class teacher. If concerns persist, an appointment with the special educational needs coordinator may be appropriate. Additional Support Plans specify resources and support; they are reviewed each term, with progress communicated to parents.

Physical access is also relevant. The school has ramps at both main entrances and accessible toilets at either end of the building. These are school facilities, so families considering a nursery place can distinguish site access from their child's individual support arrangements.

Nursery attendance neither guarantees a Reception place nor gives admission priority under the school's arrangements. Families must make a separate application through their home local authority, using its Common Application Form, by the normal deadline for their application cycle.

The distinction is explicit: nursery membership does not create an automatic transfer. Applications are assessed against the admission criteria. Choosing Fox Cubs therefore means choosing the nursery experience while keeping the Reception application as a separate task.

The part-time model provides 15 hours a week. Nursery applications use the Selsdon Primary Admission to Fox Cubs Nursery form, obtained through the school office. Contact 020 8657 4038 or admin@selsdonprimary.org.uk to request it.

School visits can also be arranged through those contacts. The visit includes a pupil-led tour and time for questions with school leaders and the admissions officer, giving parents an opportunity to discuss the nursery before applying.