Dairy Meadow Primary School Nursery Review

Hatching chicks, growing vegetables and making mud pies give Dairy Meadow’s early years provision a practical character. This is the school’s own Nursery class on Swift Road in Southall, with learning shaped around children’s interests. The emphasis is on experiences children can explore and talk about, alongside learning to express themselves and build friendships.

Play carries the learning. Across the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), children develop communication, relationships and early reading and writing skills. Pretending to be pirates or veterinarians gives those skills a setting: children have roles to explore and ideas to share.

Living things provide concrete learning experiences. The early years programme includes observing caterpillars becoming butterflies and eating vegetables the children have grown. In May 2026, Nursery children watched chicks hatch and learned about their life cycles. These experiences make change something children can observe directly.

Outdoor learning includes a mud kitchen and farm visits that connect food with its origins. Nursery science also includes investigating natural materials through the senses, comparing their properties and exploring how things work. Cornerstones Curriculum is named within the EYFS science programme. The emphasis is on noticing, questioning and discussing discoveries, rather than simply hearing explanations.

The EYFS timetable adapts to each cohort’s needs and interests. At the October 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that the early years curriculum equipped children well for their next educational stage.

Partnership with parents begins with the move from home to Nursery. The Nursery introduction sets an expectation of regular communication and welcomes families’ questions. EYFS parent workshop materials cover communication, keeping healthy and personal, social and emotional development, giving families topics to continue discussing at home.

SEND support involves the class teacher and Inclusion Leader/SENCO. The Spring 2026 policy assigns responsibility for coordinating provision, working with families and outside professionals, and checking interventions. Support is reviewed through the Graduated Approach: staff assess needs, agree a plan, put it into practice and reconsider its impact. Families contribute to that process.

The school’s 2025–26 SEND report records three nursery nurses trained to deliver SEND provision. Practical adaptations include visual timetables, movement breaks and quiet spaces. Ground-floor classrooms and accessible toilets are physical features relevant to children who need help accessing the environment.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions process.

Under the Autumn 2021 admissions policy, Nursery applications go to the school office, while Reception applications go through Ealing Council, with online application through eAdmissions advised. That policy gives 15 January as the normal Reception closing date. Its oversubscription criteria do not award priority for Nursery attendance. Treat these as the arrangements in that dated policy and check the applicable admissions cycle with Ealing Council.

Transition support is a separate matter. The school’s SEND arrangements include information sharing between teachers and classroom familiarisation, with additional sessions where a child needs them. These help children prepare for a change of class; they do not secure admission.

The Autumn 2021 policy describes a full-time Nursery model and directs Nursery applicants to the school office. For enquiries, email office@dairy-meadow.ealing.sch.uk or telephone 0208 571 7925. School tours are encouraged.

For the 2026–27 school year, the Nursery autumn start was 9 September 2026. The autumn half-term closure runs from 26 to 30 October 2026, a useful planning detail for families arranging childcare around school holidays.

Funding guidance shared by the school describes 30 weekly childcare hours for eligible working parents of children aged nine months to four years from September 2025. Eligibility applies. Childcare Choices is the route given for checking entitlement; this general guidance should be distinguished from the Nursery’s booking arrangements.