Round Diamond Primary School Nursery

Creative choices and early steps with technology give Round Diamond’s nursery day its character. Within the school’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), children explore what materials can do, express their own ideas and choose activities that include computing. There is room for discovery alongside teaching.

The nursery belongs to Round Diamond Primary School in Great Ashby, Stevenage. Its staffing includes a nursery teaching role, while the wider early years team has an EYFS leader. For parents, this places nursery learning within a school team with responsibility for the youngest children.

The EYFS experience brings together children’s own choices and planned learning. Art starts with recognising materials, understanding their uses and exploring personal ideas through open-ended activities. Design and technology also begins with finding out what resources are for. The emphasis is on exploration: children can investigate possibilities rather than simply reproduce a finished example.

Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) is the phonics programme used in early years, with teaching each day. It connects spoken sounds with their written forms, giving children the beginnings of the knowledge needed to read words. This adds a structured strand to the learning children choose for themselves.

Technology has a concrete place in the learning environment. Early years has designated iPads, and computing forms part of activities children select themselves. Computing learning is shared with families through Tapestry, creating a connection between classroom exploration and conversations at home.

Additional needs have a school-level contact through the Head for Inclusion, who also acts as the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo). Families can contact the inclusion team at inclusion@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk. The school says it uses discussions involving teachers, teaching assistants and senior leaders to shape individual support, with parents’ views contributing to that planning.

Communication in Print creates visual clues beside written words. It is intended for children still developing reading fluency, including those who benefit from picture-based timetables or vocabulary prompts. This gives children another way to understand language and classroom expectations.

Medication can be administered by the School Health Manager when the required paperwork and parental consent are in place. Staff receive training that includes paediatric first aid. These are practical arrangements for families managing health needs alongside nursery attendance.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions route; Hertfordshire County Council is the route identified for school admissions. Treat that application as a distinct step from joining nursery.

The school aims for consistency in teaching and learning spaces as children progress through school. That educational aim is separate from the allocation of Reception places.

For the September 2024 intake, nursery offered 15 hours each week, with a choice of morning or afternoon places. That was a session-based arrangement, so families considering that intake had to choose which part of the day suited them.

Nursery applications went directly to the school, either through the office or by email to admin@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk. The same intake information offered school and nursery tours booked through the office on 01438 219410, limited to one adult from each family, with no children attending.