Park Hall Academy Nursery Review

Stories, talk and small challenges give Park Hall Academy’s nursery its character. The provision sits within the school’s Lower Foundation Stage in Weston Coyney, Stoke-on-Trent, with its own early years team. It is a school nursery, so the daily experience and the later application for a school place need to be considered separately.

At the Ofsted inspection on 1 and 2 April 2025, early years provision was judged Outstanding. That judgement covers the school’s early years provision rather than a separately inspected nursery. Children sustained their attention, approached learning with curiosity and developed close relationships with familiar adults: useful foundations for joining in and tackling new tasks.

Language takes centre stage. Talk for writing sits alongside rhymes and stories, with vocabulary and understanding woven into learning. For a young child, this means that listening and expressing ideas matter alongside the beginnings of reading. In April 2025, early years children enjoyed stories and challenges, and were keen to demonstrate their counting and reading.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together communication, physical development and learning about feelings and relationships. These sit alongside early mathematics, literacy, creative expression and discovering the world. Park Hall’s approach gives children opportunities to develop both larger movements and finer physical control, building coordination as well as the skills needed for smaller tasks.

ICARE characters introduce the social side of learning. The nursery aims to help children consider other people, become more independent and manage their emotions. Planning, concentrating and solving problems are part of that ambition. Outdoor learning is also part of early years provision, with wellies included in the clothing requirements.

A concrete early years example from April 2025 is the Friday school shop, where children spent earned rewards and explored the value of money. It gives an everyday purpose to thinking about spending and choices.

The Lower Foundation Stage team includes a class teacher, a senior early years practitioner and a learning support assistant. That brings teaching and practical support into the same team. In April 2025, early years children who began with communication difficulties had their needs recognised promptly and made rapid progress with support.

Park Hall aims to adapt learning to individual needs and work with families and other professionals. For parents of a child with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), that places individual participation alongside the shared curriculum, rather than treating support as a separate ambition.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions process, using Stoke-on-Trent Council’s online admissions route and meeting the applicable deadline. Treat choosing the nursery and applying for Reception as two separate decisions.

Lower Foundation runs from 9am to 3pm, with a typical week of 30 hours. Those times provide the starting point for planning the family’s day.

For nursery enquiries, contact the school office on 01782 312384 or email parkhalloffice@sbmat.org. Early years children need wellies for outdoor learning, so include these when preparing their clothing.