Abbey Farm Educate Together Primary Nursery Review

Bead snakes, rolling tyres and mud mixtures give Abbey Farm’s pre-school its character: learning through things children can handle, compare and investigate. The provision serves three- and four-year-olds within Abbey Farm Educate Together Primary in Swindon. Children can join in the term after their third birthday.

At the Ofsted inspection on 20 and 21 May 2025, the school’s early years provision was graded Outstanding. That judgement covers the early years within the school, rather than a separately inspected nursery.

The Early Years Foundation Stage combines practical exploration with purposeful learning. In May 2025, the early years curriculum was well designed and taught, with exceptionally strong outcomes for children. The pre-school bead activity makes that tangible: children made bead snakes, practising precise hand movements while comparing lengths. Mathematical vocabulary grew out of something they had made.

Other early years activities linked imagination with investigation. Children selected animals to build a zoo, tested how far a tyre travelled down a ramp and experimented with water in containers. Mud and leaves became ingredients for mixtures. These examples show children making choices, testing ideas and sustaining attention through play.

Sessions have a clear morning and afternoon shape. Morning provision runs from 8:45am to 11:45am, followed by lunch until 12:15pm; the afternoon ends at 3:15pm. Families taking a full day therefore have a lunch interval between the two learning sessions.

For children staying across lunchtime, families can supply a packed lunch or choose a charged school meal. That gives parents a practical choice between familiar food from home and lunch supplied by the school.

Additional needs are supported through the school’s SEND arrangements. Parents can raise concerns with the class teacher, and a concern can trigger targeted support during the year. One Page Profiles and provision maps organise SEND support, with individual learning plans where children need specific targets; provision is reviewed termly. Parents participate in planning and reviewing the next steps, giving their knowledge of their child a place in decisions about support.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place and gives no Reception admissions priority under the arrangements for 2027-2028. Families must make a separate application through Swindon Borough Council’s common application form. The deadline is usually 15 January for the following September; submit by the relevant deadline to be considered in the first allocation round.

Oversubscription priority goes first to looked-after and previously looked-after children, then qualifying siblings, then other children ordered by home-to-school distance. Children whose EHCP names the school receive a place. Choosing the nursery therefore needs to be a decision about the pre-school experience itself, with the Reception application handled separately.

Funded places are organised into 15-hour blocks: Monday and Tuesday with Wednesday morning, or Wednesday afternoon with Thursday and Friday. Families indicate their preferred block when applying, and the school aims to accommodate preferences. Eligible children using 30 funded hours attend across Monday to Friday, from 8:45am to 3:15pm.

Additional sessions may be purchased when spaces permit, allocated term by term on a first-come basis. Ask the school for current charges. Applications can be completed online or emailed to info@abbeyfarmet.org.uk. For enquiries, the school office can also be reached on 01793 251 109.