St Mary's Catholic Primary School Nursery Review

Paint and stories give St Mary's nursery its character: children choose materials, make pictures and practise words. This is the nursery at St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Tilbury, with provision for children aged 3 and 4. Its Catholic identity reaches into learning, including the Easter and Creation stories.

Ofsted judged the school's early years provision Good at the inspection on 13 and 14 September 2023. That judgement covers early years within the school; it is not a separate nursery rating.

Language gets close attention. In September 2023, early years children were learning songs and hearing unfamiliar vocabulary explained carefully. Literacy and mathematics had clearly sequenced learning steps. For parents, that means purposeful teaching sits alongside children's own choices of activity.

Stories provide concrete starting points. Nursery literacy includes learning to handle books and turn pages, drawing family members, practising names and noticing rhyme. Children also clap the syllables in their names. These are small, recognisable ways to connect speaking, listening and early writing.

Making is another thread. Children choose materials for pictures, experiment with mixing colours and use card to create a coral reef. Drawing rockets and spaceships brings shapes into artwork, while folding and weaving add different ways to work with materials. Computing introduces an interactive whiteboard and iPads, alongside voice recording toys, remote controlled cars and torches operated by switches. Technology includes objects children can handle as well as screens.

Outside, the pretend shop supported shared imaginative play in September 2023, while physical activities developed movement skills. Independence also appeared in everyday tasks: washing hands and getting an apron on before painting.

Teaching sequence. In September 2023, learning beyond literacy and mathematics depended too heavily on children's activity choices, with less precise teaching of successive steps. Children could consequently miss parts of their learning. This is the main early years qualification to the positive picture.

Early language needs were picked up promptly in September 2023, with advice sought from professionals to shape support. That connects the emphasis on communication with help for children who need more than the usual classroom activities.

SEND support follows an assess, plan, do and review cycle, bringing parents into decisions about adjustments and progress. For children receiving SEND support, the class teacher and SENCO meet parents three times each year. This gives families repeated opportunities to discuss whether support is working.

A taster session for new nursery children and parents took place on 9 December 2025. It offered a shared introduction before starting, rather than asking children to make that first acquaintance alone.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through the normal Reception admissions route. Applications go online to Thurrock Admission Department; for the September 2026 intake, the application window ran from 1 November 2025 to 15 January 2026. Those dates belong to a past admissions cycle.

For children with EHC plans, preparation for a change of educational phase includes reviewing and amending the plan early enough to organise support. That preparation is separate from securing a school place.

The nursery offers 15 or 30 hours of provision each week. Children aged 3 and 4 are entitled to the 15-hour funded provision; eligibility conditions apply to the 30-hour option.

To apply for nursery, complete the nursery application form or contact the school office for an application information pack. The office can be reached on 01375 843254. The school is on Calcutta Road, Tilbury, RM18 7QH.