Beddington Infants' School Nursery Review

Bird feeders in the Nursery garden, paint spread across giant artworks and caterpillars changing into butterflies give Beddington's nursery its character: children learn by making, watching and experimenting. This is the school's own nursery on Croydon Road in Wallington, with a nursery teacher listed in the teaching team.

Ofsted's inspection on 18 and 19 July 2023 graded the school's early years provision Outstanding and found that nursery children sustained their attention during lively storytelling. That judgement covers early years within the school; it is not a separate nursery rating.

Learning Naturally combines teaching as a class, work in smaller groups and independent activities, with learning taking place outdoors and inside each day. Alongside it, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) covers early learning through language, number, creativity and exploration. For parents, the practical picture is a session with adult input and opportunities for children to try things themselves.

Stories have a substantial place. Daily phonics uses Phonics Bug, with games giving children an active part in learning sounds. Talk for writing begins in Nursery, linking spoken storytelling with early writing. Nursery music includes familiar songs and instruments used to respond to stories, so children can explore a tale through sound as well as speech.

The garden supplies concrete reasons to observe closely. During the RSPB Big Garden Bird watch, children threaded cereal onto pipe cleaners for feeders, hung them in the garden's trees and checked off birds they spotted. A classroom caterpillar project led to watching butterflies emerge, followed by artwork exploring symmetry and patterns. These are examples of science and creativity meeting in the same activity.

Physical spaces add another dimension. The Garden Room has a glass dome for exploring weather through the senses. Nursery children have also taken part in an African Drumming Workshop in the Dance/Drama Studio. In an Action Painting activity, they experimented with rolling, spraying and flicking paint across large shared pieces. Movement and making are part of learning here.

Parents can spend a little time learning alongside their child at both ends of a nursery session. Autumn Learning Together has included leaf rubbings, printing and threading leaves into garlands. These opportunities let families join an activity and see how their child works, rather than relying solely on an account afterwards.

For children with SEND, the school's process brings together the class teacher, SENDCo, parental concerns and professional advice. Support is planned, put into practice and reviewed with families involved in changes. That gives parents a defined role in decisions about their child's support.

Caterlink provides the school's hot lunches and caters for special dietary requirements, with the school office handling discussions about individual needs. The nursery's full-day pattern includes a lunch break.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions route by the relevant deadline. Treat choosing the nursery and applying for Reception as two separate decisions.

Morning nursery runs from 8.45am to 11.45am. An afternoon session is also offered, while the full day runs from 8.45am to 3.15pm with 30 minutes allocated to lunch. These patterns give families a choice between a shorter session and a day spanning lunchtime.

Drop-off and collection take place at the nursery classroom door, reached through the brown wooden gate beside the main building. For enquiries, contact office@beddingtoninfants.org.uk or telephone 020 8647 7813.

Prospective Parent Tours can be booked through the school website. They combine a headteacher talk with a school tour; families may listen to the talk online before joining the tour in person.