Harmondsworth Primary School Nursery

Listening comes before reading here. Harmondsworth Primary School’s nursery offers provision for three-year-olds, with morning attendance and a full-time pattern. It sits within the school on School Road in Harmondsworth, giving families a school nursery with a shorter-session option as well as a longer day.

The staffing structure connects nursery teaching with early-years leadership. The 2025/2026 staff list includes a nursery teacher and a nursery nurse, alongside an EYFS manager whose responsibilities also include early reading and phonics. Those are distinct roles: classroom teaching, nursery care and oversight of the early-years foundation stage.

Sound recognition is a concrete starting point for learning. At the June 2022 inspection, nursery children were developing their ability to listen and distinguish sounds, preparing them for later phonics teaching. For parents, the useful distinction is that these early reading foundations begin with hearing differences between sounds, before the next stage of learning to read.

Outdoor provision includes an early-years playground. In June 2022, the school council had helped arrange new equipment for that space. This gives the early-years provision a physical outdoor setting alongside its learning about sounds. The finding concerns the early-years playground, rather than a separate nursery-only area.

For families with concerns about special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), the school’s SENDCo can be contacted through the office. Hillingdon SENDIASS provides another route for advice: its service is confidential, impartial and free, and covers children who have, or may have, special educational needs. Parents can use that support alongside conversations with the school.

Birthday celebrations have a specific food rule. Sweets and treats are no longer distributed, following advice from the School Nursing team about severe allergies. Families should therefore plan celebrations around the school’s alternative: children may wear their own clothes on their birthday, or choose another day if it falls in a holiday or at a weekend.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal local-authority process and meet its deadline. Hillingdon is responsible for the school’s admissions.

The admission arrangements displayed by the school, reviewed in September 2019, do not include nursery attendance among their priority criteria. They also exclude nursery pupils from the definition used for sibling priority. Treat nursery attendance and Reception allocation as separate decisions; preparation for phonics is an educational connection, not an admissions advantage.

Morning nursery has a soft start between 8.45am and 9am, ending at 11.50am. Full-time pupils attend from 8.45am until 3pm. These nursery times are the relevant ones for planning collection.

Thirty-hour provision is offered for three-year-olds, with enquiries directed to the school office on 02087591718. The office also arranges school tours by telephone, giving parents a practical way to see the setting before deciding. General enquiries can be emailed to office@harmondsworthprimary.org.uk.