Dunbury Church of England Academy Nursery

A preschool practitioner, an early years apprentice and a shared early years lead give Dunbury's nursery its place within the school team. This is the preschool provision at Dunbury Church of England Academy. The school's early years base is in Winterborne Kingston; its primary base is in Winterborne Whitechurch. That distinction matters when planning the journey and arranging a school tour.

Preschool sits within the remit of the early years lead, whose responsibilities also include Beech Class and inclusion. Alongside that leadership role, the team includes an Early Years Practitioner specifically for preschool and an Early Years Apprentice. For parents, these are distinct roles to recognise in the early years team: leadership, preschool practice and an apprentice position.

Early years leadership and additional-needs support overlap here. The early years lead also holds the SENDCo and Inclusion Lead responsibilities, alongside a deputy safeguarding role. SEND refers to special educational needs and disabilities. This gives families a link between the preschool's leadership and the coordination of additional support. Dunbury also has a teaching assistant with an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant role.

Communication has two routes, with different purposes. Messages needing attention that day go through the school office, which can relay them to teachers at either base. For less urgent discussions, parents use class email. Teachers check those accounts daily and aim to reply within a couple of working days. Choosing the right route matters if a message needs to reach staff promptly.

The school office provides a contact route for discussing concerns about additional needs. Parents can also use send@dunbury.dsat.org.uk. This allows a concern to be raised directly rather than waiting for a routine conversation.

Attending Dunbury's nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions route. For Dunbury, that route is Dorset's School Admissions service, using the application link on Dorsetforyou.

Shared early years leadership is a staffing arrangement, not an admission entitlement. The early years lead's responsibilities span preschool and Beech Class, but families should treat choosing nursery and applying for Reception as two separate decisions. A nursery place must not be taken as confirmation of the next school place.

School tours can be arranged through the office. Contact office@dunbury.dsat.org.uk or telephone 01258 880501 to make an enquiry or arrange an appointment. The office monitors calls and email from 8:00am to 3:30pm, Monday to Friday, giving families a defined window for contact.

For the Dunbury Early Years site, children are welcomed between 8:30 and 8:45 in the morning. Registration runs between 8:45 and 8:50, and the site's school day ends at 3:10. These are the Early Years site's school-day arrangements; they should not be treated as a preschool session booking pattern.