Send CofE Primary School Nursery Review

A story corner, imaginative play and learning outdoors give Acorn Class its shape. This is Send CofE Primary School’s nursery for children aged 3-4, with 30 places each year. Children can start in the term following their third birthday, subject to a place being available. The nursery operates for 38 weeks, following the school’s terms: a practical fit for families seeking nursery education on a school calendar.

Play shares the day with adult-led learning. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together language, physical development and relationships with early literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. In parent terms, talking, moving, making and exploring are part of the learning, alongside structured activities.

Inside and outside classrooms have spaces for stories, role play, early number work and creativity. Investigation and imaginative challenges are part of the provision too. Children have choices about their activities, while sustained play gives them time to return to an idea and practise a skill. Adults also lead activities where children need direct teaching.

Birth to Five Matters supports the team’s understanding of development. For appropriate activities, Rosenshine’s principles guide modelling: an adult demonstrates, children practise together, then try independently. That gives children both room to explore and a model to follow.

Reading starts with listening closely to sounds and experimenting with rhyme. Nursery children choose a Storytime Book to enjoy with their family, giving home reading a shared purpose rather than an expectation that children read independently. Music also enters everyday EYFS learning through listening, singing, dancing and exploring sounds. Movement and ball skills form part of the physical learning.

In November 2024, Ofsted found that early years children began learning strongly, with trained adults developing language and communication through repeated vocabulary practice. For parents, the concrete strength is the attention to words and opportunities to use them.

A key person system gives individual needs a place in daily care. Parents follow learning through Tapestry, discuss progress at consultations twice a year and receive a written assessment as their child moves towards Reception. These are different opportunities to build a picture of progress, rather than relying on a single end-of-year conversation.

The September 2026 EYFS intake began with a settling-in process. Families with additional health or educational needs can contact the inclusion team at inclusion@sendcofe.co.uk; the Child & Family Support Worker can also help parents with the move into school.

Lunch for nursery children runs from 11.30am to 12.30pm. The 15-hour Wednesday session ends before lunch, while the 30-hour Friday session includes lunchtime. An on-site kitchen is staffed by Twelve15. Nuts and nut products are excluded from lunch boxes, although the school acknowledges that a nut-free environment cannot be guaranteed. Meal and special-diet enquiries go through the office.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Parents must make a separate application alongside families whose children attend elsewhere, through Surrey County Council’s coordinated primary admissions process and within the normal application timetable. Treat that application as a separate family task.

The nursery’s written transition assessment records children’s progress towards this next stage. That educational handover is separate from the decision about admission.

Two attendance patterns organise the week. The 15-hour option runs on Monday and Tuesday from 8.45am to 3pm, then Wednesday from 8.45am to 11.30am. For children qualifying for the 30-hour entitlement, attendance is Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 3pm, and Friday, 8.30am to 12.30pm.

Additional hours. Families using 15 hours can extend Wednesday or increase attendance to the full week. Extra hours are booked for an entire term and paid in advance, so this requires a term-long commitment. Contact the school for current charges.

Arrange a nursery visit through the office at info@sendcofe.co.uk or 01483 223464. Nursery applications are returned to the school office. Children are collected from their classroom door; urgent changes to collection arrangements should reach the office by telephone or email.