Dunstall Hill Primary School Nursery

Indoor and outdoor play, an introduction to sounds and a choice of morning or afternoon attendance shape nursery life at Dunstall Hill Primary School in Wolverhampton. This is provision within the school’s early years team. There are 52 places, divided equally between the two sessions: 26 in the morning and 26 in the afternoon.

That session model is a practical consideration for families. Each child is allocated one of the two sessions, so nursery attendance needs to fit around the rest of the family’s day.

Play has a clear purpose here. Children use both the indoor and outdoor environments, with encouragement to make choices and try ideas independently. Practitioners watch what interests children and adapt their surroundings accordingly. This gives children’s interests a part in deciding what they explore next.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together learning, development and care. Its seven connected areas include language, physical skills and emotional development, alongside mathematics, literacy, creative expression and learning about the world. In parent terms, learning to explain an idea or manage a feeling belongs alongside exploring numbers and making pictures.

Read, Write Inc Phonics introduces nursery children to initial sounds. Kinetic Letters is the school’s chosen handwriting approach, linking the physical work of controlling movement with writing. These are named approaches within a day that also values exploration, concentration and trying again when something proves difficult.

For the 2024-2025 nursery cohort, planned learning included using scissors, riding a tricycle and taking part in group activities. Those goals connect hand control, movement and cooperation. Potential experiences included Forest Fridays, giving outdoor exploration a named place in that year’s planning rather than treating it simply as time outside.

At the November 2024 inspection, early years teaching received positive findings for its attention to introductory English and mathematics, staff support and the speed with which routines became familiar. For a nursery child, those routines provide a framework for joining in and learning.

The nursery team includes a teacher and a teaching assistant within the wider EYFS structure. Partnerships with parents and carers are an explicit school aim, while families can discuss curriculum questions with their child’s class teacher or the office.

Independence includes personal care. Goals for the 2024-2025 nursery cohort began with adult help for toileting and washing hands, then moved towards children managing these tasks themselves. Taking turns, recognising feelings and resolving disagreements with support also formed part of that planning. These are everyday skills with a direct bearing on playing alongside other children.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place or confer priority. Families must make a separate application through the normal Reception admissions process, using the online Common Application Form through the local authority where they live and meeting the deadline for their entry year.

Dunstall Hill participates in Wolverhampton’s coordinated admissions scheme. Reception allocation follows the applicable admissions criteria; nursery attendance is not one of them. Treat choosing nursery and applying for Reception as two separate decisions, even though both concern the same school.

Morning nursery runs Monday to Friday, with gates opening at 08:30 and the session finishing at 11:30. Afternoon attendance follows the same days, with gates opening at 12:25 and nursery ending at 15:25. The afternoon session therefore has its own collection time, which families should build into their daily arrangements.

Nursery application forms come from the school office, and the school allocates places. For enquiries, call 01902 921166 or email dunstallhillprimaryschool@wolverhampton.gov.uk.