Local government funded nursery schools

Why is a maintained nursery school special?

Curzon and Fawood Nursery are local government maintained schools. We are different to private and independent nursery is that our top and most important business is Early Years Education for the children, not profit. Our day-to-day decisions are based on the education of the children, from how well they adapt from their first day with us and prepare them for primary school.

Less than 400 maintained nursery schools still remain across the UK, and these numbers have been gradually eroded over the years. Unlike nursery classes attached to primary schools we have teachers and headteacher who are early years trained. As early years specialist, our focus is on delivering learn-and-play-age-appropriate education to children at a crucial stage of development, which requires a different set of approaches.

We are inspected under the same Ofsted criteria as primary schools, rather than those used for early years settings in the private and voluntary sector.

Openness and regulated by law

As government funded maintained nursery schools we operate under the guidelines set by the Department of Education and Ofsted. Some of the key guiding principles abiding us are:

Must have a qualified headteacher with a bachelor degree in Arts/Science or Education. In addition, Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH)
An appointed governing body which scrutinises everything we do from our Children Safeguarding policy to how money get spent.
Must act in accordance with the government guidelines on admissions, exclusions and SEND provision.

Curriculum

We offer a range of areas for learning from guided group sessions to Free-Flow.

*Free Flow is when the curriculum is taught across the indoor and outdoor learning environments both child led and adult led. Provocations is what we call the adult led intended learning.

Communication & Language > Listening, attention, speaking

Personal, social & emotional development > Attachment, conflicts in play, kindness

Physical development > Fine and Gross motor skills

Literacy > Comprehension, phonics, writing (making marks and scribbles)

Mathematics > Spatial reasoning, number, measurement

Understanding the World > Natural processes, living things and materials, earth and space, people, culture and community

Expressive Arts & Design > Creating with natural materials, being imaginative and expressive

See our detailed Curriculum here

See our Core Planning here.

We thoughtfully designed our learning activities throughout the year to build trusting relationship, confidence, and cultivate resilience. Through engaging core books, enriching educational visits, and creative art projects, we aimed to create a supportive and inspiring environment for growth.

Want to know more? Here is a link to the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (Family Guidance) from the East London Research School funded by the Department of Education.