"Flourishing and thriving schools and children"

Dear Parents, Carers, and Staff,

As we come to the close of another academic year, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on what has been another remarkable period across our nine nursery schools. Each setting continues to provide an inspiring, high-quality early years education that puts the needs, interests, and potential of every child at its heart.

Defining “quality” in early education is complex. While Ofsted inspections offer a formal way of recognising high standards—and we are immensely proud of the positive outcomes our schools have received this year—we know that true quality goes far beyond a rating. It’s seen in the warm interactions between children and adults, the creative learning environments, and the way staff respond thoughtfully to each child’s unique journey.

Feedback from families and observations of children at play are just as vital in helping us understand what’s working well and where we can grow. We are committed to reflecting and evolving as a Federation to ensure every child is met with the care, encouragement, and opportunities they need to thrive and flourish.

This year, our nursery schools have continued to shine -They remain joyful, nurturing places where children build confidence, form trusting relationships, and grow through curiosity, discovery, and play. That is no small achievement, and we are deeply proud.

As Governors, we have the privilege of supporting the strategic direction of our schools and ensuring both educational excellence and financial stability. Though our roles are voluntary, the reward is great—especially when we visit the nurseries and witness firsthand the incredible work being done. For this year’s annual report, we’ve chosen to highlight what each school has done to help our children to flourish and thrive—These stories show how our schools are not only places of learning, but also of community and care – we hope you enjoy reading them.

On behalf of the entire Governing Board, I want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the dedicated staff, leaders, and teams across our Federation. Your commitment, creativity, and care are what make our nurseries such special places, and we are truly grateful.

Wishing you all a restful, joyful summer. For those families whose children are moving on to primary school, we send our warmestgood wishes for the exciting journey ahead, and hope your time with us will be remembered with happiness and pride.

Warm regards,
Sean Delaney
Chair of Governors

Adderley Nursery School

Another fantastic year of creativity and exploration at Adderley!

Our young artists have been experimenting with colours and textures, transforming mannequins into vibrant works of art.

Meanwhile, our little explorers launched 'Adderley Airlines,' designing their own planes and embarking on imaginative journeys to the beach.

These activities have sparked curiosity, enriched vocabulary, and brought endless joy to our children.

Allens Croft Nursery School

We’ve witnessed some exceptional work this year during the development of our woodwork curriculum. Working closely with parents and carers, we have created a ‘safe space’ in which our learning community has been able to understand, accept and highly value the management of risk that is associated with this kind of activity.

The children have delighted in the responsibility they have been given, cautiously but repeatedly and tenaciously building their skill base and confidence. Peer observation, verbal sharing and physical demonstration have been key opportunities to learn as a group. The quality and complexity of the work and the deep though and explanations given by the children have surpassed all of our expectations.

Parents and carers have joined us on a journey of discovery, learning to value the story that accompanies pieces of work, rather than solely giving attention to the collection of nails and balsa wood in their hands.

As we’ve all grown in bravery and understanding, we plan to introduce these opportunities at an earlier stage during ‘2025-’26.

Gracelands Nursery School

This year the children have been exploring different cultures and places of worship and we have been lucky enough to visit both our local mandir and church. This has linked in beautifully with our learning around the UNCRC Article 14: children’s right to freedom of thought and religion.

In November, shortly after Diwali, we went to Shree Ram Mandir as part of our local community walks. We walked all the way there and all the way back! The mandir had many beautiful idols and we talked about each one. The chairman explained who visits the mandir and we then watched the priest do the 'Arti.' The children were even allowed to ring the large bells.

Then in April, just before Easter, we visited our local church. Reverend Toby, from Christ Church, welcomed us and talked to us about the church and what happens when Christians use their place of worship. This was lots of fun with plenty of storytelling singing and music!

More recently in June, just after Eid ul-Adha, we held a community Eid event at our local banqueting suite where our children, their extended families and our wider school community celebrated Eid together.

Our special guests Ray and Belle came to help with their famous face painting and balloon modelling!

Highfield Nursery School

Whatever the weather, our children have been outside – outdoor learning, exploring and nature play have supported children's enjoyment and wellbeing.

Jakeman Nursery School

This year, a fascination in insects developed and stuck around term after term! The children's curiosity began in the autumn. Worms were observed on rainy days and children quickly began to recreate the same conditions to study them. They even researched and carried out some scientific experiments to encourage them to emerge.

From here, children learnt all about the diet and habitat of various insects, recreating their homes in the form of 'bug hotels'. When the children had the chance to observe the life cycle of caterpillars up close, they relished the opportunity by studying, having deep discussions and making predictions, as well as documenting the stages through observational drawings. Finally, the children held their newly hatched butterflies before releasing them.

Lillian de Lissa Nursery School

In March, we invited our families to a fun-filled afternoon of festivities, as we hosted a craft workshop to celebrate Eid and Mother's Day. The children were delighted when their families joined them to make Chocolate covered dates and biscuits, Eid cards, Mother's Day cards and Eid Decorations.

We were also so proud and delighted when all 10 of our eggs hatched and the children saw a whole brood of yellow chicks emerge and grow into young feathery chickens!

Newtown Nursery School

Our educational Autumn walk within the local community brought so much joy, mindfulness and reflection. Families joined us to explore nature, natural materials and use our senses to discover the world around us.

Shenley Fields Nursery School

We made a successful bid for the Nature Park Grant and used it to create a community allotment.

Children, staff and families have all been involved in this project over the course of the academic year.

We have harvested the first fruit and vegetables from our allotment. We have potatoes, cabbage, strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants
and rhubarb.

The children were delighted and we made a plan of what we could cook with them. Children in Raindrops worked together to wash and chop the fruit to make a rhubarb and berry crumble.

Children in Sunbeams washed and chopped the potatoes and cabbage, they decided they wanted mashed potato with cabbage in!

St Thomas Centre Nursery School

The regeneration of our Willow garden during February half term has had a hugely positive impact upon our children's learning journey. This included the installation of a gathering circle, construction of a new fence, creation of an allotment and laying of woodchip that was made from the foliage from our garden boundary. All our children have loved exploring and learning in this new space!