"Children are at the very heart of this school."

Ofsted March 2024

A very warm welcome to Ham Drive Nursery School and Day Care. Our wonderful school is a thriving, inclusive and engaging centre for early years education. It benefits from purpose-built early years indoor provisions, including a well-resourced sensory room, and has extensive outdoor learning facilities. The grounds include a dedicated nature garden, where children enjoy exploring and learning about the natural world around them, as well as a large built-in sandpit, a mud kitchen and a wealth of climbing apparatus to support children’s physical development.  

We pride ourselves as a school on working in partnership with our families to ensure every child has the best possible start to their education journey. We provide teacher-led, high-quality, nurturing education and care for children under five years of age. Our practice is rooted in evidence-based research and tailored to meet the individual needs and interests of each child. Our experienced, qualified teachers work alongside our highly skilled early years professionals to provide a rich and stimulating learning environment for all the children in our care.

We aim to instil in our young learners respect and kindness for each other, positivity and belief in themselves and their abilities, a thirst for learning, the determination to persevere when faced with a challenge and to be the very best they can be. Our staff provide a consistent, calm approach to children to meet their needs and support them to develop an understanding of their emotions and how to manage their behaviour effectively. We have 3 simple rules that are embedded into all we do to support us to develop a co-operative, calm and effective nursery school community:

We are kind

We help

We listen

We want your child to feel happy and safe in our nursery and know that they belong. We know this is fundamental to ensuring your child settles in and is able to access all the fun learning and play activities on offer to them. To support this, your child will be allocated a Key Person. The strong bond they will form with your child will help your child to feel known, understood, cared about and secure. The Key Person will also be your main point of contact regarding your child’s progress. Our staff will always be open to meeting and talking with you about any concerns you may have or indeed anything that needs celebrating!

We are constantly striving to improve teaching and learning and our staff have very high ambitions for all. Our bespoke curriculum has been carefully designed to ensure your child will develop skills and knowledge across every aspect of the Early Years Foundation Stage areas of learning. It aims to lay the foundations for future, more formal learning in years to come. Our curriculum focusses on the progression of key skills, concepts and vocabulary that we want children to acquire, and this learning is woven through every learning opportunity we provide. We value diversity and our curriculum reflects and celebrates our richly multicultural world. Our curriculum is play-based and centred on the interests of the children. We recognise that there is no universal pathway of development and embrace the fact that each child is unique. Your child will develop at their own pace, with their own individual strengths and in their own way. We will work tirelessly with you to ensure your child has the right support, at the right time, every step of the way, to secure their continual development and progress.

I hope you find our website useful. If you would like to find out more about Ham Drive, please contact the school to make an appointment to visit us. We would love to meet you.

Caroline Watts

Head of School

 

 Ham Drive Nursery School and Day Care is a partner organisation for the Early Years South West Stronger Practice Hub for the region. 

Early Years South West Stronger Practice Hub (EYSWSPH)

For more information and to find out how the hub is supporting early years providers and childminders in the southwest region with evidence-based training and support, please click on the button below. 

EY HUB PAGE