Welcome from the Head Teacher

It is my pleasure to welcome you to York Road Nursery School, a nurturing and inspiring early years setting where every child is encouraged to explore, imagine, and thrive.

At York Road, we are proud to be a fully inclusive maintained nursery school with a long-standing reputation for excellence in early childhood education. Our dedicated and highly skilled staff create a safe, welcoming, and stimulating environment where children learn through purposeful play and discovery. With thoughtfully designed classrooms and a beautiful, spacious garden, children are free to flow between indoor and outdoor spaces, following their interests and engaging in rich, meaningful experiences.

Our vision is simple yet powerful: To create an environment where every child is curious, excited to explore, and inspired to learn. We believe that children learn best when they feel happy, valued, and understood—and at York Road, we work tirelessly to ensure every child experiences just that.

Kindness, curiosity, and resilience are at the heart of everything we do. These values guide our daily practice, helping children to build strong relationships, ask questions, solve problems, and grow in confidence and independence. We celebrate each child as an individual and are committed to fostering a love of learning that lasts a lifetime.

Our partnership with parents and the wider community is vital. Together, we support each child’s development in a way that is collaborative, inclusive, and deeply rooted in mutual respect. Whether it’s through creative play, outdoor adventures, or quiet moments of reflection, we are here to ensure every child feels a sense of belonging and joy in their learning journey.

Thank you for taking the time to find out more about our wonderful school. We warmly invite you to come and see York Road Nursery School in action—you will find a place where children flourish, friendships grow, and learning is filled with wonder.

Warm regards,

Antonia Robinson

Head Teacher

York Road Nursery School

Ofsted

Following our July 2023 Ofsted inspection the school was judged as outstanding.

Children have a wonderful time at York Road Nursery School. They are safe and happy
because caring staff pay close attention to children’s individual needs . Where children
ever need it.

Every child gets the support they need to thrive. Children have extensive opportunities to
explore natural environments , including through forest school . Children quickly become
confident communicators. They sustain focus on highly engaging activities. They have a
vast range of real experiences , to help them to understand the world . This includes visits
from beekeepers and firefighters which help them develop a deep understanding of
learning and prepares them very well for primary school.

Children make highly positive choices to resolve any disagreements. Staff are trained so
they can better support children to manage their emotions. Children quickly learn to treat
each other with tolerance and respect. They share take turns and proactively include
each other in their play.

Children develop a rich spiritual and cultural understanding by celebrating a wide range of
different festivals. Children recently got to experience different foods and types of dress
as part of this.

Ofsted Inspection Report 2023 

Further Information

At York Road Nursery School we offer 15 hour and 30 hour places. If your child attends for 15 hours, this will be a morning space (9am-12pm Monday-Friday). If your child attends for 30 hours, this will be 9am-3.30pm Monday-Thursday and 9am-1pm on Fridays.

When your child starts at nursery they are allocated to a key teacher group in one of the classrooms as their home base. They will be in a small group of up to 13 children. This supports them to form good relationships with their adult and group peers.

We have an ‘open door’ policy, where we welcome you to discuss concerns, questions or observations you have with the staff team.

British Values Statement

British Values & Counter Terrorism

The DfE have recently reinforced the need ‘to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.’

The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy, and these values have been reiterated by the Prime Minister this year. At York Road Nursery School these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy

We listen to children’s and parent’s voice in many ways e.g. through daily contact with parents and children, questionnaires and feedback, planning for children’s interests. Our school behavior policy is clear that children are expected to contribute and co-operate, taking into account the views of others.

The Rule Of Law

We consistently reinforce our high expectations of children. Children are taught the value and reasons behind our expectations (rules) that they are there to protect us, that everyone has a responsibility and that there are consequences when rules are broken. At York Road we talk about what is a ‘good choice’ and what is a ‘bad choice’ for the children to be able to think about their responsibilities and their actions.

Individual Liberty

Within school, children are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for young children to make choices safely, through our provision of a safe environment and empowering teaching. Children are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms.

Mutual Respect

Part of our school ethos and behavior policy has revolved around Core Values such as ‘Respect’, and children are modelled this by caring, sharing and listening to others. Staff help children to understand how to respect by talking about how actions/words can affect others.

All children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities are valued for their individuality and supported to achieve their best. Children are taught that life is not the same for everyone.

Staff promote diverse attitudes and challenge stereotypes, for example, sharing stories that reflect and value the diversity of children’s experiences.

Tolerance Of Those Of Different Faiths And Beliefs

We aim to enhance children’s understanding of different faiths and beliefs by participating in a range of celebrations throughout the year. Children have the opportunity to dress-up in clothes and try different foods from other cultures and we encourage parents/carers to participate and support our multi-cultural events.

What Is Not Acceptable:
  • Actively promoting intolerance of other faiths, cultures and races.
  • Failure to challenge gender stereotypes and routinely segregate girls and boys.
  • Isolating children from their wider community
  • Failure to challenge behaviors (whether of staff, children or parents) that are not in line with the fundamental British values of democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs.
Counter Terrorism

At York Road Nursery School we have a statutory duty to have due regard to the need to prevent people being drawn into terrorism. We do the following:

  • Have an effective partnership with other local agencies (LSCB, police, health)
  • Share information
  • Maintain appropriate records
  • Assess local risk of extremism
  • Protect children
  • Have clear protocols for visiting speakers
  • Have safeguarding policies
  • Train staff to give them knowledge and confidence
  • Have ICT protocols that filter out extremist materials
  • Ensure our building is not a platform to extremists

Schools leaders (including governors) must:

    • Establish or use existing mechanisms for understanding the risk of extremism
    • Ensure staff understand the risk and build capabilities to deal with it
    • Communicate and promote the importance of the duty
    • Ensure staff implement the duty effectively

Aims and Mission Statement

‘Holding Hands – Nurturing Minds’

TRNbods287H-300x179