The Nursery Day
Small steps, big discoveries
For our youngest learners, Nursery is a happy and nurturing introduction to school life. Many children join us at the age of two in Acorns, taking their first steps into school life before progressing through Nursery to Oaks and eventually into Pre-Reception. Every day is carefully planned to feel calm, engaging and full of possibility.
Children learn best when they feel secure and loved, so our days are shaped around warm relationships, playful exploration and plenty of opportunities to follow their own interests. Whether they are building towers, painting masterpieces, listening to stories or splashing in puddles, every experience helps children develop confidence, independence and a genuine love of learning.
A Typical Nursery Day
A typical day might include:
- A warm welcome and settling activities
- Explore and Learn through themed experiences
- Outdoor play in our dedicated Nursery garden
- Early phonics and mathematical exploration through play
- Stories, songs and circle time
- Creative activities, role play and sensory experiences
- Lunch shared with friends in a relaxed and sociable setting
No two days are ever quite the same, as our practitioners carefully plan activities around engaging themes, while adapting experiences to reflect children's interests and emerging skills. Every experience is designed to nurture curiosity, independence and a sense of wonder about the world around them.
Learning Through Play
Children learn best when they feel happy, secure and inspired to explore. Through play and carefully planned activities, our Early Years team supports children in developing the key skills that underpin future learning.
Children are encouraged to:
- Communicate and express themselves through stories, songs, rhymes and conversations that develop language, listening skills and confidence.
- Build friendships and independence by learning to share, take turns, make choices and manage simple routines.
- Develop physically through climbing, balancing, outdoor play and activities such as threading, playdough, painting and mark making, helping to strengthen fine motor skills.
- Discover early literacy and numeracy through playful introductions to sounds, counting, sorting and exploring patterns.
- Investigate and create through STEAM activities, where children build, experiment, explore natural materials and begin to understand how things work.
At this stage, learning is hands-on, meaningful and rooted in children's natural curiosity, laying strong foundations for the years ahead.
Specialist Experiences
Even our youngest children enjoy the excitement of leaving the Nursery room to attend specialist lessons in other parts of the school. Sessions in Music, Drama and PE with our Sports Coach are lively, playful and designed to spark curiosity and build confidence, helping children become familiar with the wider school environment.
Outdoor Adventures Every Day
Childhood should be full of muddy boots, fresh air and moments of wonder. At Chinthurst, our Nursery children enjoy free-flow access to an outdoor area directly from their classrooms, allowing them to move seamlessly between indoor and outdoor play throughout the day. They also make full use of our dedicated Nursery playground, where they can dig, climb, balance, splash, plant and let their imaginations run wild. One day it might become a pirate ship, the next a café, a dinosaur park or a secret hideaway.
As children grow in confidence and independence, they venture beyond the school gates for woodland learning in the local area. Whether building dens, searching for minibeasts or collecting natural treasures, each adventure ends with a story and hot chocolate, nurturing resilience, curiosity and a lifelong appreciation of the natural world.
Both the indoor and outdoor environments offer opportunities for children to develop their independence skills and interests
ISI Inspection 2026