What is a Maintained Nursery School?

Warwick Nursery School is one of less than 400 maintained nursery schools now left in England – and one of only 6 in Warwickshire. Maintained nursery schools are funded and controlled by the Local Authority, just like most primary schools, but specialise in the 3-5 year old age range. They are led by Headteachers who are early years specialists, have a board of governors and employ at least one other qualified teacher, alongside a team of early years practitioners.  Nursery schools are inspected under the same Ofsted framework as primary schools, using different criteria to those used for private and voluntary early years settings. Nationally, around 97% of maintained nursery schools are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, far higher than schools in any other part of the education sector.

Maintained nursery schools are recognised as providers of high quality early education which supports all areas of a child’s development and puts children and their families at the heart of everything they do. Their approach is play-based and child-centred, drawing on the traditions of pioneering early years educators such as the McMillan sisters and Susan Isaacs. You can find out more about the history of early education here:

https://www.early-education.org.uk/extended-history-early-education