"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” 

Fred Rodgers

Freemantle Nursery

We are currently accepting Nursery placements. See the key information below to arrange a meeting with our helpful Nursery Staff!

Welcome to Freemantle Nursery

Nestled between three roads, we are a large maintained school nursery catering for children from 3 to 4 years old. Our Nursery is fully qualified teacher led, with emphasis on both education and childcare. We pride ourselves on providing a nurturing environment where children can play, learn, problem solve, create and develop their ideas through purposeful play and meaningful interactions.

We have grown and changed quite considerably over the years, and as we are part of the Freemantle Academy site, we have access to extensive inside and outside grounds. Our Nursery benefits from its own dedicated rooms and spaces and early years garden, but also has access to a large library, hall, MUGA, playgrounds, Forest School garden and treetop walk way to name but a few areas.

We are proud of our provision, but don’t just take our word for it… please check out our testimonials section further down the page for feedback from our families and what they think of our setting.

Why choose Freemantle Nursery?

Freemantle Nursery is one of the last remaining maintained school Nurseries in Southampton. The ‘maintained’ status means that we are teacher led, with a focus on learning through play.

Our Nursery provides a safe, secure and stimulating environment, with dedicated and caring staff who are passionate about learning in the early years. We have high aspirations for all of our children, and work together to promote self-respect, creativity and self-confidence.

All children are treated as individuals and we work in partnership with our parents to embrace each child’s learning journey. We have a number of bilingual staff to support children and families who may be new to English. We encourage respect and tolerance for all faiths and celebrate the diverse society we live in.

Nestled on our Academy grounds, our staff are employed by the Academy and as a result have the unique advantage of being able to share the resources and facilities our Academy offers. This includes Forest School sessions led by a fully qualified Forest Schools teacher, as well as close links with Freemantle Church.

Our Nursery has been involved with other large educational organisations such as Erasmus+ and Nexus in order to support other settings both in the UK and Europe with education and learning in the early years. We have a range of high-quality play resources, as well as access to Virtual Reality Headsets and School Minibuses for special outings.

Please contact us on info@freemantleschool.co.uk if you have any specific questions and we will be happy to help.

Testimonials

"My daughter had started Nursery at Freemantle Community Academy last September.

I would like to say that the teachers and all staff members are absolutely amazing! Not only does my daughter come home each and everyday talking about her teachers. I'm amazed by what she had learnt in such a short time! Thank you to you all for your time and effort! It really doesn't go unnoticed."

-Miss Middleton & Mr Hiatt. 

"I'd like to express my entire gratitude to all the staff and teachers at Freemantle School. You're an exceptional and unique dedicated bunch of professionals, to be honest I consider Freemantle  School as my child's second home."

-Carlos Martinez.

"My son attends the Nursery and is always excited to go, so I have no concerns dropping him off each day. I have 100% trust in all the staff to deliver a safe, caring and enriching environment for my son to play and learn in. The teaching staff always share with me the activities that were enjoyed, also any concerns they may have. So happy with with my choice of Nursery and look forward to the rest of the year and progression to year R."

-Laura Corkindale 

Applying for a school place

Many of our Nursery children go on to attend our Academy. Please note that school applications must still be made through the Local Authority.

You can apply for a school place in the autumn term after your child turns four. All four year olds can attend a reception class (Year R) in the September of the school year in which they become five.

Reception class start dates

Children born between:

• 1st September 2018 - 31st August 2019 should start school in September 2023
• 1st September 2019 - 31st August 2020 should start school in September 2024
• 1st September 2020 - 31st August 2021 should start school in September 2025
• 1st September 2021 - 31st August 2022 should start school in September 2026

Please go to this website for more information:

https://www.southampton.gov.uk/schools-learning/find-school/apply-school/

Key information

Our Nursery offers free funded sessions for 15 or 30 hours per week. Please note: All children are eligible to receive at least 15 hours of free childcare per week. Click here to find out if your child is eligible for 30 hours of free childcare per week: https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare

We offer four different 15 hour sessions:

AM sessions - Monday to Friday 8.45-11.45

PM sessions - Monday to Friday 12.15 - 3.15

Block 1 sessions - Monday and Tuesday 8.45 - 2.45, & Wednesday 8.45 -11.45

Block 2 sessions - Wednesday 12.15 - 3.15, & Thursday and Friday 8.45 - 2.45

We also offer a 30 hour session: Monday to Friday 8.45 - 2.45

We have three intakes across the year; September, January and April. Places are offered on a first come, first serve basis based on age.  i.e. In September, we have a large number of spaces available and we fill up across the year.  Spaces are often very limited by April and we can never guarantee your child's space for this time of year regardless of when they joined the waiting list.

Please email: info@freemantleschool.co.uk or phone: 02380 227925 to apply for a Nursery place.

We also offer paid wrap around care at very competitive rates which you may wish to use to top up your child’s free funded place. We are open for this Monday to Friday from 8am until 5.15pm Term Time Only. Please phone or email us (contacts above) to find out more.