A prospectus tells you a nursery’s philosophy. It rarely tells you what 10:20am actually looks like. If you are weighing up an independent nursery in Harpenden for a two, three or four-year-old, here is an honest hour-by-hour account of a morning at St Hilda’s — the routines, the learning, the snack and the mud.
Two rooms, two age groups: Puffins and Kittiwakes
- Puffins is our Pre-Nursery, for children aged 2 to 3
- Kittiwakes is our Nursery, for children aged 3 to 4
Both rooms follow the Early Years Foundation Stage framework with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated learning. Pre-Nursery concentrates on the prime areas — communication and language, physical development, and personal, social and emotional development. Nursery adds the specific areas: literacy, maths, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design. Three experienced Early Years practitioners work in the Nursery room. You can see the whole nursery offer here.
8:15am — Busy Fingers and the first jobs of the day
The morning session opens at 8:15am with Busy Fingers: half an hour of threading, tweezers, dough and mark-making that quietly builds the hand strength a pencil grip depends on. At 8:45am the children register themselves, take on their classroom jobs and work through the calendar together — the day, the weather, how many of us are here.
9:00am — phonics, French and early maths
Adult-led teaching sits in a short, focused half-hour while attention is at its sharpest. Depending on the day that means Jolly Phonics, French, early maths, literacy or a piece of outdoor exploration. Half an hour is deliberate: it is long enough to teach something properly and short enough that three-year-olds are still with you at the end of it.
9:30am — outdoors, whatever the season
From 9:30am to 10:20am the children choose their own learning outside. It is the longest single block of the morning, and it is child-directed by design.
- Almost an hour outdoors every single morning, in all weathers
- Children lead the play; practitioners extend it rather than direct it
- Small, supported risks — climbing, carrying, balancing — that build genuine confidence
- Groundwork for Outdoor Explorers, the termly woodland programme they join from Reception
10:20am — snack, singing and specialist lessons
A nutritious snack at 10:20am, then everyone sings together at 10:50am. From 11:00am the children choose indoor activities, with specialist music twice a week and PE once a week — taught by the same specialist staff who teach the older girls, in the same hall they will use for the next nine years.
11:30am — stories, celebration and a calm finish
The last half hour slows down on purpose: story time, movement, and recognition for children who have shown one of the school’s values that morning, followed by quiet reading until noon. Morning sessions finish at 12:00pm; full days carry on through lunch and the afternoon.
Lunches, full days and moving up to Reception
Full-day places include a hot lunch cooked on site — you can see a sample menu on our school lunch page. Because the nursery sits inside the school rather than beside it, children already know the hall, the field and the staff long before they start Reception. The transition is a walk down a corridor, not a change of school.
Funding, vouchers and fees
- Government-funded early years hours — see nursery funding
- Childcare vouchers are accepted
- Current rates are published in full on our fees page
- Wraparound care runs from 7:30am to 6pm as children move up through the school
Come and see a morning for yourself
Nurseries are easy to judge in five minutes on site and almost impossible to judge from a website. Book a personal tour during a working morning, or join one of our open events in Harpenden. Call 01582 712307 or email office@sthildasharpenden.co.uk and we will find a time that suits you.
