Welcome to Pine Class

Pine Class is our Ofsted Outstanding nursery, welcoming children from the age of 3 to a warm, play-based environment where their curiosity and confidence can flourish.

As a state nursery, we offer both 15-hour and 30-hour government-funded places, with flexible additional hours to suit your family’s needs.

For details about funding options, hours, and how to apply, visit our Applying for Nursery page.

Our Approach to Early Learning

Pine Class is built around play. The day is largely the children’s to shape: they choose what to do, where to settle, and how long they want to stay with an activity, leaving them free to follow an interest as far as it takes them.

Our role is to support this: to listen, to guide gently, and to help children develop the confidence to direct their own discoveries. From day one, we get to know each child – their strengths, their interests, what helps them grow.

Learning Through Choice & Exploration

Our Pine Class environment is designed to engage and inspire your child. From our art room to our garden, children are free to explore and settle wherever their interests take them.

Our art room is a studio-like space full of light, with easels for painting and large open tables for mark-making, crafting, and modelling, and a constant supply of materials and resources for children to choose from.

The middle room is where much of the socialising happens. It has our home corner for imaginative play, a cosy reading nook, and the snack table where children gather.

The main room is home to our block area, small-world toys, Montessori resources, and our hand-crafted study boxes, designed to build skills, introduce ideas, and follow the questions children bring us about the world.

Our Nursery garden gives children space to climb, dig, run, and watch the seasons change, in all weathers. They build strength and confidence, take measured risks, and investigate the natural world first-hand.

For most of the year, our garden is also home to two goats – always a pair of siblings – from a local farm. They live in their own enclosed area, where children can feed them armfuls of ivy (a goat's favourite snack!). When the goats come out for supervised time, the children are usually there to meet them. The goats return to the farm over the school holidays, enjoying the school terms alongside the children. For some children, a morning visit to the goats is the first thing they do, a great routine to settle into the day.

The Role of Our Team

Our qualified teachers and teaching assistants support your child's learning, helping them ask questions and follow their curiosity. Just as importantly, we look after your child's wellbeing, helping them feel settled, build confidence, and really enjoy their days at nursery.

We work closely with families. Through Tapestry, our online journal, we share what your child has been doing and welcome your insights about what's happening at home, creating a fuller picture of what your child is learning and enjoying.

A Day in Nursery

A typical day includes arrival and free play, circle time with songs and stories, child-led exploration, phonics with Crispin the crow, lunch and outdoor play, small-group activities, and story time. Woven through it is a gentle introduction to the early skills children need for English and Maths, without it ever feeling like a lesson.

This rhythm provides security and predictability while remaining flexible enough to follow children's interests and needs. If your child is deeply engaged in an activity or investigation, we protect that time rather than interrupting for the sake of a schedule.

Visit Pine Class

No description quite captures our Nursery. The best way to know if Pine Class is right for your child is to come and see us. Walk through the rooms, watch the children at play, and meet the team who will look after them.

We hold Nursery tours throughout the year, and can arrange a personal visit at a time to suit you. To find out about upcoming tours or to book a visit, email our school office at seftonpark@bristol-schools.uk or call 0117 377 3290.