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Chain day nursery groups Seymour House, Kiddi Caru, Bright Horizons nurseries and Busy Bees have branches in Chelmsford and its hamlets but there are individual providers too, such as Montessoris Jesters and Buttercup, King Arthur-themed Camelot, and Scallywags. Places often available straight away. Any longer than a three-month wait and you could consider yourself unlucky.
The all-through independent New Hall School has a superb barn-style nursery for one- to four-year-olds in its beautiful grounds, while established city centre prep schools Widford Lodge, St Cedd’s and St Anne’s all have their own kindergartens - most children continue through to the schools. State primaries’ on-site pre-schools are popular, particularly Small Wonders at The Tyrrells School in Old Springfield, and larger Woodcroft Nursery at Larkrise Primary School, Great Baddow.
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Several chains, such as Kiddi Caru and Busy Bees, have branches in the city, but many of Colchester’s nurseries are either attached to prep schools - including Holmwood House School, Littlegarth School (just over the Suffolk border), St Mary’s (a girls’ school, although mixed in the nursery), Colchester Prep & High School and Oxford House School – or are standalone, such as Lexden Lodge Kindergarten, Monkey Puzzle, Safari, and Absolute Angels Montessori in the quaint village of Coggeshall. Waiting lists for these are minimal. Few of Colchester’s state primary schools have pre-schools and places at the highly regarded Lexden Primary School and St James’ Church of England Primary School are sought after – apply early.
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Unlike in nearby London, having to wait more than a month or two for a nursery place to become available is unusual. Bright Horizons runs Phoenix in Brentwood’s Merrymeads Country Park, and Poppetts in Hutton, while standalone alternatives include Nappies and Paddies in Great Warley, New Beginnings in Loughton, Epping Montessori Nursery, and Chigwell and Hainault Synagogue nursery, where children also learn the basics of Judaism. Brentwood Preparatory School, Ursuline Preparatory School in Warley (co-ed Catholic), and Woodlands School (sites at Great Warley and Hutton Manor) are independents with thriving nurseries; further west are pre-schools at Buckhurst Hill’s all-girls Braeside School, and the co-eds Chingford’s Normanhurst School and Coopersale Hall, near Epping Station.
Best primary schools in Brentwood and West Essex
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Need help? Perhaps you suspect your child has some learning difficulty and you would like advice on what you should do. Or perhaps it is becoming clear that your child's current school is not working for him or her, and you need help to find a mainstream school which has better SEN provision, or to find a special school which will best cater for your child's area of need. Our SEN consultancy team advises on both special schools, and the mainstream schools with good SEN support, from reception through to the specialist colleges for 19+. Special Educational Needs Index
Find top international, British, IB and American schools in over 40 countries. The Good Schools Guide International publishes impartial and forthright reviews of international schools across the world.
We examined the value-added from KS2 to GCSE for 2022 to see which state selective grammar schools added the most value to their offspring. A note of caution - the more highly selective a grammar school, the less scope there will be to add value.
Grammar schools are state-funded, academically selective senior schools. The education a child receives at grammar school is paid for by the state unlike at private schools which provide education for a fee. There are currently around 163 located in 36 English local authorities, with around 167,000 pupils between them. Northern Ireland has a further 67 grammar schools, but there are none in Wales or Scotland. A word of caution: there are private schools that have the word 'grammar' in their name but this is purely for historical reasons.
At specialist music, dance or performing arts schools, the arts aren't optional extras. They’re intrinsic to the school curriculum. Students are expected to fit in high level training and hours of practice alongside a full academic provision. It's a lot to ask any child to take on, but for those with exceptional performing ability this kind of education can be transformative.