Filton Avenue Nursery School opened on August 31st 1939, the school was closed again at 3:30 pm – the next day – on September 1st because of the outbreak of World War II.

Following a meeting with parents the school re-opened six weeks later, and stayed open throughout the war, only closing for public holidays and lack of coal to heat the building. In those days there were four separate nursery classes with an air-raid shelter in the back garden.

‘An air-raid practice was conducted, with older children collecting their own gas masks. The children were all in the shelters in two and half minutes and there were no tears’.

Our provision has evolved and developed over time to meet the ever-changing needs of our community. The most recent phase of our development has seen a £500,000 building and refurbishment project. We are fortunate to have a light, spacious, well-resourced building.

We were designated a Children’s Centre in December 2007 and achieved full core offer status in April 2009. As well as continuing to provide early years learning and care for 2, 3 and 4 year olds, we are now able to offer a wide range of family support services and community learning.  Childcare provision runs for 48 weeks of the year.

The quality of our provision was judged to be ‘outstanding’ by HMI in October 2008, and OFSTED in April 2009 & 2016.

‘The quality of the provision is outstanding. The highly qualified staff embrace the uniqueness of each child and this is reflected in the fully-inclusive environment which values and nurtures children and their families’. (OFSTED, 2009)

We were again judged outstanding in 2010 & 2016

We are a positive, happy, caring, learning community that is committed to:

• Welcoming and valuing all.
• Celebrating and respecting people’s differences.
• Being open minded and flexible.
• Listening to the voices of children and adults.
• Providing high quality learning opportunities for everyone.
• Working in partnership with parents and our community.
• Putting the needs and aspirations of our children and families first.

We believe that children and their parents or carers have the right to:

• Be part of a strong, empowered and aspirational family.
• Be happy, healthy, safe, resilient and confident with a positive self-identity and high self-esteem.
• Question, challenge, solve problems creatively and use their initiative.
• Work collaboratively, be a good friend and valued member of the community.
• Take responsibility for themselves, each other and the environment.
• Know their strengths and take risks.
• Be inquisitive explorers and investigators, researching and making sense of their world.
• Know their ideas will be heard and respected and that they can make a difference.
• Love learning and want to succeed in whatever they do.

Our Values

Respect

We take care of ourselves, each other, the environment and our ways of life. We are mindful of our rights and needs and those of others. We build positive relationships.

Equality and Inclusion

We celebrate individuality and diversity. We treat people fairly. We recognise every person in our community is a unique human being with unique life experiences that contribute to a rich learning environment. We have a willingness to understand and connect with each other. We challenge our own thinking and that of others in relation to equality and inclusion.

Emotionally safe environment

The Centre is a calm and nurturing environment where everyone trusts that they will be supported and have their feelings validated. We recognise the importance of being resilient and enabling everyone to have the courage to learn new ways, take risks and cope with challenges.

Communication

The Centre recognises the equal importance of verbal and non-verbal communication. We are committed to ‘active listening’ using all our senses to interpret the meaning of what people are expressing. We are mindful of the language we use and the impact it has on each other.

Authenticity

Being here enables us to be ourselves. We are aware of our own feelings and give genuine, honest and compassionate responses to others.

Creating a place that says ‘you matter’.

If you're searching for your next teaching post, why not contact us now? You'll be working at a great school and be part of a friendly, helpful team. We're always interested to hear from enthusiastic, committed teachers!